Design Delimma: The Kitchen

Ahh the kitchen.  It truly is the heart of the home.  In our case this is true both figuratively and literally.  Our kitchen sits right smack dab in the middle of our floor plan (more or less!).  Amongst a million other things its where we cook, eat, entertain, make decisions, and do homework.  In fact, the kitchen was one of the biggest selling points for us when we chose this house.  We love it-for the most part. 

Now that we've been in our house for just about a year we  have a really good idea as to what works, and what doesn't work for us when it comes to the epicenter of casa de Gardner.  I'll start with the things that we both love about it. 

***Disclaimer-I'm sorry about the lighting and the picture quality.  We don't have a fancy camera yet so the ol Apple Iphone 3G is holdin it down right now!***

We love the size and layout of our kitchen.  We really lucked out because not only is it spacious but it's also very functional as well.  We love the L-Shaped layout and the open concept because it makes for a good working triangle. We also love that our cabinetry isn't your standard height.  Ours measure in at 42" which allows for great storage space. Speaking of storage, there are 26 cabinets and drawers in which to store things as well as a great pantry to store even more things. We love the double ovens and the gas cook top. And lastly, we love the island and the dining area. We like having the sink in the island and there's a ton of space to have lots of people in the kitchen area all at once.

Functionally speaking, we wouldn't change a single thing about it.  Cosmetically speaking there are a few changes to be made.  The best part about that is since all the changes we want to make effect the look of the kitchen, we can do all the work ourselves and save a ton of money. 

1. The floors. As of right now we have the builder grade linoleum throughout the kitchen, laundry room and all the baths.  This is a cleaning disaster for Naomi because where I'm a swiffer wet jet kinda gal, shes a "let me get down on my hands and knees like Cinderella and scrub the floors kinda gal".  This lino scuffs and shows dirt worse than a mofo, too. We both agree that dark toned hardwoods are going down throughout the house.

2. The counter tops.  We both agree that the counter tops stay.  Though they aren't quartz like we would like, they are solid surface Corian and they are a breeze to clean.  They are a decent neutral color so they are good to stay for now.

3. The back splash (or lack thereof). We both agree on glass tiles to give it that extra oomph.

4. The appliances. We both agree that stainless steel appliances are gonna find their way into this kitchen some day. And we also both agree that the microwave above the stove will be replaced with a range hood.  We will probably find away to build a microwave into the cabinets somehow as well.

5. The color. How we got to this color is a story in itself but basically this was Naomi's win.  We both wanted a granny smith apple kinda color and she picked this specific one out.  We know its not for everyone, but we really love it.  Its a lot more lime than this pictures are picking up and its pretty in the natural light.  The color stays. For now.

6. The cabinets.  Ahhhh here's where the boxing gloves come out!  Naomi and I are polar opposites about a lot of things and design is one of em.  In Naomi's corner: she wants to keep them as they are. She's always liked the color and look of them. She thinks they are unique. In my corner: I hate them!  I don't like the color. I think they are too dark.  I don't like the glazing effect on them.  I think they look way to "Italian villa" to me.  Now don't get me wrong.  They are pretty.  And they would be perfect in a house with more traditional homeowners.  Naomi and I are not traditional. 

I want to paint them white.  Or maybe even do a two toned kinda thing with white uppers and light gray lowers or even just painting the island grey and all the other cabinets white.  The problem is when Naomi hears "white cabinets" she immediately thinks country kitchen.  She has images of bead board and glazing and kitchens with roosters and cows swimming in her head!.  This is what she shes:

 But I see clean, contemporary, light, bright and airy like this:

I understand her concern (kind of) but I try explaining that there's no way our kitchen will look like a country style kitchen.   For one thing our cabinets have clean lines and no ornate woodworking detail in them. And the biggest thing is our design style is not country-simple as that.  I'm really hoping she comes around to the idea because the ol "I'm the one that does pretty much all the cooking so it should be how I want it" attempt DID NOT go over very well!

Ive learned that if I want to convince her of something the key is in my ability to make her see my vision. So I'm gathering pictures and bringing up the conversation everyday because I'm determined to convince her how awesome our kitchen would look with white cabinets.  I'm even loving the look of two toned cabinets like this:

(all images found on Google)

I'm thinking if I cant get her to agree to change them to white, its gonna be a hard sell to get her to agree to the two-tone!  But hey, a girl can dream right!

At the end of the day a decision will be made, hopefully sooner than later.  For now the kitchen will have to stay as it is, but eventually it will be a space we both can enjoy.  

What about you?  Is the heart of your home a haven or a headache?  Id love hear about it.  Until next time...

XoXo-Shavonda