3.30.2012

{inspired} lovely kitchens


Happy Friday friends! Thank you all for your sweet comments about my little blog redesign. :) I find myself heading over to my site a couple times a day just to admire it.

Today I thought I'd give you a peek into what spaces are inspiring our kitchen remodel. In my head resides a dream kitchen. And it's beautiful and perfect, obviously. In reality though, I have a husband and he also has opinions. Luckily, our opinions aren't that far off from each others, which is making planning fun. We've been spending lots of time on Pinterest and the other internets looking at gorgeous kitchens. Below are ones that have caught our eyes.

This is my dream kitchen. White cabinets. Dark/black counter top. Island. Butcher block counter on the island. Subway tile. Farm sink.



In reality though, we're still discussing somethings. For instance, whether we want white tiles. I'm waffling. Maybe I want something with a little color? I'm loving tiles that incorporate a little grey marbling. Gorgeous.

Kitchen traditional kitchen
We're also still debating counter color. Do we want black? Or maybe a grey to soften things up.

IKEA Kitchen modern kitchen
Or, even more crazy. Maybe we want dark butcher block throughout the kitchen, instead of just on the island.
Or, the craziest: Chris is campaigning for copper counters. I just don't know. They're beautiful, but I'm not sure if they're *us.* In other words, if they're *me* :).

Aside from counters, we're considering ways to add either beadboard or moulding to the kitchen walls or ceiling. Maybe to wrap the island?


My goal is to save the original hardwoods that are under about three layers of linoleum. After all, we know they're beautiful. But, we worried about staining from the heavy linoleum glue. So, I'm considering adding a little paint to liven things up. 

So that's what we're working with right now. As you can see, we want a kitchen that's light, bright and open. But, we're trying to find ways to keep it warm and welcoming at the same time. We don't want to accidentally head into the cold and sterile realm.

What do you think of our inspiration? Any ideas you'd like to share? What are the key elements in YOUR dream kitchen? :)

Have a great weekend friends! 


10 comments:

  1. Hey Jenn, I love the inspiration kitchens you're looking at.
    I thought you might like to take a look at this kitchen we designed for a house we flipped. I think it turned out pretty great - and it has a lot of the elements and the look you're after. Here's the link:

    http://nutmegandcompany.blogspot.ca/2011/08/before-and-after-flip-kitchen.html

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    1. Meg, that kitchen is beautiful! Thank you for mentioning ... it's going in my inspiration folder :)

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  2. I love the tiles with the grey marbling. That would look stunning.

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  3. Jenn your inspiration kitchens are gorgeous and timeless! Once you get the floor plan down you can do some elevations and play with some of the elements you are liking. How it all looks together and cost are going to help you and Chris decide. Meg's kitchen in the house she flipped is pretty awesome too!

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  4. I LOVE these! Great ideas. I'm a huge fan of dark counter tops. I didn't think I would be, but if you remember, in the Sherwood house, the main counter is a black granite (I think with stars? I barely even remember!), and the island is an awesome darker blue granite with pearlness thoughout. It would be absolutely gorgeous in your house!! Good work!

    eachdayinthislife.blogspot.com

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  5. I love your inspiration photos, especially the first one! The dark counters look beautiful, and I think painting the floor would look great as well. Such nice ideas!

    My dream kitchen would be my current kitchen with windows. Since we have an open floorplan, the natural light shines in from other rooms, so it tends to be pretty dark.

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  6. I love every one of those! I think butcher block counters everywhere would be amazing (and SO affordable)!

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  7. Good luck. I can tell you we had ugly linoleum floors and were worried about the glue but when we had the floors refinished you can't tell at all anymore what has once been on them.

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  8. Whatever you decide on the key elements is going to make you so happy in the end - our kitchen renovation is the best thing we've ever done in the house and we enjoy it so much. And we use it so much which is also important. I think you want to spend money on the elements that are really going to get used (if that makes sense), so when you decide on the countertops make sure it's the best decision for the way you're going to use them. Same with the beadboard - I think it would be a great choice because it's easily wipeable. I can't wait to see this project unfold for you guys.

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  9. Oh my!..... I remember these days and all the decisions to be made! I have the white kitchen with the white subway tile; brushed cambrian black counters and cararra marble on the island.... and I love it. Some things to consider given your thoughts above might be using soapstone counters, doing the subway tile in an interesting pattern (like herringbone), using marble tile as a backsplash...... just go with what feels right for you. Good luck and I can't wait to see the final project!

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Your comments make my day! Thanks for stopping by and sharing! :)