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JennGM
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| Posted: Nov 06 2012 at 11:24am | IP Logged
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We're contemplating replacing our kitchen, at least cabinets and countertops and wall oven.
This all new thoughts, but one thing I have been thinking of trying is butcher block. Anyone have this and recommend it? Does it wear well?
I have old fashioned laminate, and it's durable, although not "in". I love the look of butcher block best, then quartz, but $$ of course is an issue.
Just would love to hear what do you have, what do you love, what do you recommend, and what do you not recommend?
And what color are your cabinets IF you DO have butcher block? What color wood goes together? If I was contemplating maple color, that would be too much darkness, it would seem to me.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Nov 06 2012 at 11:37am | IP Logged
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My sister has butcher block counters and loves them! She's had them for two years now. She has white cabinets and it looks very fresh in her kitchen. She repurposed and salvaged what she could of her old cabinets by repainting them white and adding a really lovely hardware and this saved her mega $$ in redoing her kitchen.
For me, the butcher block counter with maple cabinets option would be too much wood and wouldn't be complementary.
You do have to maintain the butcher block every so often with a good coat of food grade oil. A really lovely option is almond oil and beeswax. It smells so wonderful!
If we ever get to replace our kitchen we would lean toward butcher block counters, white cabinets below and open white shelving above.
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Jen Mackintosh
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Nov 06 2012 at 12:09pm | IP Logged
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The general "rule" is that you can mix woods anyway you want. But whether something is too dark or not will depend on a lot of things.. like how much space you have that isn't one of the darker woods.
Knowing myself and the amount of use stuff gets around here.. I wouldn't get butcher block counters because of the upkeep.. but I might get some butcher block counters.. actually my plan is to cut a butcher block we have down to table size and use it as small two chair table but have it available for other uses.. and use laminate on the counters as being easy maintainance.
If you're afraid of it being too dark you might look at the "white" woods that are used for cabinets.
I don't know if the maple would be too dark but it wouldn't offer a lot of contrast with a butcherblock top. The look seems to be more contrast.. and painted cupboards do look pretty with butcherblock.
But you might also really look at the laminates.. they have some pretty nice stuff.. mimics other more expensive stuff.. and maybe you don't want to highlight the countertops anyway.. maybe you just want something basic so that the cupboards really pop.
Most people I know are less concerned that it's "in" (unless you're trying to sell) and more that it's a room that they like to be in.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Nov 06 2012 at 1:18pm | IP Logged
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My kitchen cabinets are this color. It looks different because I don't have the same color walls. I actually came across these photos *after* I'd already painted my cabinets. I looked at this kitchen initially for my color inspiration. I loved the warmth that the dishrack over the sink added, and my counters are roughly that color. I used the product and technique described in this post, though I used a different shade of the stain that we felt complimented the green a little better.
We still have laminate across the kitchen from the butcher block, though the butcher block is definitely the dominate surface. So, you might consider mixing the butcher block with the laminate for functionality. You might consider that if you go with laminate, there are some really nice options now, and you wouldn't necessarily have to replace it, just have the current counters recovered, or at least some of them.
Also, in our old kitchen, we had black tile counters (for economy) and added a wood edge to it for warmth. This post has my house listing photos for our home when we were selling it, though for some reason, the best photo of the kitchen isn't showing up in FireFox for me, so you might need to look at it in another browser.
Anyway, we've considered adding a trim edge stained to match the butcherblock to the existing laminate to tie it in some.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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SallyT
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| Posted: Nov 06 2012 at 4:28pm | IP Logged
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Oh, that green is gorgeous, and would be even more gorgeous against the natural wood.
My entire kitchen is Benjamin Moore Linen White -- the husband vetoed green cabinets as too dark, and though I initially resisted that, I am really in love with Linen White (which is really creamy/buttermilky/warm-golden-glowy in lamplight). Right now our countertops and backsplash are a dark-green 1990s laminate (one reason for not also having green cabinets), but if I were going to change, I would definitely consider butcher block counters and keep the Linen White cabinets -- all shades of wood finish seem to look really nice with this warm neutral. I know it sounds boring, but we have a bunch of early-19th-century land deeds in wooden frames on the wall above our table, and they look unbelievably beautiful on the wall.
We have Linen White on the trim throughout most of our downstairs -- haven't yet painted the upstairs -- and it looks pretty against various shades of green as well as browns and other natural, earthy colors.
Wish I had some good pictures -- all the ones I took when we first painted, especially in the kitchen, have really strange lighting which doesn't show things up to advantage at all. Plus, we haven't changed our ratty old yellowish vinyl floor, which doesn't really go with the walls. I'm hoping there's wood underneath, because a wood floor would look really gorgeous in here, again without changing the wall and cabinet color.
So that's very tangential . . . but if you wanted a neutral cabinet color, LW would work with wood counters for sure.
Sally
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SallyT
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And Lindsay, your old house is darling. I love the cream-and-red kitchen! Mine is quite similar, but with taupe doors and a heck of a lot of green, thanks to the counters and backsplash. Fortunately we love green . . .
Sally
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JennGM
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| Posted: Nov 06 2012 at 4:57pm | IP Logged
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I love it all, Lindsay! Sally, that color sounds perfect. it's all the decisions to make at one time, even though we might not be doing it all at one time -- floors, counters, cabinets.
I'm thinking the cheapest option would be replace the door and drawer fronts, paint them all white, then do a butcher block or some other inexpensive countertop. I do love the look of wood best. I'd love wood cabinets, but doing a wood floor stresses me out on the matching or unmatchy-ness.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: Nov 06 2012 at 8:29pm | IP Logged
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I love kitchen remodeling. We just finished ours after 3 years of planning, thinking, moving things around, etc. Our kitchen had "flow" issues so we needed to work a lot out. And it involved "construction" to check how "flow" changed..so we lived with sheetrock dust and missing and stacked cabinets for a few years. FUN!
But, that doesn't answer your question. We researched counters and decided on either quartz or laminate. We weren't interested in the granite maintenance, which I would forget to do :) Cost prevented us from doing quartz but we found a really nice laminate that looks like quartz or granite. I think it was WilsonArt brand and we have been happy with it.
We had some "wood" matching issues trying to get our hickory cabinets and a wood look floor to not be too busy. The hickory has a lot of wood texture and we were having a tough time making it work. We ended up finding another laminate for the floor, too. Pergo. It looks really nice after all the time and stress. Enjoy your planning and keep hunting and you will find something that works. It is hard work but we are very pleased with our patience and time taken.
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SallyT
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| Posted: Nov 07 2012 at 12:08am | IP Logged
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Jenn, here is a rambling blog post which includes some pictures of our kitchen/trim color. The kitchen pic isn't wonderful, and it does showcase the total grunginess of our floor, but you can get a sense of the Linen White. It's definitely a cream, not a pure white. Our dining room is painted that color as well, and again, I really like it (but then, it had been a green so dark it was almost black, so anything *light* looks great to me). It's a warm neutral that plays nicely with wood floors and any other warm wood finish.
ETA: And we did just paint our cabinets as they were. They're nothing to write home about, just cheap builder's grade cabinets from Lowes. I'd love to replace my doors at some point -- I hate the beveled fronts that catch all grime -- but paint was what was in our budget. They were white anyway, but a colder, duller white. The LW looks much nicer against the dark-green laminate countertops, almost as if we had planned it that way, which makes me happy enough with it for now. Wood would be really nice, though!
Sally (who promises she will not flood the thread with any more posts about Linen White!)
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CrunchyMom
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Love the linen white! My trim throughout and the walls of my kitchen are white tie by Farrow and Ball. Sort of. I can't afford FB, but I love their colors and restrained pallette, so I color match from the card, but it is close enough for me. Looks very similar to yours, I think.
I considered painting my cabinets this color, but they are 1950s metal cabinets, and I felt that without architectural contrast (molding, etc...), white would be sort of sterile.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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St. Ann
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| Posted: Nov 07 2012 at 5:22am | IP Logged
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Jenn, I love the wooden butcher block countertops, but decided against it last year when we remodeled because of possible contamination. Wood is porous and I need to avoid even small amounts of gluten contamination in the kitchen. We have different cutting boards for gluten foods. I am mentioning this, because I know you also deal with food allergies in your home.
Actually, all the natural materials are porous. We ended up spending quite a lot of money on our countertops choosing Staron, which is often used in the medical field, but we are glad we did. It can be built into your kitchen totally seamless which is a big plus! No more crumbs stuck in the seams.
Our kitchen was almost 40years old, but the cabinetry was high quality carpentry, so we were able to save and use the corpus and just replace the fronts adding draws instead of doors. Big luxury!
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Angel
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Hmmm, Jenn, we are in the same place, I think.  All my cabinets are falling apart... or have been chewed apart by mice eating their way up from outside, but that's another story...
I like butcher block, too, and had it on my island in NY. It worked great, wasn't fussy to maintain at all. What I'd like to do in this kitchen is put in quartzite counter tops everywhere but the island, and do the island in butcher block. I thought that would be cheaper, but the kitchen designer we talked to told us that butcher block can be just as pricey as stone if it has to be cut in custom lengths. So... first we have to see what chunk of the budget the cabinets will take.
We're going with a medium wood for the cabinets because right now we have white ones, and *sigh* with this many boys and this much kitchen use, white does not look fresh *at all*. In fact, it looks pretty gross most of the time. (Of course, the gross factor is just exacerbated by the fact that the cabinets are painted white and all the paint is chipping from light saber impacts, ride-on crashes, etc. etc., all at boy height). So one of my main criteria for kitchen materials is durability and ease of maintenance. That's why I'd like quartz counters over granite, either in a kind of medium brown... or my husband likes black with the medium wood cabinets. I don't know. (The fact that the stock market took a huge hit today does not bode well for my kitchen, actually.) I would LOVE a sink with a drainboard, like these, because there's constantly water all over the countertop when the kids do the dishes and with the sink we have now, it's leaked underneath and rotted out boards, etc.
In any case, we've decided to sacrifice counter tops to quality cabinets if it comes to that. So if the cabinets take up too much of the budget, we'll do laminate and consider that we can always replace them at a later date.
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Angela
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JennGM
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| Posted: Nov 07 2012 at 6:40pm | IP Logged
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I like the faux stone Staron Stephanie linked. I'm fine with that kind of look if it's inexpensive.
I'd like to replace our sink. I like double sinks, but am totally in love with the farm front/apron front sinks. I thought IKEA had a few, but now I can't find examples.
Good thoughts to consider about the white cabinets. I'm just struggling with the choices if I'm doing a wood floor, what cabinets would match if just go wood, if Paint or stain white would the paint hold.
My upper cabinets look like these which are very outdated -- so 80s. Oh, with white porcelain knobs with screws through the middle. Hate that.
But most of the cabinets are pretty solid and good. With the election results, I'm trying to think of most inexpensive, but I'm also trying to think realistic. If I paint, replace only one or two drawer fronts, maybe the sink cabinet and the wine rack for a real cabinet?
Just thinking I'd prefer to do the floors than gut a kitchen. The disruption I do NOT like.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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CrunchyMom
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I think that wooden lowers and white uppers with white walls can be a pretty way to get a lighter look without having white on the lower to get all grungy.
If you are replacing doors, you could even do some in glass or replace some uppers with open shelving.
Domsjo is the Ikea farmhouse sink that comes as a double or single. I love this style, too, so much. I ended up keeping my sink that is stainless but has the drain board on one side. Of course money is a factor, but I came to like the built in draining board so much for the reasons you say, Angela. I don't mind my single bowl, though I do wish it were bigger. I like that it is still bigger than one side of my old double.
I suppose the butcher block could be pricey if you ordered it in custom lengths to avoid seams, though it seems you could plan your seam for under the cooktop or somewhere inconspicuous. Ikea has the best prices on it by far, and it is very affordable there. We did have to cut it, though, and it was not easy. Dh has good tools and it was still a lot of work!
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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SallyT
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Here are some pictures of the oak cabinetry in our old house's kitchen, which I loathed. That is, I really liked the kitchen, but oh, how I hated those cabinets! We had the white porcelain knobs, too. First thing I did was take them off, then I took off as many cabinet doors as I could get away with, and finally -- about 18 months later -- I painted it all off-white.
I do agree that white can get grungy, though with oil paint mine have held up fairly well to wiping down. I do wish I had flat doors instead of the kind with the beveled molding, which catches all kinds of grime. But overall I am very happy with them and not wishing we'd done anything else.
Except I'd really love a 1950s Geneva metal kitchen. The house my mother is selling has one, and I love it so much . . . Here are pictures -- people turn up their noses at it because it's not an "updated" kitchen, but dang, those cabinets are the goods.
Sally
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CrunchyMom
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Oh, that's lovely, Sally. If my 1950 s kitchen had looked like that, I'd have been giddy. As it was, my cabinets had been repainted hospital white, and they removed the original hardware and replaced it with markedly awful white porcelain knobs with a brass backplate. They looked like eyeballs.
My cabinets were originally turquoise, and I think that could have been fun! My elderly neighbor has kept her kitchen turquoise, and though she's had to repaint, you can't tell they were repainted. It is so cute. Plus, she had cabinets on both walls. I did, too, but the facing cabinet were an addition and didn't match.
I just didn't like anything about the kitchen: the floor, the colors (peach walls and a peachy off white laminate), the wall paper border, the layout. I did grow to like my sink and double wall ovens.
I do love that we were able to really improve it without starting over completely. It will never be as functional as my old kitchen, but I do like my newly acquired openness to the dining room so the boys can be on the other side of the counter from me.
I have to say, reading Angela's mouse problems made me thankful for my metal cabinets
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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Angel
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| Posted: Nov 08 2012 at 7:45am | IP Logged
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The mouse problem actually came about because the bottom of the under sink cabinet is fiberboard or something like it, the absolute cheapest stuff one could put in a house in 1980. We didn't realize that water was leaking down around the edges of the sink, and when it soaked the fiberboard in the bottom of the cabinet it made it easy for all the mice to chew through. Then they had a freeway into every single one of my cabinets. It turned out they were coming in through a hole in the foundation, and had all been turned out of their homes by my husband, who cut back the enormously overgrown bushes on the back of the house so he could paint the bricks.
So,yes, metal cabinets do have their advantages! 
And Sally, I do suspect that the paint they used on my cabinets makes a difference. The cabinets were really, really ugly before -- a dark, dark oak (er, particle board). A previous owner pulled the cabinets off the soffit over the peninsula and put them out in the garage. But at some level painting the cabinets was just putting lipstick on a pig. We've talked about repainting them -- something not white -- but the cabinets are falling apart. They really need to be replaced.
I should try to do a "before" post and put it up on my blog. Maybe if I have time in the next few days.
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CrunchyMom
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Here is a picture of my kitchen from the original listing
I realize it could have been so much worse, but after my previous kitchen, it felt like a tunnel or cave even though it was roughly the same size, and it felt very cold. Not a place I wanted to spend hours a day. Maybe if I can get my kitchen clean enough I can snap a picture, even though it isn't finished yet.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
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[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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JennGM
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| Posted: Nov 08 2012 at 8:12am | IP Logged
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Love those wall ovens! How old are they?
Yes, that is very dark. I'll have to dig up my old pictures...I just have a wall of windows. My kitchen is super bright and open and big, but awkward.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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CrunchyMom
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They are HotPoint and were installed "October 14, 1970"
The previous homeowner were the original owners and kept meticulous records, so I have a binder with all the appliance manuals with notes 
They were originally dark brown according to the information I have, but they have been painted with cream appliance paint. I think we will repaint them a brighter white eventually to better match our new refrigerator. Anyway, just so you know if you find an older set for sale in a color you hate, all is not lost 
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Countertops
