Honey (orangey, if you ask me) oak cabinets with what color hardwood floors?
 

We want to put hardwood floors in our entire first floor. This
includes the kitchen where I am having a frustrating time deciding on
the exact wood and stain color. We have very dark wood floors in the
office (also on the first floor as you come into the front door) and I
love them but I'm not sure if they would look good throughout the
house. Our baseboards and trim work are a light wood color (I don't
like them, but whatever) and our doors are just your standard, cheap
hollow core wood grainy doors, also a light color. I don't want
matchy-matchy, but I also don't want a completely browned out look in
the kitchen. So, what do you think would go nicely with the
orangy/honey oak cabinets? What wood and stain? I am considering tile
in the kitchen and wood everywhere else but then there would be soooo
many flooring options in the house. I would want to keep the linoleum
in the walk-in pantry and the laundry room right off the kitchen. So
we would have, two different hardwoods, carpet up the stairs, tile and
linoleum. Please help with any advice!

Honey (orangey, if you ask me) oak cabinets with what color hardwood floors?
 

writes:
We want to put hardwood floors in our entire first floor. This
includes the kitchen where I am having a frustrating time deciding on
the exact wood and stain color. We have very dark wood floors in the
office (also on the first floor as you come into the front door) and I
love them but I'm not sure if they would look good throughout the
house. Our baseboards and trim work are a light wood color (I don't
like them, but whatever) and our doors are just your standard, cheap
hollow core wood grainy doors, also a light color. I don't want
matchy-matchy, but I also don't want a completely browned out look in
the kitchen. So, what do you think would go nicely with the
orangy/honey oak cabinets? What wood and stain? I am considering tile
in the kitchen and wood everywhere else but then there would be soooo
many flooring options in the house. I would want to keep the linoleum
in the walk-in pantry and the laundry room right off the kitchen. So
we would have, two different hardwoods, carpet up the stairs, tile and
linoleum. Please help with any advice!

Tis a good question. One thing to make you feel a bit at ease
though:

all woods live nicely together in the forest.

Answering this question in a text medium is tough. If you had a photo
of the place and provided a link to it (don't post the actual jpg),
perhaps it'd be easier to suggest something.

Also leaf from design magazines and such at a big bookstore, and
perhaps your eye will be grabbed by something.

--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

Honey (orangey, if you ask me) oak cabinets with what color hardwood floors?
 

wrote in news:1143501198.948377.199800
@i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

We want to put hardwood floors in our entire first floor. This
includes the kitchen where I am having a frustrating time deciding on
the exact wood and stain color. We have very dark wood floors in the
office (also on the first floor as you come into the front door) and I
love them but I'm not sure if they would look good throughout the
house. Our baseboards and trim work are a light wood color (I don't
like them, but whatever) and our doors are just your standard, cheap
hollow core wood grainy doors, also a light color. I don't want
matchy-matchy, but I also don't want a completely browned out look in
the kitchen. So, what do you think would go nicely with the
orangy/honey oak cabinets? What wood and stain?

This sounds facetious, but go with whatever catches your fancy. We have
four different colours of hardwood on our main floor, and it looks fine (at
least we think so). We did paint out the dark stained oak baseboards, and
the cheap veneered hollow-core doors -- looks much better.

The only advice I can pass on -- don't make your flooring the same colour
as your cabinets. Contrast works better than having it all the same (or
even worse, almost the same).

This isn't lighted very well, but it gives you an idea:
http://members.shaw.ca/murraypeterson/reno-finished.jpg

--
Murray Peterson

Honey (orangey, if you ask me) oak cabinets with what color hardwood floors?
 

In article , Murray Peterson says...

wrote in news:1143501198.948377.199800
:

We want to put hardwood floors in our entire first floor. This
includes the kitchen where I am having a frustrating time deciding on
the exact wood and stain color. We have very dark wood floors in the
office (also on the first floor as you come into the front door) and I
love them but I'm not sure if they would look good throughout the
house. Our baseboards and trim work are a light wood color (I don't
like them, but whatever) and our doors are just your standard, cheap
hollow core wood grainy doors, also a light color. I don't want
matchy-matchy, but I also don't want a completely browned out look in
the kitchen. So, what do you think would go nicely with the
orangy/honey oak cabinets? What wood and stain?

This sounds facetious, but go with whatever catches your fancy. We have
four different colours of hardwood on our main floor, and it looks fine (at
least we think so). We did paint out the dark stained oak baseboards, and
the cheap veneered hollow-core doors -- looks much better.

The only advice I can pass on -- don't make your flooring the same colour
as your cabinets. Contrast works better than having it all the same (or
even worse, almost the same).

This isn't lighted very well, but it gives you an idea:
http://members.shaw.ca/murraypeterson/reno-finished.jpg


Agreed. Either go darker like in your office, or light like your doors and
trim. Don't use anything near the cabinet color.

Furthermore - sounds like you should consider re-facing or painting the
cabinets. If you describe them as "orangey", you probably don't really like
them. Then you can have more options.

From reading into your post a bit, you like the darker floors, don't like the
current cabinet finish, so you should go with the darker floors and then think
what cabinet finishing you'd like that would work with that. Paint is cheap;
refinishing isn't bad. But that's just my off-hand take on it ...

Banty


--
NewsGuy.Com 30Gb $9.95 Carry Forward and On Demand Bandwidth

Honey (orangey, if you ask me) oak cabinets with what color hardwood floors?
 

That kitchen is gorgeous! And those floors look beautiful! You have
almost the same layout as I do.
What kind of hardwood do you have?

Honey (orangey, if you ask me) oak cabinets with what color hardwood floors?
 

I thought about painting the cabinets but all that stripping and
sanding and priming and painting. Won't it take like centuries to do
all that? And I'm worried about it adhering so that it doesn't scratch
off. I like white painted cabinets so that would go with anything. I
think I've settled the issue though.

I'm now thinking a honey colored red-oak beveled edge floor throughout
everything except the kitchen. And then either ceramic tile in a
diamond pattern or the peel and stick linoleum tiles in a blue and
white diamond pattern.

Thanks for everyone's input!

Honey (orangey, if you ask me) oak cabinets with what color hardwood floors?
 

In article . com,
says...

I thought about painting the cabinets but all that stripping and
sanding and priming and painting. Won't it take like centuries to do
all that? And I'm worried about it adhering so that it doesn't scratch
off. I like white painted cabinets so that would go with anything. I
think I've settled the issue though.

You don't have to stip off the stain finish. Clean with TSP, sand for adhesion,
use a really good primer (BIN), two coats of paint. BDTD. It's a job hired out
rather readily, too - they'll probably dismount and spray the paint on for a
really clean finish. An opportunity to update hardware, too.

But if you're happy with another solution, that's what it's all about ;-)


I'm now thinking a honey colored red-oak beveled edge floor throughout
everything except the kitchen. And then either ceramic tile in a
diamond pattern or the peel and stick linoleum tiles in a blue and
white diamond pattern.

Sounds great. I never jumped on board with this wooden kitchen floors trend
anyway. You've not only solved your problem, but also IMNSHO you're considering
more suitable materials now for the kitchen floor.

Cheers,
Banty


--
NewsGuy.Com 30Gb $9.95 Carry Forward and On Demand Bandwidth

Honey (orangey, if you ask me) oak cabinets with what color hardwood floors?
 

" wrote in
ups.com:

That kitchen is gorgeous! And those floors look beautiful!

Thank you. It was 5 months of very hard work, so it's nice to get
compliments on my design (and effort).

You have almost the same layout as I do.

It's not the original layout of the house. You can see the beams in the
ceiling where I removed 2 structural walls as part of the reno.

What kind of hardwood do you have?

The yellowish stuff in the foreground is original with the house when we
bought it -- 2 3/4" Mirage Honey Oak. The dark stuff in the kitchen and
dining room is 3 3/4" Brazilian oak ("Taurus" stain colour), with a 2 3/4"
gunstock oak inlay. Here's a pic from the second floor looking onto the
dining room and entrance: http://members.shaw.ca/murraypeterson/floor.jpg

Only downside of a dark stain in the kitchen is that chips and dings break
through into the lighter coloured wood underneath, making it much more
visible than I like. Not a floor I would recommend if you have children
and/or pets. However, it works fine for our use (2 of us, with adults over
for parties).

--
Murray Peterson

Honey (orangey, if you ask me) oak cabinets with what color hardwood floors?
 

" wrote in
ups.com:

I thought about painting the cabinets but all that stripping and
sanding and priming and painting. Won't it take like centuries to do
all that? And I'm worried about it adhering so that it doesn't scratch
off. I like white painted cabinets so that would go with anything. I
think I've settled the issue though.

Refinishing cabinets is a major pain in the ***. To be honest, I would
personally look at getting new doors and side panels over the existing
cabinet boxes.

I'm now thinking a honey colored red-oak beveled edge floor throughout
everything except the kitchen. And then either ceramic tile in a
diamond pattern or the peel and stick linoleum tiles in a blue and
white diamond pattern.

My experience with peel and stick tiles is that they do more peeling than
sticking (at least after a year or two). However, they are a darn cheap
and fast solution -- cheap enough to be considered as a temporary solution
while you make up your mind.

--
Murray Peterson

Honey (orangey, if you ask me) oak cabinets with what color hardwood floors?
 

Thanks so much for the back and forth advice and the inspiration. Here
is what I decided and as of this afternoon it was purchased: From
Columbia Flooring, 3 1/4 inch Turner Hickory in Natural Finish. It is
gorgeous and fairly reasonable at $4.83/sq ft! I am putting it in the
entire downstairs, including the kitchen where I was having serious
doubts. But this floor is so different from my cabinets and there is
SO much variation in the grain and colors, it will go beautifully.
There is still a slight chance that I'll paint my cabinets but that is
for another day.

Banty, thanks for the advice on the cabinets.

Murray, thanks for making me feel comfortable with the different wood
choices in the house. Yours look great together.

The floors should be installed the week of April 17th. Do you know the
going rate? We are paying $2.50 per sq. foot which I think is a deal
plus additional for tear out and disposal of the old carpet and
linoleum. So for approx. 800 sq.ft. I think we will end up paying
about $7500 when all is said and done.

I'll link to pictures when it's done, if you'd like.

Thanks again,
Kristi