Finish Dilemma

[suzubeane]

I'm getting down to the wire on finish decisions for the kitchen, so I just posted this in the "ask a designer" community.

Anyone care to comment?

annie_v? larslobster? Any other period kitchen lovers out there?

Comments

[dakotapie]

You *must* have wainscotting! :-) I also tend to agree with your line of backsplash. I should preface that by saying that I've seen a lot of kitchens where I think it's overdone and have thus developed a "less is more" idea of what I think looks good. For my purposes, I want a backsplash on the areas where there is the possibility of the walls needing to be cleaned more frequently. Other areas I don't think it's a necessity.

[suzubeane]

Ok, well - if I must have it, where should it start and end? See the issue up in the corner by the entry? How does tile meet wainscot?

In the corner?

Do they butt together as I'm showing the lines doing now?

The truth is that by the door and in the high traffic areas, it just makes sense to have it. But it might look weird that there is none over on the island side.

I thought about ending the backsplash where the soapstone ends, and starting the wainscot behind the stove, but it might get greasy and icky. (All those grooves.)

[annie_v]

Definitely tile around the stove. I’m very glad I did that. I’d tile the side next to the sink, too. I have seen old kitchens where there’s a tile wainscoting, and I love that look. I think I might be inclined to do the tile around the door, and then do a wood wainscoting in the hallway though the bathroom and the stairs. That would sort of be a transition area from the kitchen to the rest of the house, and make those areas more distinct, if that’s what you’re after.

I’m going to have to dig out my bungalow kitchens book, but I remember when I was doing my research I was impressed by the generous usage of tile in period kitchens. I am a tile fan, though. (If only I had the money to tile my bathroom! ;) )

[suzubeane]

Oh, interesting. You're saying to tile all the way to the refrigerator. That's not a bad idea. What you can't see in the plan is the distinction between the work area and the rest of the kitchen; three's a beam running overhead right where the island meets the stove wall, all the way over to the entry. (Where we took down the wall, obviously!)

So it would make sense to tile that whole area as part of what I've been calling the "business end" of he kitchen. Interesting. I'm curious to find out what the Bungalow Kitchens book says.

The issue becomes how to transition from tile to wainscot. I didn't like the idea of having tile on one side of the entry door, and wainscot on the other; it's still odd, but not quite as bad to have tile on one side of the fridge and wainscot on the other. (You'd see a little of the wainscot as you're facing the fridge to the right, because it would wrap the corner of that wall. KWIM

[annie_v]

Ooo! I love that tile. Someone took the tile out of our bathroom and replaced it with unprimed drywall. I will never forgive them.

I get the fridge deal. Now I'm thinking the tile should reach the door, and the wainscot should start on the other side. I think it would make sense from a visual perspective since there's already a delineation in that area, and it would be logical, because all the potentially messy areas would be covered by the backsplash.

Here's what I did with around my stove:

[larslobster]

I'm in agreement with Amorey. You definitely want to tile completely around the stove and I like the idea of tiling the small portion of wall on the other side, near the door, as well, then putting the wainscotting on the other side of the door. If you choose to wainscot the small portion of wall next to the sink wall rather than tile, I'd definitely do a wainscott that is counter high so you don't have to deal with a tile/wainscot transition.

[larslobster]

Oops, I mean Ann, not Amorey. : )