Albemarle Reno

After firming up the kitchen layout our adventures in cabinetry began. We didn’t shop around much when choosing a cabinet company. We wanted as much customization as possible when it came to the layout, and Intrepid Architect had a great experience with Plain & Fancy Custom Cabinetry when she did her own kitchen renovation a few years back.

We paid a visit to Park Slope Kitchen Gallery, where Glenn, a Plain & Fancy rep, showed us the virtually endless options available to us — color, style, hardware, even the very edges of the cabinets can be tailored to exact sharpness specifications. It was overwhelming to have to make choices about things I’ve literally never thought about in my life. In 1975 my family moved to a new housing development in New Hampshire outfitted with compressed-wood cabinets covered with faux-wood-grain veneer. Those cabinets have dutifully done their job for 35 years under daily duress of 2 adults and 6 kids — and they still provide competent shelter to dishes and cereal. So the virtues of Maple over Oak (or is it Oak over Maple?) are a bit lost on me. We zeroed in on Maple and were drawn to this simple Shaker-style:

So with two major decisions made, it was time to consider how to finish the cabinets. Our house is blessed with an abundance of architectural wood detail, seen here in some of our “before” pictures:

So it felt like overkill to choose a stained wood finish for the cabinetry. This opened up a world of painted finishes to choose from. I had been trolling some wallpaper sites and had a visceral, “have to have it” response to this CFA Voysey design called “Four and Twenty” reproduced by Trustworth Studios in Massachusetts

I liked the rich tones of the green, blue and yellow paired with the dark black of the birds — it feels colorful without being too bright. It also manages to be cute, classic, funny, and creepy all at once — a melange I’m often drawn to.

So for the cabinets, like the ones drawn here

We considered off-whites and yellows and went with “white antique distress” which looks both yellow and white to me.

For my desk unit below,

we chose “celery antique distress.”

The one place we ended up choosing a wood stain, “natural with chocolate frost” is for the island. We looked at all the swatches together, including the bisque crackled tile we chose for our range backsplash and were pleased:

So we ordered sample doors to see that the colors matched the swatches. The cabinet color and desk unit color were spot on

but the “natural chocolate frost,” for the island, was not true to the swatch. The color we’d like is this:

The sample that arrived, on the left, was much lighter than we expected

It’s a perfectly nice color, just not what we have in mind. The difference was attributed to a mis-labeled sample — so Glenn sent a showroom sample door in “natural with chocolate frost” to be used as a guide. The second sample came back a touch too red, so we’re waiting for the latest attempt. Also, as shown on the door samples, we added a beaded edge around the cabinet and drawer, at Intrepid Architect’s fine suggestion. Also, most of the drawers will be a flat, slab front, not the cut-out version shown on the samples.

For the countertop surface, Caesarstone is the front runner. Maybe it’s because I grew up in the “Granite State” and have had my fill of the stuff, but granite just doesn’t grab me aesthetically — too many specks and veins. Other natural stones sound like they’re more maintenance than we’re up for. We looked at a couple of Caesarstone sample squares next to our door samples

We like the darker, “Lagos Blue,” on the right. I guess in Lagos, “blue” means brownish green. On the island the Caesarstone will be around the sink, with gullies carved on one side for a dish-drainer. The remainder of the island will be topped with reclaimed walnut. We got some nice samples from Elmwood Reclaimed Timber, based in Missouri

Summer will be winding down before we see most of these decisions executed. Even so, we’ve decided to move into the house in July so will do without a kitchen for a few months. But I have a kickin’ grill with a side burner, and a refrigerator in the garage — fingers-crossed they will see us through.