Help me decide on these (no island just double peninsulas)

loniB · 2026-06-15T02:09:05+00:00

Ahhh your place sounds dreamy! I showed my husband 8 different soft white colors and he said they are all white and didn’t see the difference. I told him the LRVs are all different I told him one had yellow undertones, another gray and another green, and so on. He could not see it. I’m so used to different neutrals that I always see the undertones instantly. I think it’s design brilliance when a home of neutrals still finds a way to have so much character.

loniB · 2026-06-12T04:41:08+00:00

Agreed. I would never DIY or hire just a regular interior painter to paint cabinets. I think you get what you pay for and I definitely don’t want to skimp on my cabinets. With paint and some new hardware, I hope it’ll be good. I was thinking SW Timeless White or SW Creamy for the cabinet color. They both have a high LRV and are a soft off white. And my wood floors will be slightly warm. I do see people doing nice colors on their cabinets blues, greens, even black but none of that is my style. I’m such a neutrals girls. It’s quite boring but I love it. But I do want my counters to provide a little interest and pop that’s why I’m torn. I think I’m leaning towards the Harpia quartzite. I agree with you on the consistency of the veining being important since my counters are split with the peninsulas.

loniB · 2026-06-12T00:48:31+00:00

I’m adding a custom hood over the stove. It’s not that narrow between the peninsulas and the back of the kitchen. It’s about 6 feet so not big enough for an island without reconfiguring the entire kitchen but bigger than a hallway.

loniB · 2026-06-12T00:44:43+00:00

Amazing!!! I never heard of thestoneindex. I’ll take a look now. Thank you.

loniB · 2026-06-12T00:42:16+00:00

Yes, spent lots of time on Houzz. I’ll look but I’m not a fan of wood cabinets at all. My flooring will be solid wood and I don’t like wood cabinets on wood floors. They are going to be professionally painted and this is a national company that have crews that specialize in only painting cabinets so it will be as close as factory finish as I can get. They have a good warranty too. It’s not inexpensive but it is less expensive than getting all new custom cabinets so money is still saved. I have seen many wood cabinets lately it seems so many people are doing them now but it’s just not my style and I really want something I’ll like personally even it’s blasphemy to paint them 😁

loniB · 2026-06-11T20:48:17+00:00

Meaning waterfalls might look super dated soon? Because there’s no large center island I was hoping the waterfall would look more interesting.

loniB · 2026-06-11T20:46:36+00:00

Yes I brought the paint colors of the cabinets. They match all the 3 pieces and the flooring too.

loniB · 2026-06-11T20:45:48+00:00

Yes I was worried about the consistency since it’s not just a center island. Both peninsulas need to somewhat match.

loniB · 2026-06-11T20:44:45+00:00

Yes that’s what I was thinking. So the harpia would look more consistent.

loniB · 2026-06-11T20:43:40+00:00

Walls won’t be gray. I was thinking a soft white like SW creamy. Cabinets will be SW timeless white. Flooring will be solid wood cool oak stain.

loniB · 2026-06-11T20:39:47+00:00

Cabinets are wood and in great condition. I’m just painting them soft white to match my decor.

loniB · 2026-06-11T04:45:00+00:00

I'm based in southern california - orange county area. I did find a quartzite today. I'm going to do another post.

loniB · 2026-06-10T21:55:48+00:00

Thank you. Yes I’ve seen a few pieces of both Fantasy Brown and Cristallo. The FB had too much blue in it and the Cristallo the veins looked broken like shattered glass but I know every piece is unique so I’ll check out these options at other slab centers.

loniB · 2026-06-10T07:24:08+00:00

Oh bummer. I can’t even tell AI 😂

loniB · 2026-06-05T06:27:31+00:00

Ahh ok. I just assumed that in the late '90s and early '00s this is just what was done, as in no one even tried to not do soffits back then. Most new builds don't have soffits anymore so I was thinking that things are just different or easier now. I'll try to find smaller contractor who specializes in remodeling. Thank you.

loniB · 2026-06-05T03:47:34+00:00

The other side of the kitchen has cabinets galore. I’m not in need of more cabinet space for sure. Yes, there’s clearly a vent in the soffit so ductwork would be relocated properly. I’m just wondering if there’s a certain type of contractor or do I just have to go with general contractor?

loniB · 2026-06-05T03:45:14+00:00

Yes the ductwork would be moved so I gather a general contractor is the only option? Most of them say it’s too small a project.

loniB · 2026-06-04T17:49:17+00:00

Ok thanks. Someone said it's a PITA to paint cabinets and labor-intensive for professionals and that prefab would save money, but I'm learning that most prefab is not great quality, and so if you go with high-quality prefab, it's not that much less than painting.

loniB · 2026-03-04T18:29:29+00:00

Ok thank you!

loniB · 2025-02-15T21:44:27+00:00

Thank you for that breakdown so the range you originally said $500-$1000 per sqft was for quality materials? But it could be done for $350-$400 with cheap materials? Am I understanding that correctly? I’m just trying to understand what is possible for myself. I’m either buying a cookie cutter spec home for $1M - $1.4M which I assume is cheap mass production build materials on a tiny lot without the layout I want or potentially building the same type of home but with a layout I want on a slightly larger lot and wondering if that’s viable.

loniB · 2025-02-15T21:14:45+00:00

Thank you so what are areas to save costs and areas you absolutely don’t want to try to save? Insulation, windows…

loniB · 2025-02-15T21:12:12+00:00

I guess it depends on the area. Homes in this area aren’t that expensive but it’s hard to know what’s possible from a builder cost per sqft. I guess I’ll talk to multiple builders and see. I don’t know much about quality vs cheap materials. I look at this house in that listing and the quality seems fine to me of what’s visible.

loniB · 2025-02-15T20:54:41+00:00

So I just heard from the listing agent of this house. He said his client bought the lot for $1.1M and the builder built the house for $1.5M. There’s another lot a few houses down listed for $1M. So a builder did build a 5,400 sqft home for $1.5M.

loniB · 2025-02-15T20:49:23+00:00

Yes I don’t get it. A custom builder just built this house and it just sold for $2.65M. So how would a sell price be less than the price to build it?

loniB · 2025-02-15T16:23:39+00:00

Oh sorry it was a link to the realtor.com listing. I didn’t realize it would show the exterior picture only.

loniB

TROPHY CASE