The kitchen was never my favorite thing about this house...I prefer a square kitchen to a galley style. (Truth be told I am still in mourning over the loss of my big gorgeous roomy island I left behind in Pennsylvania. Yeah...I probably need to let that go and move on since it's been 7 years.) But I loved the house overall and the neighborhood was priceless so I knew the kitchen and I would have to make amends. It's a nice kitchen, don't get me wrong. The previous owners had remodeled and put in beautiful floor tile, tile back splash, and Corian counter tops (which I despise because they are so fragile and hope to replace down the road) and sink which are a greenish color that I am so not fond of. So I am certainly not by any means needing to renovate here...just hoping to enhance, brighten, and make my own.One of my biggest issues is the lighting in this room. It is dark. Really dark. We have huge trees that surround our property and windows only grace one wall of this room. The best light comes in during the evening hours when the sun is setting in our backyard. That is when these pics were taken to give you the best idea. Told ya...dark. We have decided that one thing we could do to brighten it up is to take the plunge and paint our kitchen cabinets white. I blame it on Edie. But I blame the fact that I am now torn between white or black on Emily. She did "dare" me after all. Love this look. So rich and inviting. Just not sure my room is conducive for such color since it's already dark.
That's where you come in. I would love your input on whether to go all white...white with a dark glaze (thought that might look nice against the tile back splash)...or white top cabinets and black bottom cabinets. Or white with just a small section of black bottom cabinets over by the oven area....OR just all black? Confused yet? I sure am!
My cabinets have exterior hinges so I'm also curious about the best way to handle those...paint over them white? Replace them to match my new handles? I sorta hate that black spotty look that they give against the white but oh well. Cue a certain Rolling Stones song here about getting what you need.
I'd also appreciate any suggestions on wall color you could give since the painter will be here in 2 weeks. The room is currently "Crabapple" by Ralph Lauren with "Coffee Bean" brown painted under the chair rail. I also put the Coffee Bean color on that wall leading into the Living Room (which is also crabapple) to break up the two rooms. I regretted that decision immediately but left it. I'm beginning to feel like a lighter neutral color all over (maybe with a golden undertone) would be better? I've fallen in love with Dunmore Cream over at Anne's. Or should I just paint that accent wall the Crabapple as well and leave the coffee bean under just the chair rail? What is the rule for chair rails anyway? Should they be a different color on bottom? Are there chair rail police? I'm so clueless.
The view from our door leading into kitchen from garage.
View into living room
View of oven area from table
A closer look at the tile.
This is the view from the Living Room end looking back towards the garage door end. This is a testimony to how boring I am I think...way too "blue/brown." Way too matched. I don't like this look but it's what I always seem to produce because it's "safe" I think. I am trying to brave enough now to create in my home what I love in my head without worrying about whether it's "right."
While I had you pros lending your opinions I thought I'd ask about one more room. This is Maggie's room. It is currently green with pink accents and white furniture (which I'm open to painting). She's outgrown this scheme. And the ballerina picture has to go she says. She wants a more transitional room now that she is about to turn 10. That's her own original artwork on that easel by the way.
She picked this black and white damask comforter from Target all on her own. I LOVED (and still consider stealing) it so I couldn't believe that she actually liked it too. But I didn't waste anytime questioning her. I bought it before she could pick something that I hated. It has a teal border around it that I didn't show here. It's about the same teal as her painting. The only thing about it that I really didn't care for. And the thing that makes me not quite sure what to do here with the walls.
Any wall color ideas for this room? Blue? Off White?
Again, clueless.
Please feel free to be as specific and detailed as you'd like with these. In fact if you have a paint name that's even better.
All suggestions are so very much appreciated and I will have "after" photos.
"And whatever I do, may it always bring glory to you"
I wish I had time to ponder all of your questions, but I have company coming tonight and well, my house is not ready :-)
ReplyDeleteJust a quick thought, I don't think I'd go black unless you want to keep it a dark room. Black cabinets are striking, but they do show a lot of dust so that is also a consideration if you don't want to have to deal with that issue.
If you want to brighten things up, white is an option, and with a brownish glaze you'd eliminate some of the cleaning issues with white. I love white kitchens and am mourning my old house's kitchen. Sad.
However, have you considered any other paint color options? I've seen some gorgeous colored cabinets ... shades of greens, grays, taupes and even blues can be so beautiful!! Sorry to throw a while new slew of options at you but I think you have more options that would be pretty and light enough without doing white, if you want to be a little more daring!!
I can try to come back again next week to look at your photos more, if you remind me. Otherwise, look at your tile with some paint swatches and see what looks pretty with it!
Happy friday!
i love your little blue dresser in the background. and i'm with melissa, above, the room already seems so dark. i'd either go white, off white or maybe yellow! melissa had some great links to some yellow cabinets a while back. i loved those.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely go with white on the top and then maybe a light gray or blue or green on the bottoms. I think it's too dark for black. And then you could paint that little island a coordinating color, maybe even turquoise!!! You knew I'd say that surely?
ReplyDeletegood luck, love to you!
edie
Okay, so I did this SAME project exactly two years ago! We have almost identical kitchens (more like kitchen dis-likes). I have a galley (used to have a square), I HAD the dark oak cabinets, lots of trees around the house... thus making the room dark until evening when the sun sets on that side of the house, I went with painting the cabinets white. I love them, but I wish I would have had more instruction. I sanded, sanded some more, primed them, primed some more, then painted. Two years later, some of the paint is chipping. UGH! I was just thinking last night that I will probably need to re-do them this summer. Anyhow, I painted the walls a golden yellow because I had seen a picture in a Kelly Moore booklet that I liked. I love the yellow, BUT, again... (I'm like that, always seeming to find some reason why I should have done something else) I recently read that while yellow increases your energy level, it also increases your appetite (so does red). So, I'm not sure that's the best color choice for a kitchen. Everyone says they like it though, and that it makes the room very warm and inviting. We also took out our old lighting and put in canned lighting on the ceiling. That added a lot. Made the room seem a little bigger/brighter.
ReplyDeleteSo... there's my two cents. Good luck! Can't wait to see pictures!