Even though it will still be a little while before we break ground on the house, I’ve been thinking a lot about the design. Especially the kitchen and the bathrooms. Mostly the kitchen. I feel like I need to have the the kitchen in my head before I can make any other decisions because of the way the house is designed.
Remember our design?
The kitchen is right smack in the middle of the house and open to everything which will be nice, I think. (We had an open floor plan in our last house and I didn’t love it so much, but it does make sense when you have kids. I might be the one woman in the universe who actually prefers a separated kitchen, but that’s what we have now and it is hard to keep an eye on my children from in there.)
Eddie and I both agree (for once) that we really like the craftsman, shaker style cabinetry.
But I am in love with painted cabinets and he hates them…a lot. It seems to be a pretty common opinion among men, and I do understand that it stings a bit to spend thousands of dollars on something brand new and made of solid wood and then paint and distress it to make it feel old.
Eddie wants our kitchen to look like this, only without the curtains.
or this
While the cabinets themselves are lovely, I find that much wood to be really dark, kind of depressing to live in, and a little bit dated. They remind me of the kitchen on Home Improvement. I have no desire whatsoever to spend extended periods of time in either one of those kitchens. (no offense if they are to your taste)
My dream kitchen would look like this
but a) we probably can’t afford that and b) Eddie lives in our house too, so it’s kind of important that he likes it.
I’m leaning toward doing two-tone cabinets, which is really trendy right now but I’m nervous because it’s really trendy right now. I don’t want trendy. This is our forever house. This will be our kitchen for 30 or 40 years or more, we hope. I don’t want to make a decision I’ll regret that would cost us an entire year’s salary to redo.
I want the kitchen to be classic, Craftsman, light, have a lot of storage, feel comfortable so we can live in it with three little kids without worrying about messing it up, and have a mix of materials. The last one I’m not set on just yet. Is it just a trend? Will I still love it in ten years? Can we find a compromise we both like?
Here are a few examples of the two-tone trend
The first one is my favorite and probably the most realistic for our budget. I want a modern cozy but fancy farmhouse feel. I feel like you can only achieve the look I want with painted cabinets like these:
I want it to be comfortable, pretty, and a place I actually enjoy spending several hours in every day.I cook a lot, and I do a decent amount of canning, and we will probably spend many a breakfast and lunch sitting at that raised counter and staring into the kitchen. I want to love it, not feel like it belongs in a 90’s sitcom portraying the suburban lifestyle.
Speaking of cheesy 90’s sitcoms, do you think if I record a tape of myself saying “we need painted cabinets” over and over and play it while Eddie’s sleeping he will wake up with a sudden desire to go along with my plan? It worked on Saved By the Bell.
What do you think of the two tone trend? Are you a fan of painted cabinets or do you prefer the natural wood?
personally i’ve always preferred painted. i only like “wood” color on some furniture or trim. i think of kitchen cabinets as the “walls” of the kitchen if you will, and who wants drab dark walls? I love color, and you would be able to coordinate cute knobs and such to match your decor. with that being said, all of my kitchen cabinets are dark wood and if we weren’t planning to sell next year i would so paint them. my next dream kitchen will have aqua walls, creme cabinets, and accents of red and black 🙂