Ideas for the kitchen

Brad and I have been really brainstorming lately on how we can open up the kitchen (since the ceiling is low) and make it more modern. Other than getting new floors, we also want to raise the ceiling and add rafters, paint/stain the cabinets, and get new appliances. 

This is what the kitchen currently looks like: 

Can you say outdated? 

Because of the already low ceiling, we have decided that doing white cabinets will probably be the best bet to make the room appear not only larger, but also more modern. The more traditional style cabinets are going to be difficult to pair with "modern" handles and knobs, which is why we think going with a minimalist "black and white" will be best. 

We are using this kitchen as our inspiration, because we like the rustic vibe, yet it still has clean, modern lines.

The one thing that we don't like about painting the cabinets rather than staining is the cheap textured look that brush painting leaves behind. After researching on many DIY sites and Pinterest, we went to Home Depot in search of a "cabinet painting kit," but the paint guy told us that in order to get the look we were going for, we could just use Behr paint/primer in one. 

Soooooo, we tested the paint out on a cabinet my parents got off of craigslist that we are going to make into an island/butcher block!! 

The butcher block will go in the middle of the kitchen. Brad thinks a layout like this would be best:

First, to prep the wood for painting, Brad sanded down the cabinet with a coarse grained sandpaper.

Then, we painted with a paint roller!

The cabinet was pretty well covered in just one coat, BUT you could still see the texture that we were afraid of... My mom suggested that we sand with a fine grain sand paper in between coats, in order to get rid of the grainy texture, and that seemed to work well. Although, since the Behr paint is water based, we think that using a spray gun rather than a roller or paint brush will yield a softer, less textured effect. Then of course, sealing with some sort of oil-based gloss over the top should do the trick :)

The low ceiling is another story. Since there is a lot of plumbing above the 1980's light panels, we won't be able to raise the entire ceiling by more than 3 inches UNLESS we cover the plumbing. I have always loved the rustic look of rafters, and Brad had the idea to do it in this kitchen! As of right now, we think we will keep the beams white, to amplify the cabinets and sustain the clean, minimalist appearance, but that could change. 

Ceilings like this are our inspiration: