Kitchen design help por favor
I was hoping to get some advice from some of the fine Houzzers out there with a kitchen layout I'm working on for a new build. This will be a modern/contemporary kitchen with the base and tall cabinets being full overlay in one color and the uppers being something like aluminum with frosted glass.
My original thought was to put a big 80 40 picture window as shown in the 3rd photo, but it feels a little unbalanced to me. I do like the way the tall cabinets frame the uppers cabinets and window and I love the amount of uninterrupted prep space to the right of the sink. But if you're sitting at the island (see bottom photo) the window falls off to the right quite a bit. The window is south facing and stares directly at my cedar fence 6' away so I thought I'd try to plant Aspen trees outside of it.
My next thought was to do a wide skinny window (still with Aspen trees behind it) like in the 2nd photo. Run a stretch of short uppers above the window. I think that might look cool, almost like a photograph of aspens for a backsplash.
So what do you think? Should I go with the original less expensive plan with the big window, or do the long skinny backsplash window? Also I will have 9.5' ceilings I was planning on furring down to the 8' cabinet tops. Good idea or not?
Thanks a bunch for your input!
Comments (14)
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Comments (5)Hello Emma-fleur, you are right, the red does emphasize the orange to does in the timber, which is not at all complimentary. Having said that it's an easy fix! Timber is still a natural tone, and you can easily reduce it's impact on your interior not by bringing in whitea and creams necessarily, as they will only high lit once again the orange tone in the wood, but try to introduce other materials and colour similar to it, therefore reducing their visual jarring. I mean that perhaps a sisal rope rug which has natural fibres and caramel colorings might help draw your attention away from the timber dominance, and introducing other mid toned timbers in hard furniture such as coffee or side table, mirrors or frames even lamp bases will actually tie into the timber, at the moment that is your feature which you are not happy with, so make a new one. Would keep a simple neutral palette across your soft furnishing,s sofas cushions and draperour both your drapes with a mushroom brown are lovely, and the chocolate ones make it feel a little more contemporary, and our roman pull down blinds are a good colour reference, as would be anything that must stay. Work with these permanent features rather than against them. I would suggest painting your walls a warm based coffee, to help mute the contrast of he kitchen cabinets and floor. Also, any cream or light clouded furniture that you fill the room with, will instantly standout as a lighter feature against them. As for colours, I would really lean towards natural tones, rather than colour. Tones are colours that have been affected by black, tints are colours effected by white, they are much more subtle and may include colours like olive greens, mustard yellows, or even teal blues, compared to their colored version of green, yellow or blue. These will compliment the natural textures in the materials you introduce. Good luck....See MoreVOTE: IKEA savedal or bodbyn with Caesarstone London Grey?
Comments (18)I love the style of IKEA cabinets, but do wish they had more colours, it's a pity we can't access the IKEA custom door companies in Australia like semihandmade! Do you want white? There is the option of the grey LERHYTTAN which is midway in style between bodbyn and savedal?...See MoreShould I paint the exposed beams in my living room?
Comments (42)the beams are the whole architectural focus in house of this style. I can understand people wanting to paint when the ceiling is low and flat as the dark timber can feel intrusive. once painted, the home's point of difference will be lost forever. maybe you should get a designer decorator out to your house, who has worked with style before - they will probably have some great suggestions for other ways to capture more light, through light furniture, reflective surfaces, window treatments, different lighting and mirrors. skylights do make a world of difference too🌞...See MoreFeedback on house design
Comments (63)the only mistake would be not making the best of what you already have.. it's a great house and the size and location of windows can help improve PSD ...YourHome.gov has lots of ideas for improving design for existing homes with less than ideal orientation but depending on your local climate "north facing" isn't always ideal for every room.. we deliberately built a south west facing room because it's good to have light in all rooms, western sun is great in cold weather and overheating is easily controlled with insulation and external blinds and a south facing room will be easily cooled in hot weather ... a highlight window in your rumpus room will help brighten the room and allow for easier furniture placement and shade cloth roller blinds on the outside of the alfresco can shade western sun from kitchen and family living and dining areas...good luck with your build and enjoy your new home...See Moremountainfreak4465
8 years agoSorry, I put porch, I meant patio. It's ground level with a very small back yard. The idea was to give the kitchen an open airy feel when the weathers nice and keep it closed during cooler months (near Denver). I was thinking I'd make a tall skinny "community table" I'd put out there too so just meant to connect the indoor and outdoor spaces.
Here's a clearer early version of the floorpan. I didn't include it before because obviously the sink and dishwasher can't be where they are, no cabinets etc.
I like the skinny window with small uppers as well except for where the cabinets pass over the sink. Can you put cabinets over a sink where they're still functional and not smack in your face?
chaya25
8 years ago
PRODupont Cabinetry & Design
8 years agoIf you want clean contemporary lines, I would recommend not building furr downs. I have attached a photo of one of our projects to illustrate a similar look to the one you may want to create.
mountainfreak4465 thanked Dupont Cabinetry & Designmountainfreak4465
8 years agomountainfreak4465
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8 years ago
havingfun
8 years agomountainfreak4465
8 years agoDupont. I thought about that and didn't think I'd want my sink that close to the oven. I don't know why but for some reason it felt cramped. I do like what you did with the book shelves. Maybe I could do something like that and just eliminate the lowest one or do open shelves(Chaya's idea). I was also planning on mixing the uppers and lowers like you've done so well. The taller cabinets on the ends matching the lowers. Maybe carry the short upper cabinets around to the West wall and leave a similar gap between fridge and the double wall oven.
I swear before I do another project I will go back to school for CAD and give up the graph paper...Well maybe not totally give it up.
Thanks for all the help. You guys are awesome!
chaya25