Color scheme advice?

2 years ago

I love wood and stone look, but the advice is wood can make your home look too dark. I am at a loss what to do for a kitchen. I'd like a good color flow. We are already stuck with some dark. We got used cabinets for free that I painted dark brown because it seemed the only color that would look good on them. We then put in matching dark wood flooring and the wood ceiling beams are dark with contrasting light wood ceiling. We are still working on this house we are building. Any ideas? One idea of keeping it from being too dark is contrasting white countertops and a light stone backsplash of some sort or we could add more lightning and under cabinet light fixtures. Very new to this! I'll add some pictures of an example of wood and stone "looks" that make me melt with happiness to look at, but let me know if it seems to dark. I like light wood too but we already are stuck with some of the dark wood.

Featured Answer

ilikefriday

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

Brown is always difficult to use with paint because a one color solid coat never looks like wood but does look like you are trying to mimic wood. Wood has a mixture of colors and is not one solid color. You would need streaks of red, black, purple, yellow, etc for the cabinets to look like the are a deep wood. You would also need a good dose of artistic ability to pull it off.

You asked if it is too dark. No, in fact, if you are trying to pull off a deep wood look like in your inspo photos the cabinets are not dark enough imo. The easiest thing to do is find a completely different color and repaint the cabinets. A couple of colors you might consider are black or navy blue.

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Comments (8)

Tera Hunter
Original Author
2 years ago
I do like these Color schemes.
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darbuka
2 years ago
Your mistake was putting in a wood ceiling, with dark wood beams, and repeating the mistake with dark wood floors. The idea is not to be matchy-matchy…but rather to have some contrast in the woods.

Effective lighting is the key to kitchens with dark cabinets.
Tera Hunter
Original Author
2 years ago
The dark cabinets I painted don't look like wood, no. I wasn't sure what color to make them but I didn't think I could use them as they were because it was a wood that the varnish was flaking and peeling and the wood looked stained. I tried to strip them and stain them but after failing in that, I found that it was the wrong type of wood for staining. So I gave up and painted brown.
Tera Hunter
Original Author
2 years ago
My hubby suggested white but I had this idea that they would stain very quickly and easily
Tera Hunter
Original Author
2 years ago
I have a few other ideas. Hubby was set on the dark wood floor and contrast dark beams with light walls, which works well with the rest of the house I think. However because kitchen cabinets and counters take up almost all of the visual space in the kitchen, if the cabinets are dark too it would look like everything is dark. So maybe light cabinets in the kitchen. Or we could redo the floor in the kitchen only, have some light colored kitchen tile. We do have the light wood in between the beams for the ceiling and the stairs as well. So maybe some light wood cabinets?
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lisedv
2 years ago
You have a country style home which can be beautiful and inviting. However, there's simply too much brown in the kitchen and even the hardware doesn't stand out. Perhaps consider changing the pulls for black ones and I suggest they be installed vertically instead of at an angle..

I know it's a lot of work but would you consider repainting the cabinets that you'll be keeping for many years to come? I show below 2 nice colours for a country style kitchen that would stand out with all the surrounding wood with a white wood slat backsplash.
Mrs. S
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I think you are going to be fine. I don't think your wood is "dark". It's just wood. It's all pretty neutral in tone, and I think a greater limiting factor in decorating and choosing finishes and colors happens when a larger item (flooring, cabinets) has an undertone that you might not care for, or that limits other choices. And, you got some free cabinets! That's fantastic!

I love the way it looks so far. I would indeed agree that white or light counters are the way to go. I wouldn't do stone backsplash---Just choose some light tile that complements the counters. The colors will come in with rugs, accessories, art, window treatments, upholstery, etc.

Darbuka is right that lighting is very important. Remember to get some undercabinet lighting in there: it shouldn't cost too much. Don't worry about it being "dark" in there. It's going to be lovely.