kitchen decorating choices
Nanc
than 3 weeks) and I think I made some bad decorating choices. I need
some opinions please!
The kitchen is a run on from the living area so the flooring
throughout is Birch Wood (not installed yet, I'm hopefull that it will
make the room look more pleasing). I chose White Cabinets and <gulp>
black laminate counter tops. The little sample of countertop appeared
that it was white speckled but now that it's installed the white has
evaporated. It was risky, but I really was hoping to use red accents
in the kitchen. The walls are antique white (came out much darker
than I had imagined) My fridge is black (already had it and couldn't
do anything about it), I picked a white above stove microwave, white
dishwasher and black and white oven/stove. I went with the default
sink of stainless but think I'm going to change that out to white as
soon as the house is complete.
Any ideas, suggestions, or critisism even would be appreciated. Maybe
I could turn things around soon after I moved in if I had some good
ideas...
ameijers
Nanc <nann...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:f6afc537.02031...@posting.google.com...
or ice-cream-parlor-mosaic floor might have been a better fit, and
delineated the kitchen off from the dining/living area. (wood floor in
kitchen is a bad idea, IMHO- even with good finish, it will eventually get
water damaged.) Rather than red accents, I'd go with s/s of sink- get brush
nickel canisters, maybe a s/s splash behind stove, find an old nickel Oster
blender and art deco toaster at a garage sale, etc. etc. Maybe an old
bakelite table radio in red, and one of those 1950s style pull-down
chandeliers, in nickel or red. Think retro-look diner. Maybe a retro
dinette set, if you have a breakfast area, with the brush chrome trim.
(standard disclaimer- I'm no decorator- my furniture comes from auctions and
garage sales.)
The important thing is to RELAX- you are just experiencing new-house
jitters. Live with it a couple months before you throw a lot of money at it.
With moving and getting settled, you will be too whipped to make big
decisions for awhile anyway. (not to mention being cash poor for awhile, if
you are like most new homeowners, 1st house or fifth.)
aem sends....
Eric Lee Green
> Nanc <nann...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:f6afc537.02031...@posting.google.com...
>> I'm a huge bunch of stress! My new house is almost complete (less
>> than 3 weeks) and I think I made some bad decorating choices. I need
>> some opinions please!
There are no bad decorating choices, just people who don't like your
taste in decorating :-).
>> make the room look more pleasing). I chose White Cabinets and <gulp>
>> black laminate counter tops. The little sample of countertop appeared
>> that it was white speckled but now that it's installed the white has
>> evaporated. It was risky, but I really was hoping to use red accents
>> in the kitchen. The walls are antique white (came out much darker
>> than I had imagined)
Sounds like the color scheme I'm considering, except that I'm thinking
about black cabinets to go with the black countertop, offset by the
white flooring and white appliances, and with a brighter white paint
(not the "antique white", which looks more like a sick yellow to
me). Sort of the checkerboard effect. I'm limited by my budget, alas.
The really trendy people who had our office suite at work before us
used a similar color scheme, and it's grown on me.
> My fridge is black (already had it and couldn't
>> do anything about it), I picked a white above stove microwave, white
>> dishwasher and black and white oven/stove. I went with the default
>> sink of stainless but think I'm going to change that out to white as
>> soon as the house is complete.
Stainless goes well with black. I was looking at one color scheme at
the decorator's that had all stainless appliances and black granite
countertops (no, I can't afford that :-), and it looked really
cool. So don't stress over the stainless sink.
>> Any ideas, suggestions, or critisism even would be appreciated. Maybe
>> I could turn things around soon after I moved in if I had some good
>> ideas...
> Eh, a little trendy, but not too awful sounding. I think a b&w checkerboard
> or ice-cream-parlor-mosaic floor might have been a better fit, and
> delineated the kitchen off from the dining/living area. (wood floor in
Agree, alas, not all of us can afford such things :-(.
> kitchen is a bad idea, IMHO- even with good finish, it will eventually get
> water damaged.) Rather than red accents, I'd go with s/s of sink- get brush
> nickel canisters, maybe a s/s splash behind stove, find an old nickel Oster
> blender and art deco toaster at a garage sale, etc. etc. Maybe an old
> bakelite table radio in red, and one of those 1950s style pull-down
> chandeliers, in nickel or red. Think retro-look diner. Maybe a retro
> dinette set, if you have a breakfast area, with the brush chrome trim.
>
> (standard disclaimer- I'm no decorator- my furniture comes from auctions and
> garage sales.)
Heheh. Join the club. After buying a house that's all I'll be able to
afford :-). Lucikly I have very, uhm, not so much "trendy" as
"eclectic" tastes in interior decor. For example, you can make a
perfectly rad coffee table by buying one of those tubular white
plastic shelving units for $20. Very tubular :-). And unlike a
"real" coffee table, it has a rim around it that (mostly) keeps
stuff from falling off (I *HATE* it when my coffee falls off the
edge of the coffee table while I'm reading the paper!). It matches
the white (tubular) metal futon frame perfectly. (Oh, and my
carpet is going to be grey, works with that too :-).
> The important thing is to RELAX- you are just experiencing new-house
> jitters. Live with it a couple months before you throw a lot of money at it.
> With moving and getting settled, you will be too whipped to make big
> decisions for awhile anyway. (not to mention being cash poor for awhile, if
> you are like most new homeowners, 1st house or fifth.)
I think some people just get stressed out by this whole decorating
thing. It's supposed to be FUN. If something doesn't work, it's
not the end of the world... it can always be changed. Maybe not
next week, but unless you're 89 years old on a respirator in
a hospital room, there's plenty of time.
Eric Lee Green er...@badtux.org http://badtux.org
GnuPG public key at http://badtux.org/eric/eric.gpg
Join The Conspiracy: http://evidence-eliminator-sucks.com
DK
"Nanc" <nann...@hotmail.com> wrote ::
> I'm a huge bunch of stress! My new house is almost complete (less
> than 3 weeks) and I think I made some bad decorating choices. I need
> some opinions please!
I can understand this, but try to relax ~ now is the time to have fun! ( I
can say this since I'm still 6 months away from your position) :-)
>White Cabinets and <gulp> black laminate counter tops.
Sounds okay so far....similar to my plans of using natural hickory and a
very deep graphite almost black countertop.
> Any ideas, suggestions, or critisism even would be appreciated.
Do you have the hardware for the cabinets picked out? That could make a big
difference in pulling the room together. I like your idea of red accents in
the room. I could also see "fruit" colors going well. Lemon yellows, shades
of grapes-green to deep purple, deep plum, alone or in combination used as
accents to brighten the room.
Depends on the look you really like. Pay no attention to other's
taste..YOU and your family will get to live there...it should reflect your
likes and I'm certain it will be lovely when you can finally relax and
realize, it will all be ok!!
Best of luck to you, send us a picture when it's done!
Diane (a lurker and definitely not a decorator)
Nanc
Thank you all. I'm trying to relax... :) No, I haven't picked out
hardware for the cabinets yet. They aren't coming with them, so I'll
have to buy them seperate. I was thinking of doing stainless or
titanium looking.... I don't know though. I walked through the house
again yesterday.. looked again with a little less critical eye and
thought... this might not be so bad. If only I could convince myself
of this 100%! LOL
DK
"Nanc" <nann...@hotmail.com> wrote in message > Thank you all. I'm trying
to relax... :) No, I haven't picked out
> hardware for the cabinets yet. They aren't coming with them, so I'll
> have to buy them seperate. I was thinking of doing stainless or
> titanium looking.... I don't know though. I walked through the house
> again yesterday.. looked again with a little less critical eye and
> thought... this might not be so bad. If only I could convince myself
> of this 100%! LOL
I think your hardware ideas would be perfect! Here are a few sites I often
look at for ideas.
http://www.amerock.com
http://www.dlawlesshardware.com/kitthemknoba.html
http://www.atlashomewares.com/knobsandpulls.html?source=goto