Glad you posted this pic. I am thinking of doing the bamboo blinds and unsure whether to hang inside of outside window but looking at this pic , gives me a better idea. I like them hung high. I am planning an update too in the kitchen and not sure what paint color so will be following your thread as well. I am thinking neutral and serene colors. Good luck with yours ! Bonnie

Hi makeithome,
I don't really have an answer for you -I think much of it depends on how open your floor plan is. But I just had to respond to your post, because we did a budget kitchen renovation just a couple of years ago, and we started with a similar kitchen, and similar inspiration! You can do it. We still love our kitchen!

Here's what we started with:

And here's what we ended up with...

I would be happy to give you any names of products, etc. if you are interested. Best of luck to you!

I have 5 colors...all share an undertone (green) except for one that is a cream/off-white (in the main bath that gets ZERO natural light). They also all have very similar light reflectance values--again, except for the cream.

I have three different shades of green-grays: 2 are in bedrooms and 1 is in the great room/kitchen. The hallway leading from great room/kitchen to the bedrooms is painted a taupe with a green undertone so although all 3 green-grays are different, the taupe ties it all together (also used the same taupe in the third bedroom which is a sort of closet/office hybrid). It's not extremely apparent that they are three different shades of gray-green, yet they ARE so each room has a slightly different feel.

Then I use apple/spring/and jade greens as accents in all the rooms and it works because of the consistent undertone. (And the odd-color out, cream, just goes with everything.)

I advise that you and DH decide if you both would rather prefer muted tones OR clean tones and stick with that throughout the house--no matter what "colors" you decide...it's a good place to start.

Last house, I had 14 colors, including ceilings. Warm next to cool. Deep next to pale. So, there are no rules. :-) All those ideas you have heard are just that....ideas. Some ideas work for some people. You need to figure out what works for you.

Given that you're looking for some punch in your dining room, I tend to think the all-colors-from-the-same-strip scheme will not work for you. You will be bored. Of course, if you are trying to get rid of colors you hate, or building new, it is helpful to start with all one color, with the idea that you'll add color gradually, as the spaces evolve. I think you're already on that path though.

One of my favorite painted kitchen looks is gray/taupe lowers and white/cream uppers. What you're saying makes me think that you could use the blue gray of the LR on the lower cabs. Use whatever trim color you have in the DR on the uppers. Then, things start to go together in a sensible way.

At the risk of offending, I want to express my concern about the office that opens onto the kitchen. I do hope you two are working together closely on this. I love my man dearly but there is no way he gets to decorate the visible/public spaces in this house! ;-)

That said, his idea of circling back to the DR later is a good one. Often times, when you let go of the search, the right things find their way to you.

Bonnie- I am glad you like the inspiration pic! Good luck on your kitchen update... keep us posted!

Bestyears- thank you so much for your pics. They really inspire me... make me feel like I can make this kitchen into something I can live with for the next 5 years or so. I love to cook and being stuck in a kitchen that I dislike so much takes some of the joy out of cooking. My last apartment may have been small, but it had an awesome kitchen - much better than the one this house has. Your new kitchen is absolutely stunning. I love the hardware, the counter tops and I adore the back splash. I found out the hard way that our current back splash is nothing more than glued-on metal tiles. When we gut the kitchen, all those tiles will go, but for now, I need to figure out what to do with them. Probably paint them with a high gloss paint. Right now they are a satin white and they show the years of wear from the previous owners- and they are not easy to clean.

AHomeWest- your color scheme sounds great. I wonder if my dining room can be my outlier. I love the color that it is, but I don't want to carry the purple undertone throughout my whole house, lol.

Amy- I am glad you were able to mix so many colors cohesively. I am hoping I can at least have 5 or so, and have them work well together. Since Hubby wants a lime green accent in the dining room, and my inspiration shows awesome lime green in the kitchen, I think that would be one way I could tie things together. I also like the idea of the uppers and lowers being different colors. My only concern is the pantry to the left of the stove... do I paint that the color of the uppers or the lowers? I have toyed around with that question before and haven't come up with a good answer.

As far as design goes with the office... I assume hubby will still come to me with major decisions (like color) just to clear them first. However, I am trying to give hubby almost-free reign over this project for a couple of reasons: A. I really have no idea what his design sense is. We are high school sweethearts, and even for his first apartment, he had me helping him choose accessories and things. I want to see what he really likes, and I feel like the best way to find out is to give him a blank slate and say "here, play". B. I want him to have his own space. I think he gets frustrated with me sometimes because I am so interested in/passionate about design, and I am always talking about what I want to do with each room. I want him to have a room in the house where he can say "this is MY room". He loves to deal with the functionality of a space, and with technology, and since the office combines both in a big way, I figure it would be fun for him.

And you are right... he is right about the dining room. I can't tell you how many times I have found the right thing after I have stopped looking for it :)

Thanks for the comments so far! Please keep them coming! I love the ideas!

makeithome I think that your kitchen will be more than you wished for once the cabs are painted with new hardware! It will make an unbelievable difference! I can't wait to see it.

I haven't heard of the 3 color rule before, mostly because I do what I like, rules or not 0 but I do happen to have 3 colors downstairs. A putty neutral, a warm aqua color and then a warm mossy color.

I wasn't able to read a purple undertone in your DR but it does look beautiful and neutral enough to be cohesive with other colors.

And I must say you are brave for giving your husband free reign! ; )

I don't have any repeated paint colors in my house, and I have a grand total of 12 rooms including bathrooms. I like color too much to not have a new one in each room! However, throughout my first floor (the "public" area), all the colors work well together. They are from the same "neighborhood" on the color strip -- you know how they go from light to dark? mine are probably all in the middle area. One simple way to see how all your potential colors work is to take the color chips and lay them out side by side on a neutral surface. One might stick out as clearly not compatible with the others, and maybe that one needs to be reconsidered. Or maybe a couple need to be tweaked. I had one client who had very quiet colors throughout her first floor but a screaming red dining room -- all you could see when you came in the front door was that red dining room. If she had laid all her colors out like I described, she wouldn't have been so surprised that the dining room felt so heavy compared to the rest of the rooms.

Also, even though my rooms on the first floor are all different wall colors, they share common colors throughout. My dining room is a muted pumpkin color, living room is soft gold, kitchen is a sage, foyer is neutral beige. But I have golds, reds, and greens repeated in pretty much in every room. That is one key to making different colors work harmoniously, IMO. You're already on the right track when you're thinking about repeating the green in the dining room and kitchen.

I am with sueb20, I love color too much to limit myself. Plus, I like to choose my room colors around whatever art is going in that room, and my art certainly does not all have the same colors. But, if rooms can be seen from other rooms, then I think it's important to have harmony of some sort :-)

On my main floor, every room is a different color - kitchen, living room, dining room, family room, office, laundry, powder room and foyer. The molding in all the rooms is the same color, which helps to tie things together. Also, in the living room and dining room, there is a chair rail. Above chair rail is color and below is the molding color (and faux wainscoting with picture frame molding below chair rail in dining room).

Upstairs, 2 bedrooms are colors. The other 2 bedrooms are still the original Cloud White I had the entire house painted when I moved in. And that's only because I haven't gotten to them yet.

I used to think the whole house had to be the same color. So, before I moved in I had the whole house painted Cloud White (because I was too overwhelmed to pick any other color). After living with that for a while, I realized I didn't like that. I started painting the rooms on the main floor different colors on the same paint strip. Then I realized I didn't like that either. Yes, the rooms were different, but, I don't know it just didn't feel right. So, I've repainted most of those rooms in colors that I like better. They are different but go together. I think Sue's suggestions of putting the paint chips together on neutral surface is a great way to see how they work together as a whole.

I think painting your cabinets one color on bottom and another on top is a great idea and like someone else suggested painting the tops in the trim color will help to tie things together. For the pantry cabinet, I would paint it in the top color (trim color). It looks to be all one piece and attached to the uppers, while there are no lowers attached to it (at least in the picture). Plus the lighter color will keep it from looking too heavy, I think.

Good luck. You have a great start with your dining room.

Lots of saturated colors in my house. Downstairs we have 7 rooms with 9 colors plus the mudroom, hallway and 2 bathrooms. The colors range from orange, red, purple, green, yellows, blues, and 2 undecideds. I believe they all play well together. I live with poster board size or large painted patches on my walls for weeks. It took 7 colors before I found my sitting room oranges (and I usually hate orange) to pull out the fireplace colors. I tie everything together with the same color trim - white dove. Upstairs we have 10 more colors plus one purple colored ceiling in my daughter's room. Did I say I love color!

The builder limited me to 9 colors, that is, after I talked him up from 4, which would have been impossible. My downstairs is all shades (3) from one strip. Upstairs everyone wanted to pick their own bedroom/office color, so there are 5 different colors up there. The finished basement is another completely different color. I had originally thought that I would have to go through and add some more color downstairs, but for now I'm content with it. I would like to change the upstairs bathroom color though. It looked much better in my head than it does IRL.

Totally Confused

Lets see:

Downstairs -
BM Mayonaise
BM Porcelain Ivory
BM Jonesboro Cream (2 shades darker than Porcelain Ivory)
SW Pure White
SW Caviar

DR is undecided but will be cream w/ 1 black wall - SW Caviar

Upstairs:
Boys room is Silverware from Lowes
Girls room is currently Meadowbrook by Ace but I have to repaint and may go 2 shades lighter w/ Woodlawn.

makeithome, I would want to have a better sense of the space as a whole before answering definitively on how to paint the pantry cab. But, from looking at the pic above, I am guessing that you are standing in the LR, looking into the kitchen? If so, I think I would paint the pantry gray. That way, you would have a smoother transition from room to room. Painting it white might make it look like this big iceberg looming at the periphery.

A darker pantry cabinet will also blend better with the side of the range, kind of grace that situation where the range feels like it is sticking out. I also think that the darker color on the pantry will help contain/define/ground the kitchen space.

I dont necessarily think you need to match the colors, btw. You could employ that trick of using colors on the same strip (though colors on a strip are not always related) or a particular gray for the cabinets and a 50% mix for the LR walls. I just think it might work to have the grays related, give you a more cohesive look.

We had a lot of color in our previous house. It was only 1400sf (both formals, 2bd/1ba).

LR & hallway: a Dunn-Edwards white that I wish I had the color for
DR: Behr Apricot Flower
BA: Behr Riviera Sand & Cracked Wheat
MBR: Behr Warm Cocoon & Kansas Grain
2BR: Behr Heffalump Purple
Kitchen: Too many to name (or remember) - I mixed some myself so I wouldn't even know. We couldn't afford to re-do the kitchen after an expensive bathroom reno but I couldn't stand the kitchen as it was so I added color (link below).

I loved sitting in the different rooms. I thought it was a very happy house in which to live with all of its character & colors. I haven't found that same feeling yet in any house we've been in so far (we're on our 4th and final I hope, over the last 3 yrs) but am hoping that with some paint on the walls, we'll start creating that vibe.

Right now, I'm looking at taking our band-aid colored walls throughout the house to chocolate brown, white, bamboo green & lime, burnt orange for the kitchen/LR/DR.

Guest bedroom: purplish/pink & white
Children's room: bright white with bright jewel tone accents
Bdrm hallway: whatever lime I use in the other areas
Mudroom/closet: purplish/pink from guest bdrm
Master - white or a gray that will go with white matelasse coverlet and blue/white accent pillows
Master bath - something that will complement the master bdrm
2nd bath - not sure yet

BTW - my inspiration kitchen is similar to yours as far as color (beekeeperswife here on GW). I'll be using a chocolate brown for the walls with white cabinets. Since our kitchen opens up directly to our family room which connects to the open hallway/dining area, I feel that I need to keep it more cohesive than in our other house. At the same time, I don't want to keep it cohesive with all white either so I understand your cream dilemma.

I don't want to clutter your thread so here is a link to something I posted yesterday that has my inspiration photos and how I think I may tie in the colors I want to use:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/msg020633576389.html?140 (my inspiration photos are at the very bottom)

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Mexican Kitchen

Amysrq- from that pic I am actually standing in the office. To the left of the pantry there is a door and that door leads into the dining room.

Well, I think I'd still stand by my suggestion to use the gray and avoid the iceberg. :-) It's as much about the range as anything...imagine that cabinet and bright white with the side of the range next to it. Too contrasty, IMO.

Bestyears, your kitchen renovation looks great!

Makeithome, your inspiration picture is gorgeous.

I'm like Amy--a lover of color. There are ten different colors on our walls, including ceilings, a neutral trim color which is also on the ceilings upstairs, and wallpaper in 4 1/2 baths--all very different.

I know full well design "rules" of a cohesive floor making the house look larger and calmer, and the same with paint colors. Actually, I love homes that have that feeling of calm and aren't broken up with different colors, flooring, or design--to visit or relax, or if I had a second home it would be more like that.

For us, we liked the differences--I can get a different "feel" in the different spaces in our home and enjoy that aspect living in the house. For me, the way I feel when living in my home is more important than the way it looks to others, although of course I'm happy when others like it, too.

It is important to keep your colors or choices in sync with the style of your home and your location so it does not feel out of place. The size and amount of openness will be factors, as well.

It is easier to select colors that work well together and transition well together, and that you can repeat in the next room. For instance, I have a lavender guest room just off a green hall, but bring in green into the guest room and have a spot or two of lavender in the areas with green walls. Repeat going into the next room with the next color. It's not a conscious thing really, more intuitive, especially if you are not intent on "matching" everything when it comes to decor--I'm not, I just decorate with what is available or an appealing find, or something I've had in mind a long time and finally find it--it doesn't matter what color it is!

The unifying element in our home is the trim color, which is a deep ivory with a tinge of green, and there is some green in all of the colors in my home, and with full length windows, a lot of green from nature reflected into the house.

I would suggest that the colors you select work together (all warm, or all cool), that you have a unifying element--either the trim color, the floors, or ceiling, and that each room with a different color has elements of adjacent room colors in it, either in floor, paint or ceiling colors, furniture, wall coverings or decor.

Good Luck!

You couldn't do better than take for inspiration my3dogs home. Look at the attached post and scroll down to the message dated Wed, Jul 16, 08 at 14:02. She has 4 paint colors, but uses fabric and wallpaper and rugs to pull colors from that palette and give a wonderful richness to the overall look.

Here is a link that might be useful: Per request, a few pics of My3dogs home interior

My kitchen is separate from my living room, but it is open in the sense that there's no door between them. Here's the color scheme that is knocking socks off in the neighborhood: Kitchen = SW Koi Pond, Living room/Dining area is SW Universal Khaki with the fireplace wall accent color being SW Superior Bronze (2 shades darker on the same palette as the khaki.) The dining area has a chair rail with Universal Khaki above the rail and semi-gloss white below the rail which also has picture frame moldings. The bedrooms and bathrooms are SW Krypton, a gorgeous soft silvery grayish-blue color.