Daily Nuance's Profile

I literally JUST replaced all the hardware throughout my home, opting for these with decorative escutcheons for the interior doors:
http://tiny.cc/l5rwi
and with similar hardware with the same escutcheons for the exterior doors to replace the standard home builder special polished brass knobs.

Dan, it's good to hear your thought process on how you arrived at the end result, or at least the end result for now. I can better understand and appreciate your choices.

I hope I didn't come across as too negative there in pointing out the rough patch on the wall. I totally understand how a home project can be a progressive one, where you tackle elements at a time, with with successive, and progressive, "end results". For many of us doing the work ourselves, the final result is often not achieved via a single project.

That said, I do think the overall concept of your black, green, and wood kitchen is a great one and it looks amazingly better than it did before.

I like the overall idea and look of the black and green kitchen.
But is it possibly still a work in progress?
I couldn't help but notice blue painters tape on the countertop right next to the wall.
And when the old countertop and integral splash was removed it left a VERY noticeable mark on the wall, yet Dan painted right over it without repairing the wall first, which IMO cheapens the end result. I'm also in the group against painted switch and outlet covers.

A little more prep and forethought could have resulted in a kitchen that not only looked great at a first glance, but also upon closer inspection. As it is, it unfortunately falls a little short.

Upon buying my home in July two years ago I was informed that our cul-de-sac does a big party every Halloween. And my home is at the end of the cul-de-sac, right where the party is held! I didn't give it a second thought and jumped right in at Halloween, going all out in decorating the yard and joining in the party. We had a blast and it only got bigger and better last year.

Not all wait staff are so "poor".
At the restaurant next to my office building I see the wait staff showing up for work driving Hummers, Mercedes, BMW's, Jaguars, etc. No kidding. They're obviously pulling in a much better income than I am and I don't receive tips! Nor would I expect to.

Agree with some of the others that it's very difficult to give constructive advice when we can't see much of the kitchen, haven't seen any of the rest of your home, and don't know anything about your style preferences.

That said, though, I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformations, sold at Lowe's, and reviewed by Janel here on AT earlier this year:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/at-email/the-under-400-kitchen-makeoverin-a-box-rustoleum-transformations-in-the-test-lab-139345

However, I've not tried it myself, and thus have no clue how good the finished product looks.

I find it interesting that almost ALL of the complaints here appear to have been made by women.

Though not of Briony's doing, that waist height mirror at the shower seems rather..... peculiar.

I'm with lsp.
Though I see nothing wrong with the still life pumpkin arrangement, the rest of the patio, or what we can see of it, is rather stark and completely underwhelming. Certainly not what I'd expect from a landscape architect. As a result, to me this post is a bit of a negative calling card for him.

If you're going to be doing a more major renovation within a year or so, painting all of those cabinets is going to be a LOT of work for the relatively short time you're going to reap the supposed benefits. Besides, the photoshopped paint job just makes the kitchen look cheap. Having everything a lighter tone (cabinets, countertop, walls, AND floor) results in zero contrast, providing nothing of interest in the room. Oh, with the exception of that big black refrigerator. With lighter everything else in the room, it will REALLY stand out, as if it doesn't stand out too much as it is now.

Which brings me to the point that some others have made, that you have other issues in more urgent need of being addressed, most specifically that big black refrigerator. It is sucking up what little light you say you're able to get into the room. And those cheap white plastic laminate countertops would be much more bothersome to me than dark cabinets, as well as the vinyl flooring.

I suggest saving up your money and putting it towards your major renovation that you're planning in a year or so anyway and just make it that much better.