Paint colors for my kitchen update: now with pics!

[nowa]

Hello everyone! I'm new to this board and thought you could help me out with your design skills. We have a circa 1950s and 1970s kitchen with cream colored St Charles cabinets. A kitchen Reno is NOT in the budget now or anytime in the next 5 years or more. I actually love the functionality of the cabinets, but hate the mismatched appliances. But I digress, I'm writing to get opinions on paint color.

The kitchen has an open doorway to the dining room which currently has medium wood table and chairs. Dinkng room is open to living room. Then the other side has a doorway through which you can see our foyer which is has terracotta floors and a mix of blues, wood, metal tones.

I wanted the kitchen to be a seafoam or mint green but I don't think it goes with the cabinets. So now I'm leaning towards blueish. The rest of the main floor is an off white color and I want it to stay that way.

I will try to post pics of the kitchen.

And thanks if you took the time to read and share thoughts!

Update: see pics below. Excuse the mess please! I have a toddler and preschooler and we're all sick so that's my excuse. Just to clarify, foyer can be seen from the kitchen nook across from the door to our side porch.

[nowa]

Ok shoot. How do I pip from my phone?



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[nowa]

Ok and here's our foyer which can be seen from that side porch door. The table is a distressed blue and the rug has blues, browns and oranges. Mirror is not staying.

[nomad100]

With all the light cabinets, you could go a bit darker on the color, I think. Pulling in the darker blue hue from the rug and foyer table.

(and if that is messy, please don't ever come to my house. )

[Deleted]

I like the blue that's third up from the bottom all the way to the left.

[simpsongal]

May 22, 2015 9:26:10 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

I like the blue that's third up from the bottom all the way to the left.

Me too - I also like the one that's in the middle of the stand alone chips.  It's a little lighter and grayer.  You might want to go with a middle chip.  It doesn't look like you get a ton of natural light.  I had a dark blue in my kitchen and it was just too dark.

[Rainyday]

I also like the middle stand alone chip, it's horizontal on the second row. It looks more of an earth tone that would play off the terra cotta floors nicely.

[LadySusan]

I like the more saturated blues too. I think they'll contrast nicely with the warm tile and wood floors.  A grey blue will look more classic.  A teal blue will look more retro and fun.  So I think it all depends on how that works with the rest of the house.

[TBM]

Do some of the blues make the cabinets look pinkish? Maybe it is the lighting...or my computer.

I think a backsplash would add more interest than painting the wall, but I have a thing about having some kind of tile/glass/whatever backsplash rather than paint.

[dr.girlfriend]

How about the infamous Sea Salt? I also think a super-cool backsplash would make a huge difference.

[nowa]

I love sea salt but when I put the card up it didn't seem to work. Hmmm

Thanks for the feedback! I've thought about it before and would love to do some backsplash, but a) never done it, b) money, c) convincing my H it's worth the time and money. Is it easy enough and cheap enough for a complete novice to DIY? How will it look if I do new backsplash everywhere else but keep that SS backsplash behind the stove?

[dr.girlfriend]

May 22, 2015 19:02:58 GMT -5 nowa said:

I love sea salt but when I put the card up it didn't seem to work. Hmmm

Thanks for the feedback! I've thought about it before and would love to do some backsplash, but a) never done it, b) money, c) convincing my H it's worth the time and money. Is it easy enough and cheap enough for a complete novice to DIY? How will it look if I do new backsplash everywhere else but keep that SS backsplash behind the stove?

I think it would be pretty easy to DIY backsplash.  I've done tile on a horizontal service, but not a vertical one, but the guys who did my tile were pretty much idiots and they seemed to do fine.  :-)  If you go for a subway tile or something the materials would be really cheap too.  I think my tile itself was only $40, I paid more for the shipping than for the product.

[TBM]

May 22, 2015 19:02:58 GMT -5 nowa said:

Thanks for the feedback! I've thought about it before and would love to do some backsplash, but a) never done it, b) money, c) convincing my H it's worth the time and money. Is it easy enough and cheap enough for a complete novice to DIY? How will it look if I do new backsplash everywhere else but keep that SS backsplash behind the stove?

I think it would look fine....it would just add more interest.

It can be pretty reasonable to diy a backsplash, as long as you choose wisely.

There are a lot of tutorials online, and stores like Home Depot have classes to teach you how to do it yourself. Tile on vertical surfaces can be a bit of a challenge becase it can slip, but there are tricks to help with that, like using painter's tape to hold it up until it dries.

[nowa]

Thanks for the tips! The more I think about it, I'm not sure backsplash would work in our kitchen. As I mentioned, the cabinets are vintage St Charles steel cabinets and I feel like I don't see pictures of those with backsplash. It would look a bit mismatched, no? Some photos have stainless backsplash behind the stove and sink, but that's it. Gah. Decisions! We also ordered new pendant lights and I'm now worried they are too big. I just want to be done.

[TBM]

May 23, 2015 7:17:01 GMT -5 nowa said:

Thanks for the tips! The more I think about it, I'm not sure backsplash would work in our kitchen. As I mentioned, the cabinets are vintage St Charles steel cabinets and I feel like I don't see pictures of those with backsplash. It would look a bit mismatched, no? Some photos have stainless backsplash behind the stove and sink, but that's it. Gah. Decisions! We also ordered new pendant lights and I'm now worried they are too big. I just want to be done.

I think it just depends on the particular backsplash.  You can give it a fresher look without taking away form the charm and style.

I have seen it done badly, but to be fair, I have seen a lot of bad backsplashes with other styles of cabinets as well.  I have seen it done well with those cabinets though...I have seen kitschy/funky that was really bold and fun, and more subtle in color, but the right style, that made it look updated in a good way.