Kitchen Remodel - Part 1 of ????

When we bought this house I knew the kitchen would eventually need some work. And after almost 2 years of living with a dishwasher that doesn't drain properly, a stove whose oven is tempermental (no pun intended), cabinets whose shelves are sagging and whose drawers don't work, we are finally ready to start the remodel process. We have been gathering ideas for awhile and I think I have a pretty good idea in my head of what I want to do. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I hope the vision I have is good enough to point me in the right direction but not so firm that I have to have exactly what I have in my head. Do you know what I mean? I can be a pretty stubborn shoe shopper. I know exactly what I want but can look forever and still not find it. I am hoping that doesn't creep into the remodel process. So far so good though...here is a quick update.

First, here are a few of our inspiration photos:







The first is from the HGTV Green Home of 2006 (I think). I am not sure where I got the last two. I love the Shaker cabinet style. Very clean and simple. I am pretty sure I want the cabinets to be cream/white with simple hardware. For the countertops, we are leaning towards a dark grey - either quartz or concrete. I have always liked the look of subway tile as a backsplash but I am not sure what color to do. Is white tile too much white next to the cabinets? Would a light green work? What would sell the best? We are hoping to be able to use hardwoods that are under 2 layers of linoleum. Keeping our fingers crossed. I love the idea of an undermount sink. And we are going to add a more permanent island with good storage and a extra work surface.

We have had several proposals and are in the process of figuring out which contractor to go with. The first was a full service contractor and although I know the work would be done as quick as possible and well, the price is just out of our range. So we are taking a step back and trying to do some of the work ourselves. Not so much the construction part, but the research, design, material selection, etc.

One of the biggest decisions to make is what cabinets to use. I think we have come down to Ikea or Home Depot. We visited our closest Ikea several weekends ago and found some cabinets that I really think would work well, but I am not sure how well they hold up. Anyone have any opinions to share?

Here are some pictures from our Ikea trip...

The cabinet style we liked:


A cute idea for the side of the island (if there is room):


Just a cute shot of our little man:


We really need to make a contractor decision soon, but the finality of it scares me a bit so I keep stalling!