Kitchen Planning

I've come to see the wisdom of "live with it for awhile" in regards to renovating a room--specifically our kitchen.  It's the largest room in the house (a whopping 14' x 15') and has great potential, so we certainly want to do it right.  Since this is not the house that we'll live in for the next 30 years, we also have to be sure that we'll recoup the cost of the upgrades when we sell the house--so nothing too fancy.  Think chemical peel, a makeover and a new hairdo instead of plastic surgery (the lighting upgrades would be the hairdo if that makes any sense).

Here are some of the kitchens that have inspired me so far:

Some unifying ideas: White cabinets, hardwood floors, stainless appliances, subway tile backsplashes, pops of primary yellow, green or blue.   Here's my inspiration/mood board for what I think I'm going for:

The gray-veined Carrara marble is more of a wish or a look I'd try to emulate if I found a reasonable substitute.  Most of the laminates I've seen that imitate marble are just awful.  I'd like to put up white beadboard to countertop height throughout and then paint the upper wall something warm and cheery--a color that will look good on a sunny summer morning, in the depths of January and under lower evening light for a dinner party. I think I'm getting there with one of those two Farrow and Ball shades of yellow (Lancaster Yellow and Yellow Ground). But the wrong shade of yellow could look really old fashioned.  Any ideas?

Of course, there's a part of me that wants to try something a little more outside my blue/white/yellow comfort zone:

Sage green cabinets? From the Southern Living Idea House in Covington, LA. I'm not sure it would look as crisp and clean in our kitchen, but I do love it.

Windsor Smith's kitchen painted Benjamin Moore's Polo Blue. This photo makes it look more inky blue black than the print version, which is a crisp navy.  Certainly striking! Probably not a wise move for resale value though. Someday....