Help with my kitchen

silvertipgrizz
silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭
edited November 2020 in Building Projects

For all who like to help design, I need some help deciding on a swatch of colors for my kitchen. The present color is off white with light tan cabinets and white appliances..ie drab and dull.

The first bit of help I need in particular, is what colors go good in a kitchen? For example, a time back, operating rooms used to be a greenish color. Someone decided that the color was why so many patients were sick post operative. Personally the patients I took care of, including one of my surgeries, it was the anesthesia... and not the color or the room. Although the shade of green to me was a pukee color.

My point is, the color is important for asthetics, but I don't want colors that might interfere with 'enjoyable' meals. I don't know what those colors might be.

The first thing I want to paint is a hutch, old but solid. I really like 'cocoa' ish colors, medium and deep green colors, yellow and lavender ish...Also, not just one solid color on the hutch, but at least two to bring some life into my kitchen that of course would compliment each color.

So would 3 colors be too many? A main color then a little splash of a complimentary color on the trim possibly?

Any thoughts and ideas much appreciated.

Comments

  • Kelley
    Kelley Posts: 140 ✭✭✭

    I am no expert at all but have always found earth tones and neutrals to be warm and welcoming.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @silvertipgrizz I get e-mails from the Houzz people that go over the latest in home design trends. Here is a link for kitchen ideas:

    https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-ideas-and-designs-phbr0-bp~t_709

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    Neutral is good.

    Color does very much affect people. Yellow makes babies cry. I find that a light sage color relaxes me (that was an interesting discovery). It has to be quite specific though, as too much blue or green in sage makes it feel off. I like this with white accents.

    I would not use sage on a hutch, however. My preference there would be sealed wood (wood is "warm" and homey) or if painted, white. But, that is just my preference.

    I really like a hunter green, but this is best left to accents if used at all because it is such a heavy color. I could see it affecting mood negatively. A long, hunter green dress is one thing. On furniture or as a wall color, it would be very depressing.

    Keep things fairly light & neutral for walls, etc., and accent with colored items. I think it always comes off better, no matter the current trends. Those trends can get expensive if you have to change them often to keep up. I heard once that it is best to do the neutral with pricey items & add smaller accents with color. This way, when you tire of them, it doesn't hurt as much financially to change anything.

    Since you live in heat & a dry climate, cooling colors could be very welcome. I would still keep these extremely light though.

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Ok, so I'm going to be contrarian and say that I don't like neutrals and I don't find them relaxing. So there, ha!

    Seriously though, I've always been told that they are soothing, and I've always found them more like depressing. I'm probably just odd, though.

    I repainted my bedroom back in 2013, and the color I chose just happened to be very similar to the Pantone color of the year. That was not why I chose it, by the way; I was just amused by the coincidence.

    Yes, my walls are that bright, and yes, seven years later I still love it and find it... relaxing.

    I had a favorite book when I was a teenager, called English Country Houses or something like that. It was just photos from rooms of various English Estates. I adored the warm, quirky, richness- dark woods, saturated colors, shabby old upholstery, ginormous fire places, antique everything. One room was jade green( with ivory and burnt orange! didn't care for the orange) and I knew I'd paint a room like that someday. One time I brought the book to school to show to my friends- I was shocked that they nearly all thought my taste in decorating was ugly! Oh well, they can have their neutral rooms, and I can have my jade green.

    I think your tri-colored hutch sounds like great fun- makes me think of those Victorian porches with gingerbread trim- like these

    https://www.pinterest.com/jrachelle13/%CF%80-painted-ladies-queen-anne-victorian-houses-archi/

    For the record, I'm not criticizing any one's taste here. If you love 'em, enjoy 'em.

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2020

    Hi @silvertipgrizz - last you said you were moving, & gonna live out of your car ? - Changed your mind ? - Already moved ?

    In our little house on the prairie, (originally the walls were stark ! white, reminded me of the 3 mental State hospitals I worked in, & could not Resign fast enough); - so at first we put pictures & handy items everywhere. - Eventually painted both the bedroom & bathroom relaxing/pale/dreamy blue. The Living room painted very pale salmon, & the utility room stayed white. The kitchen (as I do not like to cook, unless in a crockpot) was painted a bright, rich SUNshiney yellow that invited cooking... the family loved it. - Also as visual as I am, I can not stand cabinet-doors !, so took them off = Aha, now I see what we had, lol. Too the "pantry" was a floor-to-ceiling & six foot wide huge bookcase.

    You can ask others as you did, but in the end - go to a big-box store & LOOK at all the paint-samples & use your Happy imagination to choose... colors that suit you just fine. Remember to start painting PALE-shades of colors, (as going from dark to light will cost more $$$ & require more work), whereas if you want, you can add a darker shade later. - Have fun ! 🙂

  • lmrebert
    lmrebert Posts: 363 ✭✭✭✭

    I seem to be seeing a medium turquoise used and I find it personally very soothing, like the ocean. Some will use with other beachy colors like melon etc. If you're painting cupboards and are bold that would be a nice color especially if you do a butcher block counter top etc. I think anything that resembles nature gives a soothing atmosphere !


  • Linda Bittle
    Linda Bittle Posts: 1,518 ✭✭✭✭✭

    My walls are a soft dove gray, which really goes well with almost any bright accent color.

    As a general rule, I like subdued colors on the walls with lots of stuff that makes me happy on display.

  • herbantherapy
    herbantherapy Posts: 453 ✭✭✭✭

    @silvertipgrizz First and foremost ALWAYS CHOOSE COLORS THAT YOU LOVE.

    Now...I have had a few shades of green in my (or in my friends/family) kitchens through the years and a couple of yellows and these colors tend to cast upon food. So if you would never second guess if a meat is a touch too old with a green tinge or you don’t mind that chicken and pork look a bit moldy, the potatoes and bread look ready for st patty's day all year long then by all means...go green and yellow. My suggestion would be to use another color and allow greens and yellows be pops of accent instead.

    Im all about bold and color but in the kitchen I like white or stainless surfaces so I can clearly see anything that needs to be cleaned. Patterns on walls and counters might hide the wine stain but it also hides the cookie dough splatter!

    As for dark tones, if this is your home and you don’t plan to sell it for awhile and it’s not a rental do what you want! The primer to cover dark paint is expensive and it adds to more work when you are trying to move. My kitchen cabinets were solid but ugly in my manufacture home to I painted them a very high gloss (wipeable) black and I painted my pantry door with black chalk paint (best idea ever), then I added antique white ceramic knobs. In my dining room I painted the accent wall and lower walls (chair rail height) “black swan” which is the deepest darkest nearly black purple I could find with all the rest of the walls white and my backsplash is a mix media but all white too. Then I added pops of color. My dining room chairs are covered in a wild floral print for example.

    I'm not saying do like me but I am saying do not be afraid! It’s just paint, if you hate it re paint it. As for your cabinet if it’s not shadowing over a cooking area then that is where I would put your green or yellow shades then add wood tones around it. A walnut or cocoa colors would look beautiful with most greens and yellows. Some oak looks nice but could pull green tones so just check it before doing a major staining project.

    Have fun and let us know what you decide to do and pics of results are fun too!!

  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,573 admin

    @blevinandwomba I enjoyed your "contrarian" post. Way to be different!

    I should add to remember to take swatches home, hang them in the shade & the sun in the room, as the colors will look different in certain light...and certainly different than in the store.

    Beware of undertones (blue, yellow, brown, red). These can all of a sudden show when you have a large area, which may be good or bad, depending on your preferences. It might also make two colors blend well or repel each other. Keep the undertones similar if you can for better cohesiveness.

    Also, some swatches will be lighter/darker than the actual paint. I think darker than the swatch tends to be the way it goes.

    What might be pleasant as a small swatch might be overwhelming (whatever your preference of light/dark) when it is over the whole room. You might want to test it carefully.

    Remember that dark colors make a room appear smaller, light ones can open it up. Light colors should be on the ceiling for this same reason. Most folks don't want to live with a low ceiling. Some dark colors can look fantastic in a large room, but I could never use them in our tiny place.

    My mom found out about sheen...matte, semi-gloss or gloss by accident. It is a big deal and can change the feel of a room. Keep that in mind when choosing too.

    My biggest paint related peeve right now in our house is... don't do water based directly over oil unless you properly prime it AND also make sure the paint is wipeable. I have peeling paint and marks that I cannot clean everywhere (I have kids & also have the stove right beside a wall). When we repaint, we have a lot of work ahead of us due to someone not caring last time this place was painted.

  • Karin
    Karin Posts: 272 ✭✭✭

    @silvertipgrizz do you eat in your kitchen? How much time do you spend in there overall? That will probably dictate what colours you want to have, as you want it to be inviting for you :)

    Have read that its best to not have dining areas painted in any sort of red or orange tones, as that makes people eat faster, rather than relaxing over their food :)

    Also, for future-proofing and saving a bit of money, sticking with a more neutral palette and adding lots of colour with benchtop appliances, handtowels and kitchen knick-knacks - these can easily and cheaply be replaced when you want a change, even season by season :D

  • chimboodle04
    chimboodle04 Posts: 286 ✭✭✭

    So for my two cents - do not go with white cabinets - especially on base cabinets! We do a ton of cooking and canning, and while they look very nice, they are constantly needing washed (we have had to do this so often now that the paint has worn on all the edges and now they need refinishing...). We plan to paint them a darker grey color when we redo them and leave the upper cabinets white to help the room still feel light. Just my personal experience, but I wish I had known this before spending a ton of money on them when we redid our kitchen!

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2020

    @kmartin.mail I mostly eat while I work at my puter, but sometimes in the kitchen. Thanks for your response and suggestions..All responses from everyone are helping me decide.

    @chimboodle04

    Yes the colors are very important and that's why I asked for help, and that is why I got really great responses from all of you cause you all rock!!! So thanks for your responses and good idea...fully agree with the bottom being white a pain, here also.

    Stay safe in these days of trial...