And now for something different: Kitchen Refresh

We've begun doing the early legwork on planning our kitchen...refresh. Let's call it a refresh. It certainly isn't a remodel. The cabinets are staying, the layout is staying and we aren't replacing any appliances. But it's time for an update. The counter is cracked and, since swapping out the linoleum, has become the cheapest part of our kitchen. Not cheap in a good way, cheap in a "why did the previous owners shell out so much for the cabinets and not get a good countertop?" It's been very good to us for years, but now in addition to being cheap, it's showing signs of wear, having a crack all the way through on the side that had to be removed during our new addition construction. And if we're gong to replace the counter, I can get a backsplash like I've always wanted. And if we're doing all that, we might as well pay the person to fix the cracked ceiling and repaint everything too, and and and. This is starting to feel like "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." But here we are, at the start of making a to-do list that keeps getting longer.

Here's a reminder of what our kitchen looks like now. This picture has obviously been staged in no way, so please excuse the mess - this is what life looks like these days.

Here's a beautiful underside view of our Corian counters, wrapped over some kind of wood composite. Probably not a view most people consider when choosing counters, but since I'm often on the floor playing with the kids, it's a view I see more often than you'd expect.

Everything has to match/compliment our dark cabinets, since those are staying. It makes sense to me to lighten up the kitchen by swapping out our dark gray counters with something bright. We are heavily leaning towards Silestone, despite the price, because it's strong and nonporous and doesn't need treating/sealing. We're open to other ideas if you have a suggestion.

Based on Silestone's color assistant website, I think I'd like something that has veins to look like marble, or maybe specks to look like granite. Eternal Calacatta Classic looks nice, as does Lyra or White Arabesque. Obviously we'd need to see them in person.

Then comes the backsplash. We're thinking of some kind of subway tile look, maybe with a pearly white. Or maybe slightly smaller rectangles, but also in a gray/pearly white shade. A friend suggested getting the grout done in the darker gray of the veins/specks of the counter, which sounds like it would look good. He also suggested avoiding the 3'' counter wrap that goes along the wall and getting the backsplash all the way down to the countertop.

Here are some random pictures I've compiled from the internet as I try to find inspiration. What do you think?

Personally I have always adored pressed tin. Whenever it's on a ceiling in a bar, I always notice it and enjoy it. It's probably not realistic, both because it would be hard to clean and because it looks too dark and too remarkable to blend well, but I'm putting it out there anyway as an idea. Do you like it?

As usually, I find it easier to find looks that I hate, rather than ones I love. Here some kitchens that have similar color schemes but that I find ugly.

Apparently, I don't like square tiles:

And even though I like having a decorative tile row in our bathroom, this doesn't look good in a kitchen, to me:

 And despite saying I like subway tile, this is too boring:

 The rectangles in this are too narrow and the color is too varies:

Natural stone looks like like it's pretending to be the wall of a fortress. A big nope:

I still haven't found the perfect "this is what I want" picture, but maybe I will eventually. We had our first contractor com out to start giving us price estimates and he recommended a tile store, so we may have to go shop in person to find our inspiration.

Other things we're looking to possibly "refresh" in the kitchen:

• New cabinet pulls/handles
• New coat of paint
• New dining room light
• New kitchen light, possibly switching to recessed lighting
• New under-cabinet lights
• Fresh coat of stain on some of the cabinet edges, where the wood has gotten worn

We'll see how what we end up deciding to do as we start to figure out pricing and time demands.