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Let’s talk about kitchens.

I have to make some choices regarding my entire kitchen soon.  I have actually saved these pictures for months but decided to turn to them again recently as the housing project moves along.

We went to the Christopher Peacock showroom and I fell in love with the scullery kitchen.

I really liked the kitchen hood.

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I like the little shelf on the hood where I can put stuff (I can imagine some Christmas greenery there…).  I like the panels on it. I also like how the spices are immediately next to the range, but are hidden if you look at it head on.

I snuck in quite a few pictures…

The big stone and metal hoods I don’t think are for me and will clash with my stone fireplace.

I like the ice box handles a lot – great in earthquake country!

Also, I liked seeing the natural wood behind the glass doors.  This reminds me of my kitchen that my Opa built for my Mom back in the day – he had exposed wood behind the cabinet *just like* the picture below.

Now, I confess I do not think the wood island is practical at all and would not copy that for my kitchen.

I love the X bars on these cabinets.

 

 

I have been in constant debate with myself about hardware and cabinet colors.  We will have wood floors so I have decided to paint the cabinets so they won’t clash.

I will likely paint them in some sort of cream color.

Now the question is – brass vs oil rubbed bronze vs polished nickel?!?

I love the warmth of the brass, but wonder, is it just a trend?

Oh, and I LOVE these linen baskets that are built in – aren’t they clever??

But, I have included a few other kitchens of his that have polished nickel.

Aren’t these chandeliers fun? Anyway, we’re looking at cabinet hardware, not chandeliers!

 

Hmm, still don’t know about which color to choose… but what I do know, is that I want icebox latches for the uppers!

Now, I found some copycat ice box hardware.  The first one is from Rejuvenation Hardware here.  The next one seems to be the most similar and is from Cliffside Industries.

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Every year I have written a post about kitchens. One year I wrote about all-white kitchens. Last year I wrote about Greige (grey/beige) kitchens, and this year I’m writing about my new love, cerused French oak kitchens!

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Cerused means that the oak floor/cabinet has lime or wax applied into the grain of the wood to give it a little depth and contrast. I totally love how soft it makes the cabinets look.

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What I like about this picture is that you can see the lime or wax in the grain of the cabinets.

3- source, house beautiful

This one below has a little less obvious limed oak, but is definitely the blonde French White Oak!

4- Traditional Kitchen by Dallas Kitchen & Bath Designers Backline Renovations

 

5- Beach Style Kitchen by Milford Interior Designers & Decorators Shelter Interiors llc

 

6- Rustic Kitchen by New Holland Cabinets & Cabinetry Quality Custom Cabinetry, Inc

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This kitchen below hits all of the right notes… open shelves, aged wooden beams, white marble countertops, cerused oak cabinets…

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9-Rustic Kitchen by South Pasadena Interior Designers & Decorators Charmean Neithart Interiors, LLC.

 

According to this article, the cerused oak look came from the 1940s from the French designer Jean-Michel Frank. The trend has come out of high-end furniture sales at auction from the late 2000’s… This cabinet which sold at Christies for 40k is considered one of the main inspirational pieces for this trend…

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I just wanted to show you that this is not a *new* trend… here is an 18th century Belgian cabinet with the cerused oak. Granted, it has probably had a new finish applied from it’s original. Isn’t it beautiful?

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One reason the two furniture pieces above, while both cerused, look different is because of the cuts of the oak. The Jean-Michel cabinet is made from rift-sawn oak, whereas the 18th century Belgian cabinet is made from plain sawn oak.

 

Below you can see an image showing you how you can cut the oak and get different views of the grains.  Can you guess which one is the least and then most expensive? If you guessed plain sawn as the cheapest, you are right! The rift sawn is the most expensive and is currently considered the most desirable… naturally it’s the one I like best! I’m always picking out the most expensive everything even when I have no idea about the product!

Here are two more furniture examples, both from Restoration Hardware with the cerused oak. They called it “Aged oak” or “Grey Oak” but it’s the same thing.

This cabinet below is from the new RH Modern collection… Although I prefer the antique looking cabinet above!

Back to the kitchen tour, This is one of my favorite kitchens. Very stylish with the steel windows! Although, dark floors are going “out”, but I still think they look pretty!

10 =photo: Atlanta homes & Life Styles

A more contemporary version, at first I thought the hood of the stove was a big screen tv!

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Here is an example of a whitewashed white oak examples with grey undertones. It still has cerused wood. I like this look too.

13- Transitional Kitchen by Mamaroneck Kitchen & Bath Designers Studio Dearborn

 

Here is a very contemporary cerused black oak kitchen. I actually don’t hate this black kitchen. Normally I hate black kitchens  and really modern kitchens but the limed look softens it a bit.

14 –Contemporary Kitchen by Seattle Cabinets & Cabinetry Warmington & North

A trendy kitchen complete with the now in-style brass fixtures! I still can’t believe brass is back in style… and the fact that I like it. I think it’s because the brass is aged and not shiny from the 80s.

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This one also has some grey undertones. You can really notice that these cabinets are rift sawn.

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Here the island is a cerused French white oak… The very tight grout lines of the tile below are also tres chic.

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The kitchen below hits all of the trends. Let’s review them, shall we? Steel windows. French oak plank floors AND ceiling. Waterfall effect island of white marble. Farmhouse sink. Cerused oak cabinets. Did we miss anything? Oh, no over-the-counter shelves.

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Now, I love this kitchen from Brooke Gianetti.  She used a custom French white oak cabinet with a custom stain. I can’t tell if its cerused or not – I think it is. Like the farmhouse sink, chandeliers over the island, wood beam ceiling, overmudded backsplash behind the stove, wide French oak plan floors, and dare I say, I even like the brass fixtures!

19= source: Patina Farm

Now, I think the cabinet below is more whitewashed than cerused, but it’s just another example.

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This kitchen from Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen does have greige cabinets on the sides, but the island is a cerused oak!

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A more modern take on the look…

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I like this kitchen below. Cerused cabinets in the way back with whitewashed cabinets in the front with travertine floors.

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A contemporary cerused look. I like that the cerused cabinets make even harsh contemporary looks soften up a bit.

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Here is a kitchen designed by Jeffrey Alan Marks, from the beloved Million Dollar Decorators (RIP) show. He used the white oak back in 2013, ahead of the times! That fish wallpaper is by DeGournay!

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Are you liking this trend?

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I have loved this kitchen for a long time. Windows on both sides of the stove bring in light. Two little chandeliers above the giant island. Greige/whitewashed cabinets in the back with cerused oak on the island. Overmudded limestone wall on the back. Aged wooden beams above. Travertine floors. I think I would want my kitchen to look like this.

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The kitchen below mixes two styles – cerused cabinets and greige island cabinets.

28 – Traditional Kitchen by Dallas Kitchen & Bath Designers Backline Renovations

Well, what do you think of this trend?? Is it a breathe of fresh air or does it remind you too much of your Grandma’s cabinets from the mid-century?

I want you all to tell me which one is your favorite in the comments – I put numbers below all of the pictures to make it easy for you! I’m really quite curious.  I think my favorite is #27.

Sources for the pictures are listed below it.

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I have been dreaming about kitchens again. Last time I was dreaming about white kitchens but then my mom recently remodeled her kitchen all-white and told me something I didn’t know… It was really hard to match the white of the cabinets to everything else. Apparently white paint is not created equal. Let’s think of the different whites: bright white, off white, egg shell white, creamy white, extra white, pure white, super white, antique white, dune white, warm white, cool white, etc etc ( I feel like Bubba Gump and his shrimp right now).

So, this past weekend we were touring model homes for fun and ran into this kitchen. The cabinets were painted a very light taupe color, which looks a little grey blue in the shadow. So then I started dreaming of a taupe kitchen. Or beige. Or grey. Or Greige I think is now the trendy term.

I have seen Greige kitchens online for a while now but never in person. I like the warmth that it adds. Sometimes white can seem a little institutional.

The kitchen above used antique French limestone for the counters.
I just absolutely love everything about the kitchen below. It’s French. It’s grey. It has antique tile floors. Love it all!

This grey leans towards Grey-blue but I think it’s still quite nice.

This one is a little darker grey below. I also like the light natural wood cabinets on the right.

The taupe below is nice. The white marble looks nice too.
The kitchen below is Gwenyth Paltrows kitchen. How fun is her door hardware?!

This kitchen below leans towards cream colored. Looks quite nice but I think it makes the counters look a little too grey.

The Greige here leans towards the green end. It reminds me of Martha Stewart’s kitchen.

The oainted grey cabinets, natural wood island, wolf range and farmhouse sink below are to die for. Plus, notice the trendy steel windows. This is Tom Brady’s house.

Greige island with ghe rest of the kitchen white. See how the island looks a little warmer?

Neat cabinet color here, not a fan of the subway tile everywhere below.

Leaning towards a darker grey here….

Taupe colored cabinets with darker brown colored. Very trendy with the open shelves too. I am too messy for open shelves!

Like the cabinet colors of this kitchen.

The kitchen below leans towards the blue side of things…

Which do you prefer? The dark island or the Greige painted cabinets? I quite like the frenchiness feel if these cabinets. Reminds me of the St James collection from Restoration.

The cabinet colors below are nice but I don’t feel like they go well with the floor nor the carpet.

I like the cabinet color, lig floors.m

Notice how there’s no cabinet immediately next to the range hood?

The darker color here is interesting…

Nice cabinet color, but I feel like there are too many competing brown colors here…

I don’t care for the granite choice with the cabinets below…

Don’t you think the grey soapstone or white granite looks better with the taupe cabinets?


This one below has many trendy things… Greige cabinets, brass hardware, marble countertops…

The Greige below feels warm…

While this Greige below feels cool. It doesn’t always feel warm. I think the dark backsplash and countertops make this one below seem cool.

Notice several things with the kitchen below… Furniture-like cabinets, open shelves, the backsplash goes all the way up the wall, light floors, and Greige cabinets. All it needs is a farmhouse sink and it 100% on trend.

It occurred to me while I was researching grey kitchens that all kitchen trends this year are all imitating this one kitchen below! Martha Stewart’s kitchen from Turkey Hill! Painted Greige/green, farmhouse sink, marble counter tops, open shelving, and brass pulls on the cupboard! Who knew her kitchen from the 90s could still look so, well, in style?!

Let’s take a look at Martha’s other kitchens, since she really started this whole trend. The next two are from her Bedford home, painted in “Bedford grey”.


The kitchen below is the kitchen in her barn in Bedford…

And the one below is from her show’s set.

What do you think of the greige/grey/beige/taupe cabinet trend? Would you remodel your kitchen like that, or would you go for white? Or would you do something else all together? Had it occurred to you we were all copying Martha? Share your thoughts below!!

 

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