Hi everyone! I am brand spankin' new to the boards after some perusing around. Everyone seems so helpful, with such wonderful ideas so I decided to join! I've decided to turn to you for a little help. Let me preface this post with a brief introduction before delving into our kitchen challenge.
My husband and I will be taking over my mother-in-law's house within the next few months and we're in the process of giving it a little facelift. The house is in great condition given its age, but it's definitely in need of some updating. We are currently working on several small projects (re-tiling the common areas excluding the kitchen, new paint on the walls, new ceiling fans, etc.) in order to achieve a fresh look in the common areas. We will move to the bedrooms and guest bathrooms one at a time over the next year.
We have decided on a warm, neutral palette of browns and creams with pops of color here and there (my style is more eclectic but I'm toning it down for the sake of my dear husband's relaxed taste). Ideally, I'd like to choose one wall color that will work for the kitchen as well as the other common areas. However, I *am* open to different colors so long as they melt into each other nicely.
As far as our kitchen challenge goes, I'm attaching some photos for you to see. My mother-in-law put a lot of hard work into upgrading the entire kitchen less than ten years ago and she chose oak cabinets with Mexican style terra cotta tile. I think the kitchen is lovely but I'm having a hard time making it work with the warmth we're trying to achieve throughout the house. My dining and living rooms have dark wood furniture so I'm a bit worried about everything working together. As much as the internet suggests oak cabinets are dated, I simply cannot paint or replace them at this time.
So, here is where I need some help...
What color would you paint the walls?
What would you do for the window treatment? I was thinking of going with a Roman shade rather than curtains.
Should we replace the ceiling fan with a more modern fan or should we skip the fan and go with decorative lighting? (TBH, the fan is not a "must have" for me).
The island is not secured to the floor. It can be moved or removed. What would you do? Initially, I wanted to remove it to open the kitchen up but some of my friends are begging me to keep it in place because they insist I'll want the counter space.
Adding hardware to the cabinets is something I wanted to do but some have suggested it might draw more attention to the oak. Would it be a bad idea afterall?
Eventually, we will upgrade all of the appliances but cannot do so at this time. When we do upgrade them, would you suggest stainless steel? I also like black appliances but worry it might date the cabinets even more. Suggestions welcome...
Below are some photos of the kitchen at present time, with all of my mother-in-law's belongings still in place. She will be packing everything up before we move in so try to envision a clean slate.
View of the kitchen from the dining room
Close up of the backsplash
Thank you SO MUCH in advance! I know this might be a lot...can you tell I've never done this before?
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