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almagh

Help liven up kitchen (pics)

18 years ago

I need to paint the breakfast room and kitchen of our new house. The kitchen seems dark especially with the dark trim. I am going to leave the trim dark until we update the kitchen. What color paint do you think will look good?

The picture is of the previous owners table and chairs. My set is the copper table with the rug shown (in my old breakfast room).

I am also going to get new knobs for the cabinets. I would like to remove the decoration above the cabinets, but it might look bare without anything.

Anything else I could do to liven it up short of a major update?

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Comments (15)

  • 18 years ago

    I love green paint with natural wood trim. Sorry that's all I can contribute :O) (I am one of the ones that needs the help, LOL!)

  • 18 years ago

    Painting the walls a nice green would liven it up. I posted photo's of my foyer green on "Help Save my Marriage Thread". I can't see from the photo, but are those rails at the top of the cabinets? I would remove them as they date the kitchen.

    Is the photo of the kitchen the previous owner's?

    New knobs would dress it up. If you don't want to paint the cabinets you might want to freshen up with Renu a Finish.

    Can you post some close up of the cabinets and back splash?

  • 18 years ago

    It doesn't look like you have much to do. It looks like you have nice appliances and granite/quartz counters.
    I would change the knobs to nickel as you mentioned.
    Does the wood trim go all around the house?
    Have you considered painting the cabinets? Are they good quality? wood? Maybe restain them? If not, a good cleaning as mentioned above with always look better.
    I'm thinking green or maybe a soft yellow (but the yellow depends on the wood-I can't tell from the pics). You can also add a nice backsplash (glass mosaic or subways).

  • 18 years ago

    Thanks for the suggestions.

    What shade of green do you think would work? The dark wood is also in the family room, but not the rest of hte house.

  • 18 years ago

    Yes -- a fresh apple, sage or olive green would work very well on the walls!!

    Perhaps add some darker woven baskets or trays (to work with the tones and textures in your breakfast area dining set) -- and some plain white pottery jugs etc. up on top of the cabinets?

    Add a black iron potrack above the island -- with some copper pots and accents. Plus change the breakfast area chandelier to black iron too!

    IF you need window treatements -- perhaps some roman blinds in a woven or bamboo texture?

    Here is a link that might be useful: smith and noble woven shades

  • 18 years ago

    I'm not sure I'd go with nickel for the knob finish. An aged copper or bronze would be very pretty and tie into your copper table, which is beautiful!

    I like teacats suggestion of roman blinds for your windows. The lace isn't quite doing it.

    It all looks really nice now, it just needs your personal items. I'm so jealous of your breakfast room, what a pretty view!

  • 18 years ago

    I would get rid of that railing thing on the top of the cabinets. But then I'm not a fan putting baskets and junk up on top of cabinets. Just looks like dusty clutter to me. If you go green, go very pale. New light fixture over dining table. New knobs/pulls/hardware can go a long way.

    Those look like a lot of cabinets to paint, but it might be worth it. I can't tell if the finish is nice, or if you really don't like the finish.

    Does the crown molding match the rest of the house? If not, I would paint it to match the other rooms, since it's not connected to the cabinets at all and therefore looks like crown instead of furniture molding.

  • 18 years ago

    Although green is my favorite colour, I do not think it would look good paired with the dark cherry of those cabinets. You need to pull one of the underlying tones out of the cabinet colour for the wall----either a light gold or some warm beige or tan.

    If you lighten the walls you will see an immediate result. I am also not a fan of a lot of "stuff" on top of cabinets. If you replace some of it I would not use anything small, but well-placed larger baskets or items you already have.

    I assume you will replace the PO's dark rug? How about either a light coir/seagrass/jute rug bound in an accent colour of green? Or, frankly, I would use nothing, as I don't care for rugs under tables---it's not really sanitary and can look busy.

    Last question: is the tile in your kitchen actually pink, or does it just appear that way in the photo? If that is the real colour, I would change that along with the wall colour, immediately. If you don't want to dig up the tile before you remodel that is understandable, for for the short term (even a few years) I would have a professional etch and paint the tile. There is no way I could live with that flesh colour for any length of time.

  • 18 years ago

    I love green but think that it would darken instead of liven that particular kitchen (JMHO). I vote to paint it a warm creamy white and add pops of green, red and black to liven things up in there instead. Big dark brown baskets filled with silk greenery on top would be pretty and be a nice contrast against the light walls. I love art, so I'd also prop up a few (medium to large-sized) bold prints, nicely framed, up there,too. Perhaps change out the hardware to brushed pewter ones and add some more pewter pieces elsewhere in the kitchen,too.
    Lynn

  • 18 years ago

    I think it has very good bones & you won't need to do much to update the look. Replacing the window treatments, replacing the light fixture above the table, and painting an updated color (a muted gold tone or creamy white) would be first on my list .... then I would replace the cabinet hardware and, if budget permits - remove the decorative rail & replace it with cabinet crown. You can usually order it to match from your cabinet mfg if you have that info --- What great windows you have!

  • 18 years ago

    I agree with the poster above...try an antique brass or bronze knob. I think they go better with the wood, save the nickel for painted cabinets.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Bronze Knobs

  • 18 years ago

    My vote would be for a just-barely green like BM Camouflage or Gray Mirage, but I'm not sure that would work with your rug. I'd also paint the trim white... looks like you have white trim in adjacent room(s)? That would help to brighten the room. I would also paint the top and bottom of the wall the same color in the breakfast area (where it is currently red on the bottom). That area is broken up enough with the windows and the two colors on the wall chop up the space, IMO.

  • 18 years ago

    I agree with a PP that a pretty muted gold - maybe like SW Restrained Gold would be really pretty with the wood cabinets and bring a lot of life into the room. I know you stated that you were going to wait to paint the trim, but I have to say if you are going to paint the walls, I'd go ahead and paint the trim - having a white trim around those gorgeous windows will really make your view pop!

    So, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your table!! Will you share the details?!

  • 18 years ago

    Thanks for all of the suggestions.

    jessfc: The table and chairs are from Arhaus. I have really enjoyed them.

  • 18 years ago

    Thanks Almagh -- off to search for them! Good luck with your kitchen!!