From CelticMoon...

You just need time, maybe $50 in supplies, and patience. No skill.

Here's more than you need to know:

My cabinets are frameless, good condition and good layout. But the finish had gone orange and ugly, with the oak graining too busy for me. Cabinets are 18 years old, very poorly finished oak veneered slab doors. Plain with no crevices. They didn't even take the doors off to finish them!!! No stain or finish on the hinge side edges. Cheezey, huh?

I looked into changing out cabinets, but that was way too much money, since my layout was OK. Painting didn't seem right because the doors were plain slabs. I considered new doors but that still meant a lot of money. For a few years I tried to figure a way to add molding toward a mission look, but the rounded door edges made that impossible. Then trolling in a kitchen emporium showroom this last year I noticed dark wood slab doors, kind like mine, but darker. That was the answer.

First I tried Minwax Polyshades. Dicey product. Hard to brush on neatly, then gummy, then seemed to leave a sticky tacky residue. I did a thread on the Woodworking Forum "Evil Polyshades to the Rescue" which elicited a lot of conflicting "expert" opinions and arguments that one must strip to bare wood.

(Thread may still be around as that Forum moves slow.) I properly stripped acres of woodwork in an old Victorian when I was young and stupid. Never again! Jennifer-in-clyde (in the same boat) and I stumbled around on that woodworking thread to get to this method.

Shopping List:

disposable small plastic bowls or plates, and plastic spoons or forks for stirring/dipping (optional)

I've selected both absolute black and volcano granite for the kitchen and am trying to come up with backsplash ideas that will complement both, since the volcano is a dramatic granite with a lot of movement. (I don't have a good photo from the granite yard, but it resembles Magma Gold on the Granite Guru's site)

I like the Tatrum tiles by Sonoma Tilemakers and am thinking of using the black tile in a simple liner with possibly a small bronze accent tile - I am stuck on the field tile, which I think should be simple so not to compete with the granite. I am not fond of tumbled marble, but have found a few rustic looking tiles that I like the look of - Seneca, Motawi, and Trikeenan. I'd like to find other options and venders with this kind of look, that might be a little more cost-effective on the already stretched budget.

Any advice or links much appreciated. I don't post much because I have to remember my password to log in - but read often and have learned so much that we have put to use in making choices. Thanks in advance

discount

Here's the kitchen:

I found this at Ann Sacks - its a stoneware tile made for Ann Sacks by a different company. The color is called Lemon Pesto (sorry about the crap lighting!)

With my cabinets:

I found this image online, but I think the color looks duller than it really was in person:

I don't think I'd use a deco tile unless they had something that would tie the stainless and black in?? I'd probably go lighter with the grout, a little closer to the upper cab colors.

What do you think???

Of course the guy at Ann Sacks didn't know the exact price and his guess puts it higher than I was thinking I'd spend even with the discount. Sigh.

Other Ann Sacks favorites I should look at? Other non-Ann Sacks tile that would be decently priced ($10-$20 a sq ft) and would fit into my kitchen well?

Here is a link that might be useful: My finished kitchen thread

Before in all its oak and cranberry glory ~

and after ~ We pushed the refrigerator back into part of our front hall closet and turned a G into a galley. New 42" uppers and (almost) all drawers. I love the new layout!

The details:
Cabinets: Cliq Studios Tea Leaf lowers, Painted Linen uppers
Counters: Black Pearl Granite
Sink: 30" Kohler Whitehaven in biscuit
Faucet: Kohler Simplice in stainless steel
Ceiling Light: Rejuvenation Jefferson in black with glass shade from ebay
Sink Light: Hi-Lite Manufacturing Warehouse Shade 8" in Vanilla Cream
Undercabinet Lights: ProLED 1.5 watt strips
Peninsula Legs and Apron: Osborne Wood Products St. Simons Island Post and beaded apron painted by me to match
Hardware: Cup Pulls are Thomasville Garner 2 3/4" Cup Pull in matte black, Knobs are Liberty P40005C in flat black, both from Home Depot
Stools: 24" Saddle Seat Stool from Walmart
Flooring: Original maple with a little repair/replacement done
Wall paint: Sherwin Williams Compatible Cream
Trim paint: Sherwin Williams Creamy

I think its helpful to have a budget breakdown especially for lower end kitchens so I thought I'd include that as well:
Cabinets, crown, peninsula legs and apron: $5,500
Granite Counters: $2,200
Other Building Materials: $550
GC's Labor (including installing cabs, framing new closet): $1,600
GC Fee: $400
Lighting: $310
Plumbing Fixtures: $1,200
Hardware: $170
Plumbing: $1,285
Electrical: $1,200
Drywall: $1,100
HVAC: $100
Paint: $50
Accessories: $150

Total: about $16,000 which was pretty much the total budget we started with. Some things shifted back and forth - more on lighting, less on electrical sub, more on drywall, less on plumbing fixtures.

The show finds an old, abandoned Victorian kitchen, then they locate an old lady who used to actually work as a cook back in the 1920s, then they renovate the kitchen and bring it back to a functional state and then they start cooking the way they used to cook in those estates.

Bonus material is a walk-through on an old recipe - Spring Fruit Soup, which turns out to be a multi-day affair involving extraordinary complexity.

If you want to watch more of the series, the remaining episodes are located on the Youtube sidebar.

I'm still trying to decide where to get my cabs. Thanks. E

I wanted to post a couple of links to Anchor Bay's colors. You can order samples for $2 apiece ($10 shipping, regardless of number). They're all handmade tiles; some are crackled, some are beveled, some are 2x4, some are 3x6, and some lines come in more colors than others. (I think we're doing Soho bisque with a celery listello).

http://www.AnchorBayTile.com/Claypads-Tile-Liners-Listellos-p/300clp1201.htm (46 colors for this particular one)

http://www.AnchorBayTile.com/Clayline-Ceramic-Subway-Tile-Trim-p/310cll1750.htm (60 for this one)

http://www.AnchorBayTile.com/Cardiff-Ceramic-Subway-Tile-2x4-p/230crdf.htm (6 for this one)

http://www.AnchorBayTile.com/Soho-Ceramic-Subway-Tile-Trim-p/221sohf.htm (4 for this one)

I'm not trying to push this company on you or anything, but they do have a few whites to choose from. They're great for me since I'm hours from a real tile showroom. It's fun to look at Ann Sacks' website, for example, but I have no way to actually order any of that stuff. I love that this is a direct order site.

Anyway - I think you're wise to make a reasonable effort to get the two whites to go together (like not putting a cool one against a warm one if you can help it), but like Mary said upthread, it's not even possible to match all your whites and you'll drive yourself bonkers if you try. I know our fireclay sink is a different white than our tile and cabs, but at some point, I have to say that white is white and that's good enough for me. ;o)

Yup, that's what happened.
I had been so involved in the details of setting up a new FKB (with fancy categories) that I lost sight of the goal of the project..... adding kitchens.

So I'm revamping the blogger setup so it is more user-friendly for both viewing and for adding kitchens.
I will worry about the categories later.

Click on the link below to view a preview of the new FKB.
It's a "work in progress" since I haven't played around with the text or colors and many of the links in the navigation bar aren't working.
Be sure to hover over "Dynamic Views" in the top navigation bar and select the various views: Flipcard, Magazine, Mosaic, Sidebar, Snapshot, Timeslide and Classic.

What do you think of the basic functionality?

btw.... can someone please verify the page displays properly on tablets and smartphones?

New format for Finished Kitchens Blog (FKB)

Anyway, here are the details:
Appliances: all KitchenAid, except for the Sharp MW drawer
in the island. Range is 36" dual fuel, with a
griddle.
Cabinets: Mid-Continent, maple painted white, with soft
close drawers and doors. We chose all wood
construction.
Perimeter counters: Honed Carerra marble
Island top: Dark walnut, with a mineral oil finish
Floors: 5" wide white oak, stained 75% jacobean, 24% dark
walnut.
Lighting: Pendants, Quiozel, I think. Breakfast chandy is
Overstock.com!

Things I love so far: 1. Soft close!! Love!! Although we have it on all the drawers in the house, we only did the doors on the kitchen and butler's pantry cabs. Wish we had done it everywhere.
2. KA dishwasher and range...both of these have been wonderful so far, DW is so quiet and cleans really well. Range and oven are very easy to use and have nice, consistant heat. Plus, I think very pretty! :)
3. MW drawer...so awesome, love it to pieces!
4. Under cab lights...never had these before, we have them on a dimmer, they are wonderful.
5. Walnut top...everyone who visits swoons over it...it is a wonderful, warm surface.

Things I DON'T love:
1. Fridge! Counter-depth french door is awful! We had to buy an auxiliary fridge for the garage, and I am contemplating adding a fridge drawer to the island.
2. The distance from the range wall to the island seems a scooch too big, I think it is 48". I could have moved the island a few inches closer to the range.

I will do a seperate post about my experience with honed vs. polished marble (I have polished in the master bath.) There are pros and cons to each, I have found.

Anyway, Nini's kitchen!

I have a list of TWENTY SEVEN names that I have specific questions about your kitchen! I thought maybe the link to a thread with info might answer many without having to bug everyone personally!

In addition to those 27, I already have 32 threads saved in my favorites, some have the answers, some not, so will probably have to "bug you" for those. :)

So, if you have it, will you post it? PLEASE??

And, THANK YOU!!

FWIW, here are the rest of our materials:
Perimeter cabinets: Shaker style, painted BM Mascarpone (Creamy white) with Honed Absolute black counters
Island: Stained cherry (dark, but not quite espresso) with Costa Esmeralda counter
Floors: a lightish oak- which run through the whole house, very similar in color to the photo below.

Here is an inspiration photo...I realize this backsplash is not the Ming green...I'm just wondering if the ming green would work as a substitute?

Are those who have used Cliq Studios happy? Or have there been some disasters I should be aware of before going forward?

I'm attaching a photo of the 18LX7W raw space from a real estate ad. The refrigerator will go in the room beyond. It still looks much the same except the carpet has been removed. That lowered ceiling area is ducting I can't do anything about except to work around it. There's only 70 inches of space beyond the ducting where the sink and dishwasher will be placed. Everything else has to fit under the 74 1/2 inches from floor to ducting.

Would love any feedback.