kitchen backsplash and cabinet colour

[lolalolalola]

We are getting our kitchen cabinets repainted white. We will keep the cabinet pulls, they are not my favorite but I don't hate them enough to spend $$ changing them out. Unless everyone here tells me they are terrible, LOL![/p]

I assume I would just match the paint colour to the pantry door?

I just posted this on the ML thread as well, but the painters will take 2.5 days to complete and will be doing the work in my garage where possible. They will wash, sand, prime, and do 2 coats of Benjamin Moore INSL X Cabinet Coat. Are there any questions I should be asking before signing on the dotted line?

For backsplash, I was thinking of doing a marble-look hex tile. What do you guys think?I have two calls into tile guys and neither one has returned my call. I assume it should be done before the painter is here.  I'd like to buy from a local tile shop vs home depot but easier to find ideas online with HD.

Here is a picture of my existing kitchen and the backsplash I like. Thoughts??

(Please ignore the messy kitchen, it is waiting for my DD to clean it up).

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[Susie]

I replied to your post over on ML, but separately from what I said there -- I like the hex, and the same paint color/sheen as the trim is probably good. I'd just want to see the backsplash tile next to the paint chip before you commit to make sure they look good together. Whites can be tricky, and if one is warmer or cooler than the other they might not be a good combination.

My only other comment is that if you have cream walls, white cabinets, and a largely white backsplash, are you going to like the result with those dark counters? They are going to leap out against all that white & cream, in a way they don't currently with the darker cabinets.

[lolalolalola]

May 8, 2020 15:08:09 GMT -5 Susie said:

I replied to your post over on ML, but separately from what I said there -- I like the hex, and the same paint color/sheen as the trim is probably good. I'd just want to see the backsplash tile next to the paint chip before you commit to make sure they look good together. Whites can be tricky, and if one is warmer or cooler than the other they might not be a good combination.

My only other comment is that if you have cream walls, white cabinets, and a largely white backsplash, are you going to like the result with those dark counters? They are going to leap out against all that white & cream, in a way they don't currently with the darker cabinets.

Thank you. That’s a good point. Maybe it makes more sense to to the cabinets first so I can get a good sense of colour before deciding on the backsplash.

[lessel]

I’d do cabinets and then live with it a bit and see what you’re thinking. I do like what you’ve picked though. Maybe if you go a bit more gray it would tie in everything.

Can I ask how much this is costing you? We’re thinking about doing this soon-ish. We have high cabinets that are dark wood and it’s a bit of a galley-style kitchen. Kinda cave-like.

Are you just painting the doors and fronts and leaving the insides wood?

[lolalolalola]

May 8, 2020 16:54:53 GMT -5 lessel said:

I’d do cabinets and then live with it a bit and see what you’re thinking. I do like what you’ve picked though. Maybe if you go a bit more gray it would tie in everything.

Can I ask how much this is costing you? We’re thinking about doing this soon-ish. We have high cabinets that are dark wood and it’s a bit of a galley-style kitchen. Kinda cave-like.

Are you just painting the doors and fronts and leaving the insides wood?

It’s $3k. The inside of the cupboards are white so it’s just the doors, panels and trim to be painted.

Perhaps with the white cabs the black counter and backsplash won’t feel so much like a black hole!!

[aprilsails]

Definitely paint the cabinets first and live with it for a while before deciding on backsplash. At our last house we had backsplash tile picked out and once everything was in with the lighting they were not going to work (also white cabinets, marble backsplash, and black pearl granite countertops). We were able to return them and picked out a different marble backsplash tile (a different tone though- more cream actually since the North facing windows injected so much blue light into the space during the day). Our original choice was too white/ light grey/ see through ish? It looked blue in the kitchen. So weird. We had samples propped up against the wall for a whole year before we decided since the light changed and our favourites changed all the time.

[lessel]

May 8, 2020 17:03:21 GMT -5 lolalolalola said:

May 8, 2020 16:54:53 GMT -5 lessel said:

I’d do cabinets and then live with it a bit and see what you’re thinking. I do like what you’ve picked though. Maybe if you go a bit more gray it would tie in everything.

Can I ask how much this is costing you? We’re thinking about doing this soon-ish. We have high cabinets that are dark wood and it’s a bit of a galley-style kitchen. Kinda cave-like.

Are you just painting the doors and fronts and leaving the insides wood?

It’s $3k. The inside of the cupboards are white so it’s just the doors, panels and trim to be painted.

Perhaps with the white cabs the black counter and backsplash won’t feel so much like a black hole!!

Thanks for sharing.

Our cabinets seem to have been a medium wood color and then the doors/panels/trim was all kind of stained darker? It’s like a really dark stain or some kind of paint I can’t quite figure out. But the insides of the cabinets were left the original medium wood color. So I can’t decide if the whole shebang would need doing or if I could leave the insides wood. Really it boils down to I DO NOT WANT TO PACK UP MY ENTIRE KITCHEN. Makes my eye start to twitch after having moved last year. 😳

Here are a couple of pics from the listing photos last year:




I also want to paint them white so we don’t have this weird dark trim around the ceiling. I get why they did it because of how it runs around the cabinets too. But it’s just weird. (And obviously these pics are way brighter and larger feeling than reality.) But the shiny/wood texture finish on the cabinets is pretty accurate to real life.

[treedimensional]

I'd sell those cabinets and replace them with something you like, rather than destroy them with paint. I'd put them on craigslist and sell them all. My FIL sold his entire kitchen in a few hours and started over with a good chunk of cash.
And I completely agree that white is hard to match, and white cabinets and backsplash will look odd with black countertops. Looking at your kitchen, honestly I would change the backsplash first. I like your cabinets (but generally speaking, I abhor white kitchens), and I'd probably refresh the look with a backsplash and go from there.

[redheadk]

lessel, it looks like they may have gel stained the cabinets. It’s much easier to DIY than actual stain and the end result is somewhere between a stain and paint.

[dr.girlfriend]

We put in a natural marble hex tile in our bathroom and really like it. I went to the store and picked out each sheet, but your backsplash isn't that big so I think that would be possible for you as well. Just thinking it might have the same look but more natural variation to tie in the white and the dark countertops. Sorry I don't have a great pic -- it's on our shower floor.

[lolalolalola]

May 9, 2020 11:41:42 GMT -5 treedimensional said:

I'd sell those cabinets and replace them with something you like, rather than destroy them with paint. I'd put them on craigslist and sell them all. My FIL sold his entire kitchen in a few hours and started over with a good chunk of cash.
And I completely agree that white is hard to match, and white cabinets and backsplash will look odd with black countertops. Looking at your kitchen, honestly I would change the backsplash first. I like your cabinets (but generally speaking, I abhor white kitchens), and I'd probably refresh the look with a backsplash and go from there.

We actually prefer wood tone cabinets but these are in bad shape. See picture below. They look pretty terrible up close.

Replacing just the doors with new wood doors is >$12k. Painting them is $3k.

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[lolalolalola]

May 9, 2020 12:56:04 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

We put in a natural marble hex tile in our bathroom and really like it. I went to the store and picked out each sheet, but your backsplash isn't that big so I think that would be possible for you as well. Just thinking it might have the same look but more natural variation to tie in the white and the dark countertops. Sorry I don't have a great pic -- it's on our shower floor.

Thanks- I just went to HD and got some samples to test out.

[lolalolalola]

Here are some ideas from Houzz which show a black counter and white cabinets. They are almost universally white subway tile, but I also like all of these. 

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[roni]

The cabinets are beautiful. Have you considered only doing either uppers or lowers white & leaving the rest dark?

[lessel]

I like that first pic with the herringbone backsplash. It’s a bit more gray than the others and that helps tie it together I think. I also like the way they did black hardware on the bottom and light on the top. That’s a nice and subtle touch that I think helps pull it together.

[woowoo]

We have white cabinets and black countertops, and while I hate black countertop in general, the look is still great. We have a white subway tile set in a herringbone pattern with darker grey grout, and it ties everything in nicely.

[lolalolalola]

Thought I’d update :-)

After talking to four contractors, we found one who said he could match the existing color of the cabinets and refinish them. And it’ll be much cheaper than painting!

We are doing white subway tile with light grey grout, refinishing the cabinets, and installing under cabinet lighting.

We are also retiling our double sided fireplace which had the same current tile as our backsplash (they used this 12x12 tile everywhere- entry floor, kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room bar, fireplace). We are doing a natural mini-ledgestone for the fireplace and our bar area.

They start today. I’m so excited!

[thejackpot]

That sounds exciting. Can't wait to see the pictures.

[lolalolalola]

They're done. I think they make such a difference in the brightness of my kitchen. We also had the exact same 12 x 12 tile on the fireplace surround as in the backslash so we had that re-tiled too. 

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[woowoo]

Jul 7, 2020 10:20:36 GMT -5 lolalolalola said:

They're done. I think they make such a difference in the brightness of my kitchen. We also had the exact same 12 x 12 tile on the fireplace surround as in the backslash so we had that re-tiled too. 

HOly smokes!  That looks great - nice job!

[k3am]

That came out great. I personally prefer wood cabinets over white, and I think it really flows nicely with the counters.

[mrsukyankee]

Yup, they make a big difference. And the fireplace looks great too!