Little House in the Big Woods - Cabinet Level Decision

 It's what's on the inside that counts.

Superficial conventional wisdom? Or sound advice for the home builder?

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My builder encouraged me to hurry up and get the interior walls painted; he said, "It will be a lot easier to paint your walls before your cabinets are installed, than having to mask off and paint around the wood."

I began to paint the interior myself, saving thousands of dollars. I was then told by my builder that I was painting too slow. But...  but not only is painting a skill (which I can master) but it also involves selecting the right colors. The proper color selection is the difficult part of getting the interior walls ready for the cabinet installation.

I knew I wanted a light blue for the kitchen and dining room, a color that would complement the sense of a marine, water and open sky, feminine space in those rooms on the sunny southern end of the home. I also knew I wanted a light green for the angular, masculine spaces in the living room, to bring in the essence of the surrounding forest, but I also wanted to break up the green walls with an earthen colored accent wall. I was intrigued by the concept of applying an ombre technique to the upstairs studio loft to embrace the colors of the sunrise in this east-facing space.

I ended up spending a couple of days experimenting with the gradational color scheme on the office wall that led up to the studio loft and then I also played with ombre earth colors on my living room accent wall. It took me days and got me scolded for painting too slow, and I may not be totally satisfied yet.

Then it was decision time for colors in the basement bedroom and the upstairs guest room. I was still unsure of the color scheme for the master bedroom. I did finish painting the walls that I needed to paint ahead of the cabinet installation painted in time. But, the stinging remark of 'painting too slow' lingers on as a mark upon my artistic soul. Yeah - If I painted everything in a monochrome beige I'd be done. But I will ever going back to become Mr. Beige. As my paint vendor remarked as I kept ordering a varied spectrum of paint colors for him to mix, "This house is going to me a work of art." Yes, yes it is.

Earthen-tones on living room accent wall.

    

Ombre wall on office staircase; evoking the Pacific Northwest fog lifting from the morning sky.

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It has taken ten, long months to get to this point while building our house. It has been a slog to get all of the exterior items in place before I could finally begin to consider the interior colors and accoutrements of the living space - the things that really matter. Yes, the walls were framed, low-maintenance design elements of a metal roof and durable cement board siding have gone into place. All needful things for the home; but my interests have always been focused on the living space inside. It is what's on the inside that matters, right?

Cabinets were ordered once I had the walls erected and floors nailed down in January. The custom cabinet rep came out and discussed my wants and desires and measured the dimensions for where the crafted woodwork would be installed. The shop drew up the plans, I approved and then I waited until July to take delivery.  

We will have alder throughout the house, with oak being the exception for the cabinets in the mudroom and my basement wine lattice.

Alder kitchen cabinets

Back of kitchen pantry & counter top

Looking across kitchen cabinets into dining room

View from kitchen center out dining room portal

Display cabinet in foyer for our mineral collection

Foyer entry way cabinets

Master bath cabinets

Guest bath cabinets

Mudroom oak cabinets & coat rack

Mudroom utility basin sink & cabinets

Basement kitchenette

Basement bathroom cabinets

Luxury soaker tub in basement bedroom bath

Oak wine lattice on landing downstairs from kitchen pantry

The father and son installation team told me I had a lot of cabinets for a house this size - which I think is a good thing. They were also pleased to be installing cabinets in a 'new build', being rather tired of doing the more difficult work of fitting the pieces into a remodel-job.

When the installation was finished after a couple of days, I had the tangible sense that good progress had been made in transforming the vacant interior into a pleasant, livable home for me and my wife. 

I love using wood and glass to surround me. I love what I am creating out on The Pilchuck. It has a good feel.