What Cabinet Color/Stain Do You Suggest?
I’m renovating a 3 family house (17′ wide). I’ll be occupying the lower duplex. My kitchen will be on the garden level in the back. The house has dark wainscotting and moldings. I’m afraid that if I try to match the kitchen cabinets to the dark woods (which I prefer) in the house, the house…
I’m renovating a 3 family house (17′ wide). I’ll be occupying the lower duplex. My kitchen will be on the garden level in the back. The house has dark wainscotting and moldings. I’m afraid that if I try to match the kitchen cabinets to the dark woods (which I prefer) in the house, the house will look smaller and dark, but I don’t want to go a natural wood either. What stains or color would you suggest?
Thanks
Thanks Susan, great advice. I was also considering a Moss Green. The green Kraft Maid offers. My only concern is will this shade be appropriate 5 – 10 years from now? I do like that Moss Green!
First off, I’d say not to fear a dark color for cabinetry. If you have very good lighting and have other surfaces that are light in color, such as the floor, countertops, and/or walls, you could get away with a dark shade. Also, if you have good natural lighting, fairly large windows, that is also a plus. But, keep in mind that there is really no “matching” in terms of a wood shade. The wood will be different and the stain will be different. It’s best to go a few shades in either direction, lighter or darker, but within the same hue to continuity, rather than try to match exactly, which probably won’t happen.
And, as mentioned above, you can also do white, cream, even an interesting mushroom or khaki color, along with any other “color” such as blue that was mentioned too.
I have a skinny brownstone and have the kitchen in the same spot as you. I love white, but I don’t love Thermofoil. I got bisque colored cabinets (Kraftmaid) which are OK (would have preferred white though). I also got mullion cabinet doors (glass) and it adds dimension to the room, so I echo 4:39’s comment about paned doors. If you want white painted wood and don’t want to get thermofoil or get custom made white wood, Diamond brand sold at Lowes now makes a white painted shaker wood door.
Good luck.
Black slightly distressed cabinets, with great lighting and a nice bright color on the walls (light beige, mellow white, etc.) would be great.
I’m the OP. I would love to see some pics. Thanks for the great advice. Keep them coming.
Obviously, this is all personal taste (and budget). Without pictures, it is hard to offer too definitive an opinion. Some things to consider:
Is the wainscotting in the kitchen? Is the kitchen open to rooms with wainscotting? This affects how much you should care about coordinating.
One way to lighten things up, whether you go with a wood or painted cabinet finish, is to have some glass panes in some of the upper cabinet doors. This works depending upon how much you care about people seeing inside.
Maybe you want to paint the cabinets a color to give it a cottage look; you may want to get the cabinets unfinished and hjave a painter do it rather than take the factory paint job which somehow always looks less real to me, anyway.
Another consideration is, since there are so many lines with wainscotting, you may want to keep the cabinets simple — i.e., no beading or fancy shapes on the doors. You could try plain slab or shaker doors, and perhaps go with inset so you are not grafting a factory look onto an old fashioned aesthetic.
The opposite way to go would be to get cabinets that match the wainscotting. Even some of the basic brands do this — that way, you may risk overdoing it but you minimize design elements.
Take samples home — it is much better than trying to picture it from brochures or while in the store.
These ideas may be goo or terrible; I am just throwing out there to aid in you rexperimentation. Have fun — this stuff is so hard to get right.
Our parlor kitchen was recently renovated. 18.5′ wide. Mahogany wood. We had custom cabinets made with a Mahogany stain to match the woodwork. I would say the wall paint color and the backsplash and the counters will have more to say about the feel of the room.
There were some pretty good pictures in January when Mr. B was running the kitchen renovations segment. Look those up and you’ll get a sense.
Your own personal taste will be the real key.
But to answer your question, same colored cabinets didn’t affect the feel of the size of the room.
I’ve got pictures if you’d like to see
Our parlor kitchen was recently renovated. 18.5′ wide. Mahogany wood. We had custom cabinets made with a Mahogany stain to match the woodwork. I would say the wall paint color and the backsplash and the counters will have more to say about the feel of the room.
There were some pretty good pictures in January when Mr. B was running the kitchen renovations segment. Look those up and you’ll get a sense.
Your own personal taste will be the real key.
But to answer your question, same colored cabinets didn’t affect the feel of the size of the room.
I’ve got pictures if you’d like to see
I recently renovated our parlor kitchen. 18′ wide. Mahogany wood. We had custom cabinets made with a Mahogany stain to match the woodwork. I would say the wall paint color and the backsplash and the counters will have more to do with the feel of the room.
There were some pretty good pictures in January when Mr. B was running the kitchen renovations segment. Look those up and you’ll get a sense.
Your own personal taste will be the real key.
But to answer your question, same colored cabinets didn’t affect the feel of the size of the room.
I’ve got pictures if you’d like to see