We have a mid-50s ranch house with a lot of knotty pine in the kitchen. We are getting ready to tear down the dated floral wallpaper and replace the countertop, which is white with the gold specks.
We're looking for a nice color to paint the walls, something that will complement the golden hue the cabinets have taken on. Any ideas? We're toying with a maroon or some other red.
Any tips on the countertop are welcome as well.
Pictures of the kitchen are at
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Thanks,
tmac
"Money-saving suggestion: let's cut directly to the scene where Mr. Bush dresses up as an astronaut, and skip the rest of his expensive, pointless - but optimistic! - Moon-base program."
Is that a grey or blue in the floor? A grey or blue to pick up the darker diamonds will work nicely. Is the fridge staying? That might be a good place to start (if you can) to pick up a little brightness in your kitchen...
The tile's going too - eventually. I should have been more clear that it doesn't really figure into the scheme right now.
We hope to get rid of the harvest gold fridge and replace it with stainless steel.
The walls and countertops are our biggest, um, conundra right now. :)
Thanks!
tmac
"Money-saving suggestion: let's cut directly to the scene where Mr. Bush dresses up as an astronaut, and skip the rest of his expensive, pointless - but optimistic! - Moon-base program."
I think real granite is probably out of the question, cost-wise. What do you think about the faux-granite laminate?
I agree that a black might work very well.
Thanks!
tmac
"Money-saving suggestion: let's cut directly to the scene where Mr. Bush dresses up as an astronaut, and skip the rest of his expensive, pointless - but optimistic! - Moon-base program."
Go ahead and try the maroon. One nice thing about paint is that it doesn't cost a lot of money to change your mind; the labour, on the other hand...
Black would seem to be a good choice with your black appliances. Tile the backsplash with rippled white tiles in a diamond pattern, and add some under-counter lighting for some nice highlights.
We have a country house too. We redid the counters a few years ago using
4x3 ceramic tiles. In our case, they are a sort of earthy brown and a few of them (strategically placed) also have a design. They look good and they went down well on the plywood counter surface. We applies them to the counter and to the area behind the sink. A visit to a big tile store is sure to give you ideas.The only problem we have had is one or two cracked tiles but they are easily replaced. Buy a few spares and keep them on hand. ds
we almost did a total remodel - decided we liked our money better than we did the new cabinets :o) We had picked out a Corian pattern, black with neutral tone pebbles, like a small aggregate, with taupe, tan, brown. Something like that would go with the color and style of the cabinets. I almost fainted when hubby wanted Corian, again when he selected black. Black, then maroon, are my least favorite colors for decorating. That particular corian would have gone well with cherry cabinets we liked, and with our terrazzo floor without too many patterns fighting with each other.
I'd select a flooring - at least as far as color goes, so eventually you have a coordinated plan. Porcellain tile with rustic stone-like finish and warmish light tone would coordinate without fighting with all the knots and black hinges. Large tile, with matching grout, so's you don't have a lot of squares fighting with the knots and hinges.
When you are thinking of color families, you can choose contrasting (opposite on the color wheel, blue-violet), split compliment, etc. In a kitchen which has so many visual objects, I'd try to neutralize the whole thing. Put in blue and it will make cabinets look more orange; contrasting colors have that effect. More black will likely make the kitchen look smaller, but looks like there is plenty of light. I'd lose the ceiling fan :o)
We considered glass painted on the back side for a backsplash behing the cooktop. Easy to clean but a bit delicate. Found out there are colored glasses that are used for backsplashes.
Paint color? Select flooring and counters that unite the room. I "repainted" your kitchen in my graphics program, quick and dirty. Can email the image if you like.
I'm not sure if this would be more or less expensive, but we have a favorite restaurant with similar pine woodwork and the table tops and bar counter are all made out of slate. Unlike granite, slate is not shiny - it absorbs light and I think it gives a warmer look; plus you can write reminder notes to your family on it in chalk!
Despite the pine woodwork, this restaurant has a funky industrial feel with lots of stainless steel accents. If you wanted to go for this look, you might consider a stainless steel backsplash and light fixtures. The walls are painted in a deep red, and the floor is wood.
I'm very fond of purple, with orange and green polka dots. Take a paper plate, and cut a circle about three inch diameter in the center of the paper plate. Use it as a template for when you spray paint the polka dots. Latex is OK for the main paint.
I've got really awful color vision. And I really like polka dots. But I sure have a hard time wiring thermostats. Red? Green? Brown? What's that?????
I like the cabinets-- they have a really nice patina!
I looked at your photo's; what's interesting is that where the light reflects off the wood, it looks yellow. Where it's not so well lit, it goes really red.
The thing to remember about oak is that even when it goes red, it's still a yellow red. If you're going to use "maroon", ask your paint store to make sure it has a yellow base (orange)and not a blue (purple). It will really make a difference, trust me!
Personally, I would go as light as possible, because it will actually make the walls go up and out, and make the room look bigger. Maybe a medium yellow-brown. Brown (or dark beige) will show off the cabinets to best effect.
Here's a couple of other things if you're daring: take the wall color UP the paint chart two shades lighter and **paint your ceiling**. Believe it or not, the ceiling will have the illusion of being taller (white is a really advancing color). If that's two much, try a buff/yellow based white to complement the walls and cabinets.
If you're feeling really wild, take a look at this picture:
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