Update This Kitchen in a Warm, Traditional Style

This kitchen isn’t bad, but it isn’t what the homeowners want. The biggest complaint was how dark this kitchen really was.

(These are real estate photos, btw, so they are brightened up considerably more than how this kitchen looks in real life. :-( You know what I mean here.)

In real life, this kitchen feels like a dark hole to the homeowner and somewhere they don’t enjoy spending time in.

They also feel it is too contemporary looking for their taste, with the polished uba tuba granite and the contemporary lighting. They did not like the eating bar that extended out and wanted to get rid of that too.

Overall it felt like 90’s kitchen to them, which is exactly what it was.

They asked questions regarding keeping the countertop and if maybe painting the cabinets would be enough. They were concerned about the asymmetry of the sink wall and if some glass panel doors in the uppers would help.

She originally thought of doing a sage green on the cabinets, which she had loved, but it still seemed dark in the space so she was leaning to a warm cream color.

They are moving from their authentic Victorian home and wanted something warm and traditional.

Here are some of their inspiration photos for the adjacent space.

Let’s see if we can partially update it to make it work better for them and give them a lighter, brighter and more traditional look.

The Design Recommendations

Normally I might say keep the cabinets and change the counters and splash as I think I can work with the cabinet color.

This cabinet color isn’t bad, if it is paired with more updated counters and splash, like in these two jobs of mine. The bathroom is a honed finish black granite and the kitchen is a matte finish quartz material.

Honestly, I don’t mind uba tuba IF it is in a leather or honed finish. The polished though, is a dead giveaway for the time frame of when the kitchen was built. For more info on these two projects, click on the images. :-)

Bathroom New Build Home - Carla Aston

Kitchen Remodel - Designer, Carla Aston

There is one problem here that I can’t overlook though. The cabinets and the wood floors are slightly off in tone, the floors have more of a yellow color to them. That’s a lot of warm wood in there too.

Since the floors are staying as they run through the whole place, then the cabinets are the thing that we can change. She’s already on board with painting those, so I moved that direction.

The first thing I determined was that I thought she should definitely change the countertop and splash. I never like that 4” slab backsplash with tile above it detail in a kitchen and if she wants lighter and brighter, then dark uba tuba granite was not going to help.

Also, if the wanted to get rid of the bar, then that would be another reason to redo the counters.

The first material I thought of is kind of my go-to for a soft, transitional look when going for something light colored, durable and a natural stone. (I prefer that for traditional interiors.)

Taj Mahal quartzite would work well here.

(Click here to see more about this remodel done last year with Taj Mahal counters.)

Taj Mahal quartzite in a kitchen remodel I worked on last year. Designer: Carla Aston

She wanted to use the same material on the splash too, which I think would work well here since there really isn’t much splash area. It will keep things less busy and the slab material will look richer and be easier to maintain.

One thing I noticed is that the sink area sort of disappears since there are cabinets above the sink and the faucet is off-center. Even though the asymmetry of that wall doesn’t bother me, I like giving more prominence to the sink area.

I’ve had a kitchen before with cabinets above the sink like this and I didn’t like it. It sort of felt claustrophobic and it feels rather apartment-like to me.

I suggested removing that upper cabinet and glass shelf. That is easy to do as the cabinet boxes are attached to the wall, not each other.

Then, I’d run the slab backsplash part way up the upper cabinet, to align with the bottom of the hood. I’d run that slab up on the hood wall up to the bottom of the hood.

I rather like seeing a bit of painted sheetrock in this kitchen that feels a little cabinet-heavy.

On the sink wall I like having a little ledge of wood or stone to cap the top of the splash. Then she can have a mirror on the wall above the ledge to reflect some light into this space.

She wanted to do a central light fixture, but there was a vent in the way. I liked the idea and thought two of these fixtures would work nicely. This traditional look would bring some brass to the kitchen too and add some detail to this space.

They would need to add a recessed can light over the sink too.

Now, let’s get to the paint.

I really like the idea of a two tone kitchen here, to keep upper area as light and bright as possible.

She could do her favorite sage green for the lowers, maybe like this color from Sherwin Williams, Clary Sage. Then a color like SW Alabaster or a creamier white for the uppers.

I would not do any glass cabinets here, as I usually do those when I have a big wall of cabinetry to help break up the mass. There just isn’t that much space in here and we have removed the one over the sink so I think that is enough relief.

The end base cabinet there will have to be dealt with, it can possibly be turned to face the kitchen interior once the slab is removed or they can add dummy panels to the face so it is not just a blank space.

I’d do some brass cabinet pulls on all of these cabinets and if she wanted, maybe a thin furniture style island. Something like this island w/a stainless top, below, is 20” deep.

It would add a traditional element here and the top could be replaced with some leftover slab material. They could change out the pulls and towel bar for brass too.

Since it is on casters, it could be pushed out of the kitchen area a bit as needed. They have some room there, even tucking it at the end of the counter if needed.

I think it feels more like a style that would work with her inspo pics, something more layered and traditional that is light and bright. It feels more homey to me overall.

Want to see more of my kitchen consultations done via my Designed in a Click email service? See some below!

This blogpost was thoughtfully written by me, Carla Aston, and not by AI, ghostwriters, or guest posters.