The kitchen is the most important room in most family homes. In vacation homes, kitchens rank high as a priority for renters. When you can, investing a little bit more in a kitchen is always a good idea.
I love to cook. And, I actually cook 4-5 nights a week. One day last week, I was exhausted after a very long night. It was early. My son woke up an hour earlier than he should've so I spent the 6am hour trying to get him back to sleep. After that was done and I washed my 6th bottle to fill the sanitizer, I made a small breakfast and drank my first cup of coffee. When I sat down, I thought about how wonderful it will be to enjoy my breakfast AND a view in a few months. As our mountain modern vacation home rental continues to progress, the kitchen is now my primary area of focus. The most impactful decision in the kitchen is the cabinet selection.
To assist, I poured over inspiration photos. I must've spent time on Houzz everyday for the last year or so collecting dream kitchen photos into a folder (blog post coming up about Houzz vs. Pinterest soon!). That's the key! Invest time in finding the style and aesthetic that you love to make the cabinet selection easy!
My contractor uses Medallion Cabinetry. They build cabinets in 3 trim levels - platinum, gold and silverline. There are so many decisions to make related to cabinets that I am focusing on the only three right now. We will get to function and hardware a little later.
Door - I chose the Bella door due to its modern, clean lines. The cabinets and drawers have matched wood grains which allow the eye to travel up and down the cabinet and drawer fronts. This door style in the mid-range Gold category.
Wood Species - Doors are made in select wood species. You can't get every door in every species. This didn't limit my choices. Since the door is clean with straight lines, I had to find a place to add a rustic mountain feel. The wood choices are cherry, maple and quartersawn ok (say that fast three times!). I chose the quartersawn oak due to the deep graining and texture. It's the perfect choice for a "less than perfect" look.
Door Finish - Doors can be finished with stain, highlights, glaze and paint. There are even distressed options! I was torn here between the Cappuccino and Smoke finishes. In the end, the choice was the Smoke Stain with Ebony Glaze and Highlights. It really complements the maple floor that I've selected. Because the room is so large with a pitched celling, I am not concerned about the dark stain dominating the room.
Kitchen cabinets selected - CHECK!
Are you building or renovating? What are your kitchen plans?