IMHO I don't think BMPewter will help your situation. On my monitor, they don't look that orange.
How about a sage green?

I read it as she currently has BM Rev Pewter and that is too green. I don't think she'd like a sage green...

Your cabinets don't read orange to me either. Your floor does, though.

The orange problem is the floor, not the cabinets. The cabinets are fine. They would look great with something in a soft blue or teal gray like SW Rainwashed. I'd put down a darker brown rug or gel mat to cover the orange floor and see if your perception of the kitchen doesn't change.

I think the cabinets are lovely, not at all orange to my eye. I think a darker paint with your light cabinets would add some punch. Could you do a glaze wash on them? I agree that the floor is what is making you see orange tones.

kirkhall you are correct- currently have revere pewter on walls & too green. I have been thinking of BM london fog on walls which goes well with countertop. I would really like to tone down...cabinets are basically the same color as floor. They look orangey especially in summer sunlight & evening under light they basically glow-feel like I'm being swallowed up by orange. Gravitate towards creamy white when I look at pics of kitchens I love. There is also an island same color & kitchen cabinets extend about 6 more feet on the wall non showing. They are pretty cabinets just not the look that makes me "happy" when I look at them. They have a catalytic finish on them...not sure how to glaze wash...do I have to remove current finish & is that process more labor intensive than paint?

I don't know what exactly glazing would entail. I think that glazing would be more akin to staining rather than painting. Maybe have them professionally painted the creamy white? My kd said the creamy white is accomplished by adding a chocolate glaze to a white painted cabinet.

Agree with the others that the floor looks more orange than the cabs. Can your re-stain the floor or does it extend beyond the kitchen?

I'm not a glazed cab fan, maybe because I have them and can't wait until they're gone. Still in perfect shape, but my natural maple with white glaze look a little pink especially in the sun. We last remodeled in 2000 when glaze was all the rage so glaze screams 1990's to me.

I'd first try changing the wall color, lighting, window treatment, etc, to tone down the cabinets before I'd messed with the cab color because they look like well made cabs with a nice solid finish that will probably take a professional paint job to keep them looking that way.

Your cabinets are really nice.

Have you thought about adding backsplash and changing cabinet pulls and knobs?

I'd also try anything first that didn't involve touching the cabs and see if it works. If not, well you can always have them painted or glazed.

wren22 I know what you mean. I have beautiful kitchen cabinets but they are also orange from darkening over the years. I never would have picked them years ago had I known they would do this. It really bugs me too. I think of painting them but the grain in the wood is so pretty and also I noticed that the doors don't meet exactly as they are full overlay and there is a tiny space between them and all of this would really show if I painted them a shade of white. It would really show all of the imperfections in them that are basically unnoticeable now. I thought about putting a glaze over them but I don't think that would really do what I want it to do. I even thought of a wash but that would be too French Country for my contemporary home. We built our home in 97-98 and these were all the rage then. White cabinets at the time were definitely out but then they were bright white with little character and people were tired of white cabinets. Now they are so much more interesting with the finishes of white they have. It was pretty boring back then and I knew I loved the look of wood grain so the real estate agent told me that the unstained maple was what everyone wanted then since I didn't know what to do or how long we would be in our home. It was really pretty in the beginning, they were almost white they were so brand new. But it has been 15 years and they just look so orange to me and sadly they have not all oranged out the same so some of them are more orange than others making me really fret. It would cost a fortune to have them professionally done and I am just not up to ruining $16K of cabinets and hear about that the rest of my life from DH. I have looked at just replacing the doors on the Barker Door online website. They have a painted door in Dove White already finished and then I would only have to have the boxes painted. I measured all of the doors and drawers which would be about 37 and so it is a lot but a painter told me it would be the same to replace a door as to sand and paint them so that is what enticed me to look online at replacing the doors. I know they are expensive locally to have replacement doors so DIY will have to be the way I go.

I had a decorator from a KD come out and she suggested just replacing the upper cabinets but I have a built in double oven and refrigerator with tall side panels so I don't know how those would be divided half way since they are solid side pieces to house the appliances. Not to mention the cabinets are still really good and I really like the extra trim I added at the time, not to mention I don't see this door style anywhere anymore. It's a raised panel but the outer edge panel is not flat like the newer versions are.

If you are interested in going darker a little I put a cabinet paste staining wax on one of the panels and it did darken it quite a bit. It was really hard to do to rub it off but it made the cabinets so smooth and it did darken them without harm.

The KD who came out said I should probably have chosen dark cabinets because my kitchen is open to the main rooms, it is a very open floor plan and I have mostly mahogany furniture in the rest of the house. At the time I just couldn't imagine a dark kitchen and it would have been a lot more at the time. I didn't want cherry cabinets and I don't even know if you could get mahogany or walnut back then from a regular builder KD supply. So, it is what it is as they say! I'll be interested to hear what you decide to do.

Here is a picture of something I could be happy with doing in my own kitchen, seems to be the best of both worlds, keeping some of the maple with a glaze and then adding some white too. My kitchen is not nearly this big!

gr8day-def. on the same page. DH is not on board at all which makes it worse. I think my island would look better in a dark walnut stain & I did hire a BM rep. to do a home consult for color advice. Outcome was classic gray on cabinets/london fog on walls to blend with the other furniture in adjacent DR & cool down room/ flow with the rest of my home which has alot of painted white pieces. She wasn't pushing to sell paint-did all over consult & I took her advice on all colors suggestions for rooms & front door of home/ didn't buy the paint from them either. She walked in & immediately said- kitchen is dark compared to rest of home. To me, maple looks a litte too country as well. I've been contemplating for about 2 yrs... hoping to DO something this year. I'm a DIY'er but this one overwhelmes me. Thinking about calling the cab. maker to see best method of painting over..can't afford them again but may give good advice on finish butBM store is very knowlegable/helpful with how to paint over.

Good luck wren. My husband is also not on board but he usually likes things once it's done. I do like that the maple is so low maintenance. I've been thinking of what to do for the past couple of years, too. Hope you get it worked out and I'll be interested to see what you decide.

What they do here is sand and sand off the old and then spray paint and glaze if desired and add a protective conversion varnish at the end to prevent chipping. I am sure there are many others who can chime in who have painted their cabinets with great results. It seems like a huge undertaking!!! I know my limits and have DIY'd a lot but this is over my skill level for sure. Again, good luck and the colors sound pretty that you are thinking of.

I have an old house with both painted woodwork and natural, and I think you will regret going the paint route for your cabinets because it will involve more maintenance than the natural. The cabinets might look lovely (and very au courant) when first done, but in a couple years you will have chipping in certain places (I know from experience). Then, you will be involved in a never ending cycle of touch up and maintenance.

Plus, are we at the tail end of the current trend for painted cabinets? I don't know. But, you might also want to consider that if in five years the trend is towards the natural woods you will not be able to change back. I think the right color wall paint choice and perhaps new pulls will really make you happy. You can paint a hunk of the wall and leave it for a week to see what you think of it for very little money and will have made no irrevocable decision.

I should also tell you that I have birch cabinets that are definitely a honey orangey color and a floor that is in the similar color range. I did this purposely to mimic the color changes that naturally happen over time with a kitchen with vintage cabinets like mine. I have kind of a sagey green walls, and choosing a green that works with the cabinets is very tricky, but if you get the right color green (lots of trial and error involved), it works quite well.

Perhaps try using General Finishes gel stain. I love that stuff. It's very easy to work with and gets very professional looking results. No sanding required.

Before:

After:

Lots of people have done it here on GW

Here is a link that might be useful: [gel stained kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/gel-stain-kitchen-cabinet-makeover-dsvw-vd~242314)

I'm no expert on color theory, but I think if you put a color on the walls (and add a backsplash too) that is NOT complementary to the orange tones you will soften the orange cast of the cabinets and floors.

You've said the wall color is too green for you. On the color spectrum, green is the complement to red. I think that having a green cast on the walls highlights the red tones in your cabinets and floors.

BM has an online tool where you can change wall colors and see if you like it. I've played with it a little bit using your photo and maybe I'll find something good that I'll put up for you. But if you go really red on the walls, for example, the cabinets look brown.

Nosoccer, thanks for the heads up with the gel stain. I am going to re-use some of my old kitcen cabs and I would love to darken them up a bit!

Thanks for all the support & interest everyone! @ karen_bell. I have tried the BM site but can't get my pic to load due to resolution issue...not savvy enough to figure out how to change that. The rest of my home tend towards peaceful monotone colors..cream, white, brown,gray, beige so I need to stay nuetral-not loud at all.

Holly-kay,
what color stain are you thinking of using? If it's (antique)walnut, please post the results! There were at least three people who wanted to see it :)

I played around with your picture on the bm tool. That tool stinks, frankly. I used it, or something like it, 4 years ago to try different colors on my exterior and it really helped. But it was super hard to do with the interior shot. Not to mention that the software is really badly designed.

Sigh.

I understand what you mean about wanting a calm and neutral. You might try painting with a beige that has red undertones and see if you like it. Get a sample jar and put it up.

Thanks karen belle, had same experience with BM site..they need to revamp. I called the BM rep that came to my home & gave color suggestions last year. She suggested painting trim classic gray & walls london fog, living with it, & see if that helps. If my cabinets still bother me, I would be that much closer to having part of the project done. She also said clients in her area are taking their cabinet doors to automotive detail shops & having them sprayed..I may check into pricing on that just in case. & thank you for spending the time helping with my dilemma:)

I would probably use a more medium tone. The cabs that the PO had custom built were a golden oak, not my taste at all. I really wanted one of my daughters to be able to use them but when you go custom there is only so much you can do with them! I am thinking of using some of them in my laundry area as they are a much better quality than the builder grade cabinets she used there.

I like the cabinets. Maybe add a backsplash with blues or grays.

This post was edited by mrsc on Thu, Apr 11, 13 at 15:01

HI wren22, what did you end up doing?

I would love to know what you ended up with! I have the same cabinets and floor...

would love to know the countertops people are using with these cabinets. Looking at LG Vitera Aria

I think you have a lovely space though. It's beautiful. Enjoy it and work with it! Make it your own and not cookie-cutter like everyone else!

also, check your lighting. I have similar color cabinets and when I changed all my overhead lighting to cooler daylight bulbs, it made such a big difference.

DeborahSmith510 - I was wondering if you were still happy with the results of your cabinets? I am considering doing the same thing...