Mom’s Kitchen Inspiration

I sent my mom a few photos of some beautiful kitchens the other day.  I was hoping that she could review them and find traits she liked from the examples for use in her own kitchen.  There are few things we know already that will probably be elements in her overall design.  I’ll get to that in a minute.  I tried to find pictures with similar characteristics to what I think she is desiring or what I know will probably be design features in her space.  Hopefully, she can draw some inspiration from the photos.

Currently, her kitchen is outfitted in standard builders grade everything in a lovely early 90’s cream--cream formica counter top, cream formica backsplash, cream paint on walls (with the exception of some terrible wall paper on the breakfast nook side), and cream linoleum flooring.

This kitchen renovation will probably be an evolving process over time.  Like most people, my parents’ budget for the project is not endless.  In an effort to save some cash, the oak cabinets will be painted white or cream instead of replaced.  We will take the wall paper down ourselves, and more than likely, paint the kitchen the same color that is already in the den (which is adjacent to the kitchen).  The choice on the floor could go a few different ways.  The cream linoleum could be replaced with some oak hardwood to match what is already in the two rooms that meet the kitchen, or it could be replaced with some kind of natural stone tile (i.e. marble, slate, etc.)  The laundry room and kitchen connect, so the question for the floor choice is whether to put down hardwood in the kitchen and tile in the laundry room (because hardwood in the laundry room just doesn’t seem like a good idea), or to just tile the whole space and forego the hardwood.  Thoughts???

The inspiration photos I sent my mom are below.  I found all but one image on decorpad.com.  The last photo is from House and Home.  I recognize several of the rooms in the photos and know that they were created by some of my favorite interior designers. 

Mom and I would love to have your feedback, thoughts, and recommendations.  What do you like best?  What features do you think will best stand the test of time?

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3 (This gold is a similar color to what is already in mom and dad’s den.)

 Number 4

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Number 9 

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Number 14

 

Number 15