i'm dreaming of a white kitchen

Ever since I saw that sweet chic flick 'Something's Gotta Give', I've been in love with white kitchens. And I know I'm not the only one. 

From what I've read, it seems that after the movie came out designers all over the country were doing white kitchen makeovers... Diane's white beach house kitchen was a big hit!

my favorite features are the shaker cabinetry, hooded drawer pulls

and that amazing apron farmers sink

and I just love the charcoal color soapstone counter tops,

the white subway tile back-splash, and the glass door cupboards 

so my dilemma is...

my husband bob bought our farmhouse about 6 years ago (before we met).  The original kitchen is long gone, and we are living with the 1970-80s kitchen that was installed by the previous owner.  As you can see we desperately need a makeover.

bright orange counter-tops

and dark, outdated cabinets.

Our kitchen is quite dark, not only are the cabinets a dark stain, but we have low natural light.  With the exception of one glass door leading to our side deck, our kitchen has no outside windows.  I'm also not a fan of the cupboard knobs being placed in the center of the doors....eek.

It is definitely not in our budget right now to gut the kitchen and remodel, but the one decent thing is that the cupboards are real wood.  So while I have to wait a few years for my dream kitchen...why not just paint in the meantime?  So you guessed it...white!

Bob is not a big fan of white cupboards, but I think I finally have him convinced.  The product I was thinking of using is Annie Sloan's chalk paint, lightly distress by sanding, then topped with several coats of a natural wax finish.  I have used this paint on furniture before and I'm so happy with it, but I'm just not convinced yet on its durability for kitchen cabinets.  Have any of you?

 if anyone has used annie sloans chalk paint on their kitchen cabinets, 

i'd love to hear your feedback!

we decided on painting all the walls in the kitchen,
dining room and living room with Behrs creamy 'cottage white ' 

and painting the cupboards in annie sloans 'pure white' 

Of course the orange counter-tops would have to go too, Bob is going to replace them himself (he's very handy!)  so we'll see what is available in our local home stores when we are ready. I know that the pricey soapstone counters are out of the question, so we'll just research for an alternative inexpensive counter-top of some kind.

So until we get started with our painting project, I'll just keep on dreaming ;)

here are some more white kitchens that inspire me!

um...so'ooo delicious!