# What color to paint kitchen cabinets?



## gma2rjc

It sounds like a nice color combination. I like the idea of the island being a different color. 

The most important thing is if _you_ like the colors.


----------



## kimberland30

That I do, but I'm just wondering if it would be overkill with the beige-y colors if the appliances, cabinets and counters are all similar colors. By having the island a different color would probably help that, I just have trouble imagining the end result. Anything is better than the nice 1980 Williamsburg Blue they are painted now. Unfortunately the backsplash is blue, as are the accents in the laminate flooring. We can't do anything about the flooring (maybe put a rug under the table in the EIK part to block that half of the kitchen), but the backsplash is tile looking plastic so I can paint over that.

I'm so looking forward to the update, but so not looking forward to having to clean, sand, prime and paint everything.


----------



## gma2rjc

By the time you put a few things on the counter top and island and maybe a few things on the walls, the beige may not stand out so much.

If my 'before' pictures of the work I did on my kitchen cabinets weren't on negatives, I'd post them and the 'after' pics. The difference was amazing. Well worth the time and effort.

I couldn't look at the cabinets anymore or replace them, so I took them all apart, cleaned them with TSP, primed and painted them. As much as I hate the idea of painting wood cabinets, they sure looked a lot better when I was done. 

Get a good quality paint. That's really important.


----------



## MaureenLopez1

The color combination you have choosen is really good. i like your idea. I think there should be no change. Make sure the paint quality should be good. keep it up.:thumbup:


----------



## kimberland30

Thanks! 

I've been posting in the paint section of this board to get recs on paint. 

I wouldn't paint them at all except that right now they are Williamsburg Blue thanks to my dad who added a few cabinets and used a different wood, so they painted them all. Unfortunately he had to paint them twice since my mom couldn't make up her mind. We bought the house from them in 2005 and have slowly updated all the rooms - the kitchen is one I didn't want to tackle but our dishwasher flooded under our cabinets and rotted a lot of the kick board, and there is no way to paint them to match. Since my DD is home for the summer from college, I figured this would be the best time to get it painted.


----------



## HelloMotto

Depending on the size of the kitchen and celing hight, you may also consider painting the ceilieng in the same sage green as walls. Also, since you have a chair rail, you might consider two different tints of the same green below and above the chair rail and ceiling. 
For the backslash you may consider installing another laminate over the old one. 
Just my 2 cents. Good luck!


----------



## Jay123

Swmbo wanted to paint our cabinets last year...and went through the same thing....:yes: After I drew it up, she was able to play around with a bunch of colors by herself (thank god).

http://picasaweb.google.com/jjfwoodworks/KitchenColorSamples?feat=directlink


----------



## nycgirl

Gray seems to be a "new" color for cabinets and there are so many differents shades. You could find a gray that'll work with your williamsburg blue and the sage green. I have also seen a lot of black island cabinets that I think give kitchens a designer look. One thought is that your beige and your bisques are your neutral colors-you can select colors that you like-you can always repaint your sage and white-so don't let that limit you. Paint is a lot cheaper than a remodel, live w/ it for a while, if you don't like it repaint it. Another thought-I don't know what material your backsplash is made of, but you could always replace that w/ white subway tile-it's cheap, looks classic and expensive and you don't need too much skill to install.


----------



## kimberland30

HelloMotto said:


> Depending on the size of the kitchen and celing hight, you may also consider painting the ceilieng in the same sage green as walls. Also, since you have a chair rail, you might consider two different tints of the same green below and above the chair rail and ceiling.
> For the backslash you may consider installing another laminate over the old one.
> Just my 2 cents. Good luck!


Our kitchen is 18' x 13'. It was originally two separate rooms (9'x13' each) divided by a wall in the center, but that was was removed to open up the space. One half of the kitchen is where the table is, the other half houses the appliances and cabinets. 

I like the idea of doing two different tints of green below and above the chair rail. I don't think we can install another laminate for the backsplash since it was installed prior to the counters being put in. But that is something I can look into.



Jay123 said:


> Swmbo wanted to paint our cabinets last year...and went through the same thing....:yes: After I drew it up, she was able to play around with a bunch of colors by herself (thank god).
> 
> http://picasaweb.google.com/jjfwoodworks/KitchenColorSamples?feat=directlink


Wow, that program is really cool! What color did you end up going with?




nycgirl said:


> Gray seems to be a "new" color for cabinets and there are so many differents shades. You could find a gray that'll work with your williamsburg blue and the sage green. I have also seen a lot of black island cabinets that I think give kitchens a designer look. One thought is that your beige and your bisques are your neutral colors-you can select colors that you like-you can always repaint your sage and white-so don't let that limit you. Paint is a lot cheaper than a remodel, live w/ it for a while, if you don't like it repaint it. Another thought-I don't know what material your backsplash is made of, but you could always replace that w/ white subway tile-it's cheap, looks classic and expensive and you don't need too much skill to install.


I never thought of gray, but after seeing the colors that Jay123 posted, it's definately an option. Black would be a good color for the island, but too contemporary for the rest of the house. I may go with a darker color though, maybe a hunter green or some other deep green to go with the sage on the walls.

I'm a chronic painter. I've done our living room 3 times and am still not happy with it.  I usually a year or so and if the color doesn't grow on me, I'm back at the store buying more paint. 

Our backsplash is made out of plastic that is made to look like tile. I menioned above that it was put in prior to the countertops, so it goes behind them and up behind the cabinets. I'm sure that there is probably still some ugly 1970's wallpaper behind it. I don't know if I want to paint it or try to remove it and replace it with something else.

I'll post a few pictures of our kitchen for reference. Yeah, it's a hot mess and we have a lot of work to do, especially getting new lighting, knobs for the cabinets, etc. The old refrigerator is pictured here, we now have a side-by-side model. A lot of the country stuff has been removed and replaced with original paintings. The table we have now is oak, as is a hutch that is on the wall where the wine rack is. These were taken a couple years ago. 

Since our budget is "bare minimum" on our kitchen right now, I only have enough for paint since we need to replace some areas where our dishwasher flooded.


----------



## Jay123

We (well, she) ended up using a color similar to this, but a couple of shades lighter...we've both really liked it...until she paints them again. :laughing:


----------



## kimberland30

That is pretty much what I have in mind, except that the walls will be sage (lighter than your picture) and the cabinets will be tan.


----------



## 1st_House

^^ Woah! where'd you get that design software?! I've been lookin all over for that!



Just me, but I'm not a fan of painting cabinets.. I like the o-natural look.. 

You can get some tinted bees wax and do an easy stain job.. Then just buff em with a car buffer or similar tool.


----------



## Jay123

It's something I use for work... http://www.chiefarchitect.com/

I'ts great for illustrating projects before they're built:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jjfwoodworks/PremierBasementsAlbumP1?feat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/jjfwoodworks/CofferedCeiling?feat=directlink


----------



## kanneii

sounds like a nice color combination, the idea is pretty good!!!


----------



## Jeanine Naviaux

I would use a white color for the cabinets and add distinct hardware to the doors. That way the kitchen never looks out of date and it makes the whole space cleaner. I suggest changing to flooring to so it is comfortable to while standing.


----------



## hockeymom

I just painted my kitchen and the walls are a tomato color and I painted the cabinets a putty or concrete color and it turned out awesome. I was told to use a high gloss because if it being in the kitchen for easy clean up. I changed out the hardware to a brushed nickle brought our kitchen from the 80's up to date!


----------



## DMDz

*3D Design - Thats the way to go for sure..!!!*



Jay123 said:


> Swmbo wanted to paint our cabinets last year...and went through the same thing....:yes: After I drew it up, she was able to play around with a bunch of colors by herself (thank god).
> 
> 
> 
> This is the very best way to see the project progress. I find that Chief Architect is a simple and easy to use program to make a kitchen design. And there are some great free training videos on how to at www.ChiefTutor.com
> 
> And Free Textures - http://www.chieftutor.com/textures/
> 
> Like:


----------



## Chemist1961

Couple of thoughts here. NIX the hunter green.:no: It is passe for sure but the sage sounds nice. Your existing colors are very bland but a dark accent might make all the difference, especially since the floor is light as well.

I have seen two awesome "dry mustard " and sage combinations recently as accents which are very rich together but not sure if that could work with your back splash. When the budget improves you could trim that back splash away with a utility knife and tile it for more accent. Or cut it away and paint it and just run a wallpaper border above the splash. If you stay with soft shades you may want to eventually darken the counter tops for more contrast. The contrast on the island would be a winner for sure.

My kitchen is a 7 x 9 galley. Just repainted all the 35 year old OAK again with a fresh coat of bone MELAMINE for a clean look. Then tiled the back splash to pull up the dark granite look counter. We used slate brown paint on one wall to give it some pop and wrapped the brown onto the bulkhead at the ceiling where I will install mini pot lights in future. Then I inlaid slate brown mini tile as a border in the back splash. Total makeover so far, less than $200 although we had done the handles prior.

FYI on a tight budget, you could also paint the counter with melamine for a fresh look. The second shots here a 1/2 bath room that used to be hunter green. We saved the wallpaper border, painted out above it and converted to sage. The hunter green still remains in the flooring...future project. The counter is a light slate which pulls in the green beautifully...IMHO

Link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mopcop/Kitchen?authkey=Gv1sRgCKaIxtnRwITCVg&feat=directlink


----------



## Aspenvalley

*Resources on Color trends???*

I have a friend who's trying to fix up her house to sell it. Her and I were talking about what to do with the kitchen cabinets. When she bought the house, the cupboard doors were caked with build-up and general cleaning wont get it off. So she decided to hire a professional to clean and paint them. Now she's not so sure about that because they are oak and thinks that maybe natural wood would be a good selling point?? But they are stained really dark and stripping them down to refinish might be alot more expensive? She wants to know what colors are popular, or will attract the attention of prospective buyers. I'm curious too. Does anyone know a good place online to read about that? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!


----------

