What color would you paint your kitchen walls, if the counter top is a medium to dark blue with wooden cabinets, wooden trim and hardwood floors?
By Amanda from Johnstown, PA
Ignore the wood, it's a "Neutral" color. I'd pick a second color along with the blue for your color "theme".
Examples that would look nice: Blue & Yellow - Blue & Mustard-gold - Dark & Light Blue - Blue, Green & Yellow - Primary= Blue, Red, Yellow - Blue & silver - Blue with Copper - Blue, Golden-Beige, Olive - Blue with Peach - Blue with Rust - Blue with Peanut Butter.
Color is my business. I do hand painted Custom Tiles for installation & my clients often ask for color advice. The tip I give to everyone I write to is this: Find something you love then pull colors from that. Make sure it has the same blue from your counter tops in it. Then pull one or 2 other colors from that item & use them to decorate around. This way you can't go wrong! Examples: Buy a throw rug, kitchen canisters, a large print or painting, several framed botanical prints, place-mats, planters or deco-tiles.
If you find something you love & the colors are to dark (but still have the same exact blue of your countertops) then you can use the same color but in a lighter shade on your wall. For Example, you find a great throw rug but the colors are blue, dark olive & dark tan or brown. You can use the olive or tan, but choose a lighter shade for your wall. Instead of a dark olive, choose a med or light olive as paint or a lighter shade of tan instead. These lighter colors will STILL match your rug (or other item) even though they are lighter in hue. Just stay in the same color range. Example: Say the color you're trying to match is an olive-green, don't pick a mint or a blue-green. Stay in the olive family, be it dark, med or light. Sage would be okay as long as it is more of an oliveish-sage.
1) I myself would choose to go with a golden yellow & med & dark blues. Blue & Yellow is always a classic & classy choice that never goes out of style. Bright white wicker or white trim would look fresh & clean with the blue & golden yellow. You could use blue picnic-checks as tablecloth fabric. I might also use cobalt glass as my accent pieces.
2) A second awesome choice would be to use a golden-beige on the walls with the blue counter tops. You can then also use cobalt blue accents and/or olive green. These are more "Traditional" colors.
3) If you want to go modern, you could use primary colors. Red (or Burgundy) Cobalt & Yellow (or Gold)
---> But, do yourself a favor, FIRST buy your piece of art, rug, place-mats or kitchen curtains, THEN pick out your paint. REMEMBER, you can always mix the paint to match anything, but you can't as easily change the other things to match the paint! Lets say you find some wonderful hydrangea fabric for curtains. You could use the colors in the fabric to decorate around, but once you paint your walls, you may have a very hard time finding piece to match the paint's color!
Carry a sample of your counter top color with you whenever you shop. Go to the fabric store & get ideas or a store that sells liquidation things like rugs & prints. Like Tuesday Morning, Ross or Big Lots, etc. You can't go wrong with framed Botanical prints. These never go out of style! Don't be to quick to jump at your piece of art. Wait until you find something you really love. It may take a few months or more. With me, I went to an old book store & found some old botanical prints from the 1940's. I decorated my whole living-dining room around them. I never tired of them & because they have many colors in them, I can change my room again & again & still keep my special prints.
Another thing to think about. Can you see other rooms from this kitchen? (like the living room) If so, you'll have to keep the colors for theses rooms in mind too.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I want to add color to my kitchen walls that will make it up-to-date. The cabinets are light oak, countertops are butcher block color, windows have wood trim and the floor is ceramic tile, white with streaks of different shades of grey to blue-grey.
