black kitchen

[mjm]

ok julie, you have unwittingly confused me some more I just went and took that quiz you mentioned in another thread, loved it but.... I am 100% mountain lodge chic which doesn't surprise me because I did originally ask hubby if he could do the splashback in stone cladding but he reckons it'll suck to clean the grease off... so.. I gotta try and rustic up my kitchen a bit I think, actually I have always liked the red wood kitchens and country kitchens and if I wasn't going black with my kitchen the other colour I was considering was going to be a very dark blood reddish colour

can I still get away with mountain lodge with black cabinets and a lot of wood? hmmm I dunno about that

the only sketch I have done of the pantry is in that black and brown coloured in one, basically the doors sit 820 wide and 2100 high leaving a gap above them of a little over 200 if we put in a full cornice at the top, my plan was to just use what would be the roof of the pantry as the shelf for above it and box in that area, not sure if that made sense or not

[mjm]

its a shame I cant get rid of the pantry altogether as we had more cupboards that came with the kitchen we couldn't use, they would have connected on to the end of the island bench closest to the sink and gone in an L shape around the corner to end up sat next to the fridge , all that extra counter space

[mjm]

had another thought, what if the edges of the benches were in a wood trim

the shelves I am picturing planks of wood with lots of knots and lumps in them maybe a dark reddish brown stain? I'm not keen on red and black kitchens so much so not sure about the red in the stain

ok here's a maybe stupid idea, my pantry doors are only 820 wide but I'd like dh (by the way what does dh stand for? I know what it stands for in this house but I kinda think you guys mean it in a nice way :-) anyhow I'd like him to put a couple of big 100x100 wooden beams either side attached to the walls and then frame and the doors attached to that which should make the pantry 200 wider but still use same doors... in theory right?

anyhow lol, that wasn't the stupid bit yet, you're thinking what the? ok here is the stupid bit, I would need to cover the wooden beams, they could be tiled, they could be covered in stainless steel, but I was just thinking about... here it comes the stupid bit, copper logs split in half running up alonside the pantry and over the top of the door too and not worry about an opening above it... even knowing this is a stupid idea I am going to post it anyway just so you can suffer my train of thoughts along with me

[Julie-Ann]

Rofl (rolling on floor laughing). I tell my DH what the D stands for depends on his behaviour. Technically it stands for dear or darling, and h for husband.

I think with the kitchen I would keep it simple and not introduce extra elements into the design. If you want to make the pantry wider I would just use gyprock sheeting and create actual walls either side of the pantry door. I would also just gyprock above the pantry door to the ceiling. I would paint all this gyprock and the wall between the pantry and the fridge the same colour as your walls. What colour are the walls?
I wouldn't put a timber edge around the benchtop as that will date the kitchen. That was a very popular look in the 1990's.
With the stain of the wood it can be any colour you like from very pale to a rich, dark brown. And yes timber planks should look good and suit your rustic look.

To answer your question about black suiting your mountain lodge style- I think the black helps to create that deep in the forest feel. I would take more of a back to nature rather than rustic, mountain style. I think that will work with a contemporary look very well.

[mjm]

what were your thoughts on the wooden shelves as opposed to the ss look?
oh and good question about the walls, the only walls that will be left exposed will be the ends of each wall, unless I do the gyprock thing around the pantry (hubby is being resistant about extending or knocking any more holes in any more friggin walls) I thought a couple of beams I could get away with him doing so I hadn't decided on those colours yet, do I continue with what is in the rest of the rooms joining the kitchen? or do I go dark and match the kitchen? not really wanting to throw more dark in there, but the ends of the walls stick out like dogs *****, to put it nicely

oh I forgot to mention, the photo I took shows the fridge more left than it should be (because its sitting on the only few tiles stuck on the floor to be level) so it would be over closer to the pantry and the wall to the left of the fridge in my future kitch pic would also be further right. In between the wall to the left of the fridge and the wall to the right of the stove area will be a door sitting on an angle leading into the laundry area so I don't think either of those two ends will be showing after the frame gets somehow attached

[mjm]

what edge were you thinking, I've been worried about that, because tiles can be quite a sharp edge and worried about the kids, was thinking theres probably some kinda aluminium trim maybe I could find? nah too modern again, maybe I can find some kind of rubbery trim although not a good look maybe, might be able to find some kind of black border tile that has a more rounded edge, or could just hand out helmets to all the kids

[Julie-Ann]

Love the wood shelves better than the stainless steel and more your style.
With the gyprock - I would think that is much easier to put up than to add posts and then worry about covering them. I think if you do the posts the room might look too busy with bits and pieces going on everywhere. Keeping things simple is a good policy for decorating as well.
With the edge if the tiles are mitred the edge will be no different to the edge around a bath or shower. If it worries you then yes the timber edge is the best way to go. I would make the timber edge quite square and not bull nosed. Bull nosed edges aren't as fashionable. But then as I sit here looking at my lovely bull nosed edged bench top- I say if you prefer that look what the hell.
At the moment with timber very dark, wenge stains and very light, pale stains are fashionable.

[mjm]

I like the idea of the gyprock, I think originally my way of thinking was because the overhead cupboard above the fridge was going to go nearly to the ceiling that the pantry might look odd being shorter was trying to line up the tops. but I agree it would look better like its built into a wall rather than between two walls

actually I'm seriously starting to think about moving those extra cupboards back in because they would sit in that corner the pantry is in now and could have an overhead above corner cabinet and would make a good nook for the kettle and toaster that are constantly taking up space where I do and will be preparing meals... ok I'm off to sketch

ps thanks for all your help with this julie, its much appreciated getting an expert opinion on what not to do

[mjm]

well here is a very crude sketch, couldn't get the 3d thing happening so its hard to see those overheads can go on that back wall alongside the fridge and wrap around the corner on to that other wall thats about 650 deep, this could solve a lot of problems, one being that the idea of those very big doors being black was a little daunting, we don't need to worry about building anything this way (hubby will be pleased) but will need to buy a few overhead cupboards, at the moment I have emptied that old pantry you see in the photo and all the food has been crammed into 2 underbench cupboards (once I threw out all the stuff that was well past its use by date that is ) so I think with the extra 3 underneath cupboards and the extra overhead cupboards we might be ok... I know originally this idea was put aside I think cause dh didn't want only one entry into the kitchen because he would have to walk all the way around the benches from the family room to get to the fridge.. but if it means him not having to build extra stuff.... who knows, ok what are your thoughts?

[Julie-Ann]

Actually I think your drawing is very good. I can see exactly what you are thinking. I also have a DH who is easily swayed by the less work idea.
It looks great. My only concern is the flow of traffic. If someone wants something from the fridge they now have to walk right across the kitchen. That might annoy you when you are cooking. How will this work with the rest of the house? My kitchen is a very similar layout but the bulk of the people would enter near the pantry not the other side near the oven. Is that the same for you?