OT: Kitchen design help

[Conndog]

We are remodeling and my wife is really struggling deciding on a kitchen design that she likes. Our house is old, old kitchen had white cabinets, grayish granite counters, a 60” black Wolf range, wood floor and a butcher block top small island, 7.5 ft ceiling. But it was tight manouvering around, the range was a propane hog and leaked, there was no dishwasher, and insulation hardly existed. Now, we plan to widen kitchen br recessing appliances on one wall into adjacent mud room space, we are sprayfoaming everything, we raised ceiling to 10 feet to expose old beams, getting dishwasher, going with 44” black Lacanche French range, and exposed old brick on one wall.
But my wife can’t “make it work”, she & I have looked at thousands of kitchen photos on line, and since it’ll cost a fortune, she is obsessed with getting it right. Anything that I say doesn’t help or just trivializes her concerns.
Does anyone know a kitchen consultant or kitchen colors expert who could help?
We also are in southern New Hampshire near Keene.
Help!

 

[oldude]

Several years back, my wife and I remodeled our kitchen. Like you and your wife we struggled to come up with a plan. Eventually, we found a really good contractor who had done 100’s of kitchens. He showed us a bunch of photographs of kitchens he remodeled, we checked his references and then we hired him.

While we gave him some general guidelines, we pretty much deferred to his judgement. We gave final sign off on things like countertops, cabinets and appliances, but for the most part we trusted our contractor to make decisions.

In the end, it looked great, we didn’t have to pay someone a bunch of money to do a “professional” design, and my wife and I survived the process with a minimum of stress.

 

[VAUConnFan]

It might not be a bid idea to visit Keene College and ask if they have any recommendations. It must be nice to be able to move on from a 60" Wolf.

 

[Sargassoc]

Have you looked at Houzz? Not only do they have photos (I know you have already looked at many), but they also have contractors listed there, often accompanying any photo designs you sort of like.

 

[Bigboote]

I second both Sargassoc's and olddude's recommendations. Are you talking to an architect? We knew we'd have to change the footprints of our kitchen and master bath, so we worked with design/build firms both times. We had a few over each time, and each time there was one design that clearly popped out.

 

[itsasport]

I do that work, but am 3000 miles away, so just some suggestions:

For cost savings, and a nice, open look, use mostly shelving (It can be made in a traditional or modern style) instead of upper cabinets. Reducing the numbers of boxes, doors and drawers reduces the cost substantially.

To make up the storage space, have a closet-like pantry with a number of narrow shelves that wrap around the three interior walls, It makes the items more visible and accessible.

Make the cabinetry "paint-grade." Then you can get the exact colors and effect you want. Decorative finishes is my specialty and would be happy to provide your with more info on that,

The most important thing, as hard as it is in a home you are living is, is to take you time. Good design takes mulling over. ('Act in haste, repent at leisure.")