Design help needed! (shutters, granite, flooring, drape)

[grcarroll]

We are thinking about buying this house and I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on what to do with the kitchen and living room (pictures attached). I'm not a big fan of the 1980's dark cabinets and trim.

For the kitchen, I was thinking about painting the cabinets white and replacing the countertops with granite. But what color do I paint the walls? It will need to match the living room.

As for the Living room, should I paint the trim white too (to match the kitchen)? And if so would I need to paint the fireplace white too? Or maybe do a cream color for the trim and leave the fireplace natural brick. I'd like to make it a little less formal and more comfortable.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! I'm not good at visualizing this kind of stuff!!

[desertsun41]

Carroll dont paint the cabinets white. Dont even paint them. Take a look at all the posts talking about this subject. You can not paint cabinets. You can but you can also paint grass, metal, plastic and glass but that dont make it right.

If you buy correctly you can get all new cabinets and granite for a fraction that you might be thinking. You have a real nice layout, but very 80s like you said. I wish I had layouts like that to work with like that every day.

If you paint them you still have an 80s kitchen, just a white 80s kitchen. Does that make sense? White is very out of style though there are people who still like it despite most all cabinet manufacturers discontinuing them. I sell 500 kitchens a year and maybe 2 are white in color.

There are dealers in Raleigh that can get you started who sell wholesale. DO NOT pay list price like the rapists Home Depot and Lowes charge. You would not pay sticker price/MSRP/list price for a new car so why pay it for cabinets?

Though I am very very anti cabinet refacng, your kitchen may be a good candidate because it appears sound and sorta modern in design. Refacing is nearly always more expensive then buying new. If you reface it's like putting a nicely new pressed fine Italian suit on a man with dirty underware and sneakers. You still have the same dirty insides. But yours looks in pretty good shape from the outside which usually tells the picture of the inside.

[hothulamaui]

I painted my cabinets and they turned out great. if you get the house I would start by painting the walls first and leave the cabinets alone and see how it looks before painting everything. the green contrast in the livingroom looks very nice next to the wood and maybe with just some color in there it would help along with the grante countertop. maybe a tile backsplash. that is a ton of molding to paint in the window sills too. I am not a brick fan at all but I have to say I do not mind this fireplace. like was suggested in the above post perhaps you can buy this house low enough to be able to afford a a kitchen redo. good luck

[GloryB]

Color Selection Tools - Sherwin-Williams

You can get free color samples, as well as play virtually with colors, on this site. (There are also many other sites that offer this service). There are so many various shades of whites and creams, until you really have to pick the ones that make you smile. I like when people blend this particular color group. It always ends up with such an elegant end result. It is a good idea to pick out your counter color FIRST and pick colors that look the best with it. Just a shade lighter or darker can make all the difference in the world in eye appeal.

As for the cabinets, if you sand or prime them properly, you most certainly can paint them any color you want to. However, I agree with painting everything else, and then see if you still want to change your cabinets.

BEAUTIFUL place. Can't wait to see what you end up doing with it!!!

[rrtechno]

Very nice looking kitchen. Looks like it was pretty high end in the 80's. In addition to the suggestions of just painting the walls first and seeing what it looks like before you paint the cabinets, you might want to make a decision on countertop options too. Removing that wood edge, (looks like possibly laminate) light top and replacing it with another material like one of the stone products is going to give a whole different look to those cabinets. Keep in mind that any finish you apply in the kitchen will probably not be quite as durable as the original finish. If you do decide to paint the cabinets, you might want to try painting some poster board the color you have in mind and tape it to the doors in the island and look at it first before you do anything to the finish on those cabinets. Remember, once you start on the cabinets, there is no turning back.

[goodgal]

I would do them white , do polished nickel hardware and I think Brick red or a vibrant pomegranate paint would bring lots of life into the room. Desertsun you give lots of helpful advice but on white cabinets I have to disagree, they are coming back and in high end homes white shaker cabinets are becoming more and more as well as quartz countertops and cement. I prefer granite. I don't like dark kitchens and dark cherry are going to be the dated early 90's look soon.

[gold*dust1]

Your cabinets don't look bad at all in the pictures. The dark color is in again. For a quick fix...SS appliances, redo the countertops and change cabinet hardware. What is your flooring? Looks good. Maybe get rid of the wallpaper. You have the dark woodwork throughout your home so it will be a big project to change it all. Even though the home is dated a bit i.e. the railing thing between dining and great room, it still looks nice!

We painted cabinets and some woodwork white in a previous home. Although it was a solution for us, the woodwork really did look painted. We replaced some with new white trim. I wouldn't paint your cabinets imo.

[ECG]

OH NO...I would never tell a client of mine to paint those gorgeous cabinets in white...I would change the hardware in the cabinets.. I would change the counter tops and the backsplash to a nice light color Quartz.. and the large trim on top of the cabinets between the ceiling and the cabinets...I would take up the wood floors in the kitchen and nook area and replace them with a light beige Porcelain tile Butted together so it looks like a slab...Preferably a 20" by 20" Porcelain tile...I would up date the lamps and ceiling lamps and if you want to go a step further put High Hats in the kitchen ceiling instead of Ceiling Lamps, Update the Drapery to make it more sunny and light...

But I would never NEVER paint that gorgeous wood WHITE.

The color you pick for your walls all depend on the type of furniture you have and what are the colors in your Uphostery pieces...

[StarryEyedSurprise]

Originally Posted by grcarroll

We are thinking about buying this house and I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on what to do with the kitchen and living room (pictures attached). I'm not a big fan of the 1980's dark cabinets and trim.

For the kitchen, I was thinking about painting the cabinets white and replacing the countertops with granite. But what color do I paint the walls? It will need to match the living room.

I just wanted to say that I empathise with you on the cabinets - personally, I make changes to my house to please me and my husband, not anyone else. I'm going with white, myself - those cabinets are too 80s dark.

As for color, the green color in the living room is very nice - maybe you can match that color in a nice glass tile backsplash. Then you would be free to leave the cabinets as is while making it a bit more contemporary.

I think it is the paint color that is dating that room, and the countertop. You might be able to make the cabinets work with the room if you update the other things, but again, I can't see how good of a quality the cabinets are from the pictures.


Edit: and whatever you do, do NOT touch that wood floor! It is GORGEOUS, and so much better to walk on while cooking than hard tile!

[alwill]

Not sure about the cabinents but to lighten it up have you thought about Blinds, shutters and shades? We used Classic Shutters and Blinds and they were great.