Hi Michelle, yes lighting will make a difference but how effective it is will depend on how much lighting you have. In other words, if you have lighting above and below your cabinets, in addition to ceiling lighting, then the light cast will affect more of the painted wall. You're going to need to experiment with this, and try various bulbs in one fixtures that range from "cool" to "warm". Warm light will be in the 2.5k - 3.5k range, cool light in the 4k - 6k range.

Steve

Steve, may be a dumb question, but would the sun be a warm or cool color? I am laughing at myself typing this question it sounds so stupid! Reason I ask is when the sun hits the wall that color I'm ok with, it's in the shadows that the paint color looks amazingly bluer. Here's a photo (you actually gave me advice on cabinets too yesterday so the photo may look familiar! I have ceiling lights and is a lake house so a lot of windows. I thought if I buy ALL new lights I may be able to get away with not having to repaint-I don't hate the color, but it isn't what I was going for either. Since sunlight seems to make it look better would that be a warm light-because the sun is warm-again-I know this sounds dumb?!

Hi Michelle, I think thats a great question, not a dumb one! :) As odd as it may sound, daylight is considered a cool color, (its in the 5k - 6.5k range) But we've used many color temps for bulbs and the "daylight" bulbs look a lot cooler than actual daylight, imo. If you experiment with different temp bulbs, you'll find the one that looks the best. But as I mentioned before, you may need more lighting fixtures to cast more light where you want it. (No matter what you do though, nothing will replicate daylight unfortunately)

Steve

Probably one thing that is making it appear so blue is the orange in the wood of your cabinets: orange and blue are opposites so they intensify each other.

Perhaps you can draw the eye away from the blue by adding more eye catching hardware to your cabinets (I like oil rubbed bronze), some plates mounted above your cabinets, a rug for the floor, and counter top accessories. Once everything is in place, may not notice it nearly as much!

Great point pcmom! and I recall from another thread that Michelle is considering white cabinetry...so Michelle, you may want to consider waiting before you do anything with the lighting and colors.

Steve

By adding some warm lighting to the top of the cupboards (spotlights or similar) it will brighten the room up and bring a new look to the room.

I agree w/dmann, and while you're painting, paint the ceiling a shade lighter than the blue/gray when you re-paint it. The white is just so stark....o'did I mention, I hate hate hate a white ceiling!

The elephant is in the room and he is BLUE
He needs to be warmer to relate to the tone of the wood.
How about colorway black bean soup by
benjamin moore. It will make the wood cabinetry sing rather than
chirp. One quick tip to extend the color to 6 inches on the ceiling around the perimeter of the room
It creates a bit more drama to the ceiling . Yes lighting is essential as well. Be sure to add some
under the counter which now is quite easy .