It’s time to think about kitchen finishes! After pricing some semi-custom cabinet options and doing lots of reading online, we’ve decided to go with white Ikea cabinets, most likely the Bodbyn style. Here’s a photo I found on Instagram showing the Bodbyn cabinets.
We’re planning to design the kitchen online, get the design checked and pick cabinets at the Portland IKEA, and then assemble the cabinets ourselves before having our contractor install them. Our preliminary guesstimate on cost for the cabinets is around $8000. We’ll see how it all goes in real life.
The next big decision was countertop materials. I love the look (and price) of butcher block, and was thinking about doing some of the counters in that. But I was strongly cautioned by other vacation rental owners against it, due to the high maintenance, and the possibility that people might not treat it gently enough for it to hold up well.
I also adore the look of marble, but it is spendy, soft and very high maintenance. Quartz is big these days, but it kind of makes me yawn, and it also is spendier than budget range granite. And Formica– well, I have it here in Idaho, and it’s working well and looks fine. But I really want this kitchen to feel gourmet, and in my head at least that means something more high-end than formica.
So that left us with granite, preferably something on the budget end of the granite price range. In doing my research I learned that there are quite a few nice granite options that feature patterns similar to marble. So on the way back from the coast last month, we stopped at the granite yard that our contractor recommended.
Lo and behold, we fell in love! It’s a granite called Viscon White. Our girls think it should actually be called cookies and cream, because it looks very much like cookies and cream ice cream. Here Emily is holding a cabinet that I think is fairly similar to the IKEA cabinet color that we’re planning on, right next to one of the two slabs that we ended up saving for our kitchen. And miracle of miracles, this granite is actually one of the more affordable ones out there.
So now we’re down to the backsplash, which is feeling like a hard choice to me. I am tempted to go with white subway tile, just because it feels easy and obvious. But John says that’s boring, and so does my staging expert. And honestly, I don’t really love it.
A
n option that has really caught my eye is a blue glass subway tile. The above is one that Joanna Gaines did. So pretty and beachy, and I do think it is a nice subtle color! To the right is one done by Young House Love, and shows a pretty diagonal pattern.
But I do worry that might look dated quickly, and heaven knows we’re not going to want to replace tile anytime soon.
Another option is possibly a grey tile, maybe a ‘safer’ color than blue, but one that I think would still be a nice match to the grey in the counter, and a nice contrast to the creamy white cabinets.Here are a couple examples that I really like.
In the one on the left, I love how they picked a creamy white grout to match the creamy white of the cabinets. Then the one on the right shows a neat diagonal pattern again. Very fun.
Finally there’s this one, a darker grey subway tile that I think is a super neat contrast to the white and the counter tops.
It’s just so hard to decide! At any given moment, I can be convinced to go for any one of these options. Just for fun, I’m tossing another poll up to get your thoughts, OK?
Main questions: grey or blue? Straight or diagonal? Would love to hear your thoughts. And of course if you have a different idea entirely, I’d love to hear that too!
The example pics of gray tile are showing it with a more white counter. I love the last photo, but the rest of the pic there is quite white, though I do see some black cabinets I guess.
In the pics of your countertop it looks pretty dark. Enough so that I think gray tile might drag it down. But look how gorgeous the blue sky is with the counter! You know me, color, color. 🙂
Oh, and definitely diagonal. Horizontal in blue is ok, but not lovable. 🙂
Just a few comments from someone who installed glass tile in two different homes. I did 3 x 12 subway pattern in both kitchens. But, we did have a few issues with color. Both times, the original tile color was much different than what it looks like on the wall. The reason for this is the tile will pull the most dominate color from your countertop and complement it. First kitchen took a beige glass tile and turned it green on the wall. The second kitchen took a white tile and turned it blue on the wall.
In the first kitchen I was expecting this result because I took my countertop material in when I bought the tile. In the second case, I had the tile picked out and held it up to a sample of the granite. The actual slab that was installed has more grey tones than the sample, thus turning the tiles blue on the wall. Good thing I like blue, but I was expecting it to be a beige to golden color. Hope this is helpful as you work through all your upcoming decisions! Have a great time finishing up your dream home and I look forward to seeing pictures as it progresses.
Thanks for that feedback, Darla!
I love the diagonal tile in the first picture with the glass cabinet doors with turquoise dishes! It looks grayish on my screen, but wasn’t sure if that was one of the blue glass option.
I prefer the diagonal with a less busy countertop than you have chosen. With a countertop with a lot of movement I think you need to go horizontal.