Kitchen - white or oak?

cuffie

Ok guys. I'm narrowing it down......

Oak with black granite



or white with black granite (or block wood). Its more of an off-white rather than stark white.



Which would you choose?? I like the white. Hubby likes the oak. (haven't got a big enough kitchen to mix the both). Can't decide!! What do you think??

debbie42

cuffie wrote: »

Oak with black granite

That's what I'd go for. I did, actually . Not a black granite, more a grey-green, but it looks good, to my eyes. It's a personal choice, at the end of the day.

Js_Other_Half

I prefer the oak too, but it depends on how light or dark the room is, and what floor coverings you have. Our next door neighbour (the other half of the semi) has a white kitchen, white tiles, with white flooring. We have a beech kitchen, with darker laminate flooring.
Hers always looks bright and clean, but a little cold - ours seems warmer somehow.

amazamum

I would personally go for the white,I have a white one and it looks lovely,very clean looking.
You can always accesorise with other colours.
They both look like nice kitchens so whatever you decide I'm sure iy will be right for you

Joto_2

You're not going to get the answer you want here. Everyone will have their own opinion.
For what is worth I prefer wood. I think it always look warmer, more expensive, wears better and doesn't date, but I'm sure the next person will prefer the white.
I think you're going to have to solve this one between you or toss a coin..........

cuffie

I already have my curtains - quite modern (black, red and cream stripe) and I am planning to have limestone type tiles on the floor - they will be more of a creamy colour so as not to make the room look too cold, but it is a bright room. Hubby is concerned that white is too modern and wants to stay "safe". He thinks wood won't date, but I wanted something a bit different. We have an oak table in the dining area (which is linked to kitchen - separated by a breakfast bar). The oak kitchen colour does not match and that is why I am even more steering to the white. Hubby thinks it doesn't matter....

By the way. Is it ok to do the ceramic tiles after kitchen gone in?? Do they grout up to the edge or do they remove the plinths and then put back?

vansboy

WHITE! WHITE! WHITE!

I don't like lots different wood colours, but I do like shiny & bright!

I'd tile first & build the kitchen on top.

Have a look at my thread, please!

VB


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=540866

debbie42

cuffie wrote: »

By the way. Is it ok to do the ceramic tiles after kitchen gone in?? Do they grout up to the edge or do they remove the plinths and then put back?

The floor plinths normally clip on to the cupboard supports, so are easy to get on and off. With ours, we left the plinths off until the floor had been tiled, then tiled to just beyond where the plinths came to. The plinths did have to be cut to fit this way.

windym_2

As has been said, it is personal, but my 2p.....

I have light oak kitchen, absolute black granite worktops with French limestone floor. It's an old barn but is very light and airy.

Regarding the ceramic tiles you are comtemplating - remember that ceramic can chip. If you can afford limestone or travertine then that may be the way to go. If you want a good supplier of limestone, I can give you details via PM.

cuffie

yes cheers windym - PM me. (maybe you can answer this one - our friends were going to have limestone, splashed tea and beetroot over it to see how much it stained and even though it was sealed, it marked badly...they went for ceramic... If I did go for limestone is there any way of avoiding this? Cheers. x)

UK007BullDog

I am going to be devils advocate here and say: NEITHER.

The white is too clinical and cold (also some laminate does not wear well and where the sunlight hits it can turn more of a creamy yellow over time - this happened to my moms kitchen).:mad: It is also a pain to keep clean as every speck can be seen, not good when you have kids.

The oak looks nice but depending on the daylight you get might be too dark on top of the black granite top. You only want to go with that if you have lots of light coming into your room. Also it might date the kitchen as well somewhat later down the line, due to the darker colour. Your hubby might be playing it too safe . You might need to get lights under the cabinets, plus enough lights on the ceiling. Mine has only 4 spot lights in the ceiling. It looks good but when one actually works in it, its too dark so this is being corrected as well next week.

My thoughts were when I went to buy my new kitchen, that I was going to live in the house for at least another 10 years or more. So I will be adventurous and go for the kitchen I want (being totally egoistic on my part here), I am going to be using it 95% of the time. So I need to be happy with it. A very tiny thought is also about resale of the property, but if people don't like the kitchen they can change it or sod off.;) I did not like my present kitchen when we bought the house (the worktops are tiled and to keep the grouting clean is a mammoth task each weekend, how I long for a flat clean hygienic surface) but lived with it for 8 years.

I am excited as I am getting my next kitchen in 3 weeks time. I choose a gloss cherry colour as I have one big window and double glass patio doors plus another large window on the opposite side once the wall is out as I am open planning floor benefiting from the morning and evening sun. My worktop will be a mock granite (black with golden brown, grey, yellow, gold, silver and white flecks (sounds dreadful but looks really cool)).
It will have a silver brushed splash-back and silver brown appliances to loosen up the whole look of the kitchen. Today I am going to look for the tiles and wallpaper, having said that the kitchen guy said to wait until after the kitchen is put in and then choose the tiles for the wall and floor. However I am going to be very busy with work so the kitchen guy gave me kindly a sample of the door and the worktop, plus good builders are unavailable until after Christmas so cannot wait that long.

To make sure I got the colours right I went to B&Q and bought a roll of wallpaper in the colours I thought I wanted for the kitchen cabinets. I then blue-tacked the paper onto the existing cabinets and I then knew that some colours just would not work for me. This might be something for you to do so that you can actually see the impact of the colours on the room itself. In the end only you can decide but this task might help you make the right decision. Leave the paper on the doors all day so you can see the impact of each colour as the eyes and the mind takes time to adjust to the initial shock of newness. Also to see what the kitchen would look like when the daylight fades. I got this tip from another moneysaver and it worked for me.