My kitchen seems to be a never ending story. You might remember how I tried to embrace the blue kitchen.
Yep, this is some seriously blue tile.
After doing a little cosmetic work, I was so much happier with this.
I have a perfectly fine kitchen now. I’m happy with the counters. We have a new sink and faucet, new-ish appliances, fresh paint, new hardware, and I love my toile curtains. Then Layla went and did this.
I loved her first kitchen facelift! She started with 80’s orange oak cabinets and did an amazing job painting the cabinets black. It was beautiful. Layla recently posted about small changes that really make your house “yours”.
Layla got me thinking. Maybe a more drastic change is in order for my kitchen! I can’t afford cabinet refacing quite yet, but I can afford paint! That got me thinking about my friend Diane’s kitchen.
Before
After
Both of these kitchens are amazing!
So, here’s my dilemma. We are having our orange oak floors refinished. I would love to go with a rich dark chocolate color, but I’m afraid of scratches with the dog. A medium brown color has been recommended and I’d like to go with that. While we’re at it, we are planning to have new, wider, baseboards installed, stained to match the floor. Medium brown floors, new baseboards, and orange oak cabinets… see the problem? It’s so much wood and the tones just don’t go. Plus, I don’t really want to change out the baseboards to white (or paint them white) because I just really like the wood.
If I paint the cabinets a cream or taupe color, it might look like this:
A kitchen like this, with light brown wood floors and light brown baseboards would be beautiful!
I also love this:
I woke up this morning and told my husband that I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about paint samples. When I told him that I wanted to paint the kitchen cabinets, he told me to go back to sleep. I’m hoping I can convince him to read this and maybe he’ll see the light.
I’d love my kitchen to look more like Layla’s.
So, what do you think? What would you do?
The Comments
kim
I think white would look great! It takes some work, but so worth it in the end. I have got to repaint our bathroom cabinets. They are already white, but are dirty and chipped and in need of refreshing. You can do it!!
Debbie
Becca not sure I would do dark….although I like dark, if you are going for Laylas look, perhaps a white glazed, now that I can see:) Keep us posted!
thedomesticceo
Definitely paint! I like the taupe colors. I think stark white is just too dramatic. Just my two cents, lol. Have fun!
Diane at Perfectly Imperfect Life
Paint! Paint! Paint! Paint!
Of course, you knew I would say that.
Diane at Perfectly Imperfect Life
OK, maybe I'll actually make a useful comment…
I agree that a taupe-y color on your cabinets would be very interesting. Maybe one of the lighter colors in your granite.
Also, on the dark wood floors, I've been reading about that myself and I've read a bunch of people complaining about the fact that everything shows up on them (dog hair, dust, etc.), so I think a medium brown too.
Also, ask whoever you have refinishing your floors if he'll give us a mutli-customer discount!
Diane at Perfectly Imperfect Life
Sorry…I also meant to say, if you paint the cabinets anything but white, you're going to have to paint your walls too, I think.
Sorry Mr. Becca.
Mary
I'm not a designer, but I love looking at your blog and seeing everything you're doing.
Please, please check out my blog post and tell me your opinion on what to do with my cabinets! I can't decide whether to paint or refinish them. Changing the hardware is a definite, though!
The pictures of the kitchen are at the bottom of the post:
http://mary-lifeinasmalltown.blogspot.com/2010/04/misc-monday.html
Thanks in advance!
Elissa
Becca, I have the same dilemma as you, and my cabinets are similar to yours. I love the look of the white I am seeing everywhere and have thought of painting mine, but hubby says no way!! He thinks white cabinetry looks cheap {he works in construction}. He says if you pay extra to get high quality wood cabinets, you shouldn't paint over them. Plus in order for it to come out looking nice, you have to completely sand the finish off before your paint or it will look terrible. I don't think I could handle it! I'd love to know what you decide and see the results! Good luck
Angie
I think your cabinets would look great either white, off-white, or white and aged with a glaze. I have white cabinets (painted by the previous owners) and I love how bright they make the kitchen look. I think they are timeless and go with lots of different styles of decorating.
helenabelle
I say go with the white…I love white cabinets. We just purchased a home, yesterday. My main criteria to the realtor was a home with white kitchen cabinets. I'm sure she thought I was crazy. I got what I asked for but do have to change the countertops…they are blue, too!
Just my thoughts…
Fondly,
Ann
@
The Tattered Tassel
gina3
I'm with you! I'm planning on painting my kitchen cabinets this summer but can't decide on a color. For your kitchen, I think a creamy white would be perfect (not too white, not too taupe). Can't wait to see what you choose.
Mary
You have no idea how much I appreciate you taking the time to give me your opinion. I chuckled when I read your question about my "decorating style"! My husband says that I'm "eclectic"; I don't have just one style! I really like the Scandinavian style…sleek, no frills, modern. But, I don't know that my '60's house can handle that! Thanks for the tip of the Kraftmaid catalog; that's a great idea!
Thanks again, and, any other ideas you have, please e-mail me!
Jolie
I love white cabinets. White really opens up the room and of all rooms, the kitchen needs to be light so you don't feel like you're cooking in a cave. My cabinets are white and I love them. They are made of wormy chestnut.
Men are weird about painting over wood. It's a guy thing because every male I know cringes at the thought of painting over it. I guess it's one of the perks of being single, no fighting over painting over it. 🙂
Sarah
I haven't read all the comments but-let's be honest…paint here we come! Darker floors too! I love it. That is exactly what I want our kitchen remodel to look like…when we get around to it! ps-isn't your dog's hair black? dark hair=dark floors! light floor+dark hair=lots of clean up. Just sayin…
ourlifeinaclick.blogspot.com
I'd probably paint. I'm still contemplating painting my cabinets too.
Here's my kitchen update:
http://ourlifeinaclick.blogspot.com/2010/04/our-house-renovations-kitchen-part-4.html
-heather
Lou Cinda @ Tattered Hydrangeas
My cabinets were oak in my kitchen, really nice oak cabinets. I painted them a creamy white back in May and I have not regretted it for one minute!! It just lightened and brightened my kitchen and I am still IN LOVE with it! I just found your blog and you may have already painted them, but if not, I say GO FOR IT!! My BFF almost stroked out when I told her I was going to pain them…she is an oak girl. Me? Not so much….my husband said go ahead and do it….he loves it too!
I am a follower!
Lou Cinda 🙂