Modern Kitchen In A Traditional House?
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 at
1:49 pm
What do you think about remodeling a kitchen with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and modern cabinets when the rest of our house is decorated in a more traditional way? Will it look out of place or is it ok to mix styles? (I don’t really want a modern feel to the family room or dining room – just the kitchen) Thanks.
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Tagged with: House • Kitchen • Modern • Traditional
Sure you can but I would caution on the use of overly modern cabinets ,,,, the stainless and granite are every bit traditional and would look great with a more traditional cabinet.
The reason is that you will want a seamless flow of styles from family room to dining room to kitchen , particularly when it comes to resale
From my experience, I think if you want like a modern look with a touch of traditional you should do the following…
I think that you should get rid of the idea of using any type of moldings, ex: door moldings, corner moldings, etc. The only molding you should use is the crown mold and the bottom edge piece that goes across the wall cabinets. The crown molding should be like a standard one, not a fancy one. If you have high enough ceilings and your cabs are tall, a 4 1/4″ would be suitable.
There is ways of incorporating traditional touches to modern kitchens you just have to be careful and creative. For example, the crown is traditional, then your doors should only have like 1/8″ revile and no molding or router edges (modern look), then the bottom you might get creative and get your cabinet maker to make you a fancy traditional piece of wood going across the bottom edge of your upper wall cabinets.
The same for the base cabinets, 1/8″ revile all around, plain doors and drawer fronts, with a traditional bottom piece going across. You might want maybe make it look like a piece of furniture by putting that traditional bottom piece and some legs. He is probably going to have to give it a bit of a higher toe kick so it could rely get that furniture piece look.
Well hope you are able to picture my explanation…
Best of luck!
You can because it fits your personal style, but be careful if you are planning on selling your house in the near future. Most buyers want a house that fits all one style, but then again all you need is one person to buy. Can you do a modern kitchen with a homey feel, like a earthy toned granite, and new hardware that still has an older style as for appliances its good to update no matter the style, Cabinets too look for new ones that still make it feel homey. Good luck, hope this helps.
I just did that in my c.1806 National Register federal house. I suggest you try to keep some traditional element like moldings similar but put in ample modern lighting fixtures like recessed lighting that really is functional but not intrusive. Choose high quality hardware. Ask for furniture quality finishes if you can. Don’t date the countertops by getting black. They are really hard to maintain too. I also suggest tiling the inside of your base cabinets, even it you diy. My cooktop, stove, sinks, washer, waste bin and compactor all sit out from the counter five inches which cost me a little more but is really worth the visual appeal and better access.
Go to some place like a Home Depot Expo. They have installers that have seen just about everything and can offer good advice in blending modern and traditional.