Interior design advice

AmberLiz99

I'm redoing my kitchen and we are doing all the work ourselves. I love design, but I would love to bounce some ideas off of you clever people to get opinions for those who also like decorating.

We got a great deal on cabinets that will go all the way to our ceiling. They are nice, just need a coat of paint. Here's my thought on color. Leave the upper units white, do the base units navy blue (with little kids white base cabinets are a pain to keep clean). My two things I can't decide, wall color and countertop. 

In an ideal world I'd get a quartz counter, but I just can't afford it. Any know much about butchers block? I found a good deal, and I know it's a little harder to keep up with, but I'd love to hear from those who have it!

wall color, maybe a very light blue, or aqua? I'm just not sure. Back splash will likely be white long tiles. 

I'll post some example pictures. 

AmberLiz99

Wall color options. I'm not in love with either one. Maybe something lighter 






Cabinet colors we are thinking 

vintagevix2016

What about maybe a light grey for the wall color? I'm having a hard time picturing it but I'm a big fan of light grey. Or maybe a red...or is that way too "Americana"?

Tawny87

I like the light color you picked out. The two toned caninets are a great idea. I feel you on loving Quartz. I have never had butcher block before but our last house had granite tile for the counter top, so it looked high end but cost way less then slab. We didn't put the granite tile in so I'm not sure the cost but I'm sure it is more reasonable than either a Quartz or granite slab.

rbflei

Personally I would fight the urge to make the counter tops lighter. My grandmother went with a white type counter top/backsplash combo and I drives me nuts because you can see everything and we are constantly cleaning. Every crumb stands out. That said I do like the white upper cabinets lower dark blue. Butcher block may work but have you checked out corian countertops? Very durable and less expensive also a variety of colors and lots of movement in the surface so you won't see a lot of dirt. We had a sink made of it before and loved it. Less dirt will get on your backsplash but I personally hate dirty grout and the color difference from clean to dirty grout will be large if you have white tiles. Something to think about.

We did a slate backsplash with dark grey grout and it is pretty and hides a lot! But our kitchen has more of a warm woods look so that might not go with your cabinet paint idea.

vintagevix2016

My husband is hellbent on getting concrete countertops whenever we buy a house. It's cheap, very durable, and looks surprisingly nice. We currently have quartz and while we do love it, we want to save money on the house when the time comes so I doubt we will get quartz again.

meggyme

I've never had a full butcher block countertop, but I have a section that is butcher block. It's nice that it's a cutting board, but you end up with knife marks and because it's porous, it stains really easily. They're easy to care for, in that you clean them and then wipe some mineral oil on them ever now and again. Also, while the wood may be cheaper than other options, they require more labor to make. Personally, I'd go for a non porous option, unless you could do a bit of both. Maybe part of the kitchen where it would make sense to do butcher block and the rest some other nonporous counter.

AmberLiz99

vintagevix2016 said:

My husband is hellbent on getting concrete countertops whenever we buy a house. It's cheap, very durable, and looks surprisingly nice. We currently have quartz and while we do love it, we want to save money on the house when the time comes so I doubt we will get quartz again.

I love concrete! But it's pretty pricy in our area, and I'm not confidant I could poor them myself. 

AmberLiz99

Tawny87 said:

I like the light color you picked out. The two toned caninets are a great idea. I feel you on loving Quartz. I have never had butcher block before but our last house had granite tile for the counter top, so it looked high end but cost way less then slab. We didn't put the granite tile in so I'm not sure the cost but I'm sure it is more reasonable than either a Quartz or granite slab.

I'm too lazy to scrub grout on my counter, so I don't think I could do tile, lol. 

vintagevix2016

AmberLiz99 said:

vintagevix2016 said:

My husband is hellbent on getting concrete countertops whenever we buy a house. It's cheap, very durable, and looks surprisingly nice. We currently have quartz and while we do love it, we want to save money on the house when the time comes so I doubt we will get quartz again.

I love concrete! But it's pretty pricy in our area, and I'm not confidant I could poor them myself. 

I'm right there with you considering I have zero talent with home projects. 

AmberLiz99

Knottie1449069263 said:

Personally I would fight the urge to make the counter tops lighter. My grandmother went with a white type counter top/backsplash combo and I drives me nuts because you can see everything and we are constantly cleaning. Every crumb stands out. That said I do like the white upper cabinets lower dark blue. Butcher block may work but have you checked out corian countertops? Very durable and less expensive also a variety of colors and lots of movement in the surface so you won't see a lot of dirt. We had a sink made of it before and loved it. Less dirt will get on your backsplash but I personally hate dirty grout and the color difference from clean to dirty grout will be large if you have white tiles. Something to think about.

We did a slate backsplash with dark grey grout and it is pretty and hides a lot! But our kitchen has more of a warm woods look so that might not go with your cabinet paint idea.

I'll have to look up corian. I don't want a light super light countertop.

AmberLiz99

vintagevix2016 said:

What about maybe a light grey for the wall color? I'm having a hard time picturing it but I'm a big fan of light grey. Or maybe a red...or is that way too "Americana"?

My LR is grey, so I don't want to over use it. I love grey too. Dh had to talk me out of grey lower cabinets 

vintagevix2016

AmberLiz99 said:

vintagevix2016 said:

What about maybe a light grey for the wall color? I'm having a hard time picturing it but I'm a big fan of light grey. Or maybe a red...or is that way too "Americana"?

My LR is grey, so I don't want to over use it. I love grey too. Dh had to talk me out of grey lower cabinets 

Fair enough! I like the cabinet colors you are thinking of doing, I love the white/navy blue combo.

meggyme

I just had an idea, depending on how modern you're ok with your kitchen being. What about stainless steel counters? They work in professional kitchens and would be easier maintenance than wood. I was looking at bathroom vanity diy's on domino.com and they mentioned stainless as a less expensive alternative to traditional stone.

AmberLiz99

meggyme said:

I just had an idea, depending on how modern you're ok with your kitchen being. What about stainless steel counters? They work in professional kitchens and would be easier maintenance than wood. I was looking at bathroom vanity diy's on domino.com and they mentioned stainless as a less expensive alternative to traditional stone.

I like the stainless steel. It's still kind of on the high end of my price range, but if I could find a deal I'd be ok with it. 

adiaz132003

I live the concrete look.  I think a grey like that in the corian would be perfect.  I would keep the walls a lighter grey.  I feel like if you did another blue it would be too much.  My File was an artist who did outside kitchens and space design and said the best rule he had was to have no more than 3 colors/textures.  So light colors with walls and upper cabinet, the dark grey countertop and the bold pop of the lower cabinets.

AmberLiz99

Dh and I did some more research and I think we are going to poor our own concrete countertops. We have done other projects before, I think we can swing it. It will be a lot of work! 

rlbrooks84

This isn't interior design advice but I've remodeled 2 kitchen and one with a baby. If you can make and freeze a bunch of meals and put them in disposable containers it'll make your life so much less stressful. We usually didn't have a  kitchen sink for a week and it's rough. I hate paper plates and plastic utensils but they were a life saver. We plugged our oven in when I needed otherwise we grilled a lot. Good luck and I love the Colors you picked for your cabinets!

arteduc8

Love this idea! Navy and white is so classic, I think the wall color should be fairly neutral. Maybe a light tan, warm gray with lavender hints, or a super pale mint. 
https://pin.it/KKA6c5o
https://pin.it/6w6c9Az
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https://pin.it/2jyKj5Z
https://pin.it/WYXVoGP

AmberLiz99

arteduc8 said:

Love this idea! Navy and white is so classic, I think the wall color should be fairly neutral. Maybe a light tan, warm gray with lavender hints, or a super pale mint. 
https://pin.it/KKA6c5o
https://pin.it/6w6c9Az
https://pin.it/8j9itQc
https://pin.it/2jyKj5Z
https://pin.it/WYXVoGP

Yah, the wall color has me stuck. I hate everything we have tried. 

AmberLiz99

Thinking of changing our minds last minute. Are we crazy! Lol

countertops will be concrete, floor is purchased (on the Darcee side of gray tones), walls will be very very light gray (almost a white really). Upper cabinets will be white still. But we are now debating between navy and teal for the bottom. Erg. Dh and I keep going back and forth. Have to decide by tomorrow morning! 

AmberLiz99

This is the real we like. Just not sure how it would look in real life.

vintagevix2016

AmberLiz99 said:

This is the real we like. Just not sure how it would look in real life.

I dig it!!

rlbrooks84

I love the teal! 

meggyme

I like the teal. That said, the navy is more classic and might prevent it from seeming dated down the road. Teal is more trendy.

Tawny87

meggyme said:

I like the teal. That said, the navy is more classic and might prevent it from seeming dated down the road. Teal is more trendy.

Agree. Navy might be better for resale. The teal is gorgeous though!!!!

lm45678

I love the teal! Can't wait to see the finished product!

arteduc8

The teal warms it up a bit. The navy is is nice, but a bit heavier. Both are gorgeous. 

AmberLiz99

SIL was supposed to watch the kids, but backed out, so we didn't get as much done as we hoped to yesterday. Only got half the floor down, but I think I love how it looks 

meggyme

Great color! Is it wood or tile?

AmberLiz99

meggyme said:

Great color! Is it wood or tile?

It's tile. 

meggyme

AmberLiz99 said:

meggyme said:

Great color! Is it wood or tile?

It's tile. 

I love the wood look tile. You just have to be careful not to drop any pots on it. We had it in our last house and there were a couple chips and the white porcelain showed through.

AmberLiz99

meggyme said:

AmberLiz99 said:

meggyme said:

Great color! Is it wood or tile?

It's tile. 

I love the wood look tile. You just have to be careful not to drop any pots on it. We had it in our last house and there were a couple chips and the white porcelain showed through.

It's actually vinyl tile, but it's grouted and looks and feels almost the same. So much easier to take care of! Especially with kids. 

meggyme

AmberLiz99 said:

meggyme said:

AmberLiz99 said:

meggyme said:

Great color! Is it wood or tile?

It's tile. 

I love the wood look tile. You just have to be careful not to drop any pots on it. We had it in our last house and there were a couple chips and the white porcelain showed through.

It's actually vinyl tile, but it's grouted and looks and feels almost the same. So much easier to take care of! Especially with kids. 

Excellent! Looks great.

AmberLiz99

Such a pain to get it, but our fridge is in the house! No more big appliance moving for a long time I hope. 
Still so much to do, but at least it's One step closer! 

vintagevix2016

I knew I was officially an adult when I got waaaay too excited about buying new large appliances. The fridge looks great! Lots of opportunities for little fingerprints.  Our's is like that too. I love it!

anngrant777

Edited for TOU violation

vintagevix2016

Edited for TOU violation

"We only live once," isn't always a good reason to spend above your set budget. It sounds great but often is just not doable due to other necessary expenses (mortgage, bills, food, etc.). @AmberLiz99 and her husband made choices based on what they knew they could afford for a renovation and I bet it all came together fantastically.

The link in your post directs to a renovation company, which makes me wonder if this is a spam post. The image is also used by a lot of different reno and countertop companies.

AmberLiz99

Hmm... strang comment above.

Im just so glad to be done, and kind of proud that we did everything 100% on our own. Renovations with three little kids are no joke! Maybe I'll post some pictures today for fun

annaf2011

AmberLiz99 said:

Hmm... strang comment above.

Im just so glad to be done, and kind of proud that we did everything 100% on our own. Renovations with three little kids are no joke! Maybe I'll post some pictures today for fun

Yes, post some pics!

vintagevix2016

AmberLiz99 said:

Hmm... strang comment above.

Im just so glad to be done, and kind of proud that we did everything 100% on our own. Renovations with three little kids are no joke! Maybe I'll post some pictures today for fun

You should definitely feel proud! That's a big accomplishment! Can't wait to see pictures 

And it looks like that post was removed for violating the Terms of Services, makes sense. She has other posts elsewhere similar to this one (tells a stories, then promotes a business via link).