Here is a recent reader question who is asking for color suggestions for a kitchen with black and white appliances. Tawn has answered this one with some creative ideas.
I am painting a kitchen that has black appliances and white countertops. What color would you suggest for the walls, cabinets and for the floor? ~Nydia
Wow! What a great starting point for you. Using white and black can create a stunning and dramatic room. It can be used in almost any decorating style. Contemporary/modern and even Country French. Black and white gives a fresh and clean look to a room. Sophisticated and elegant, or cozy and classic.
If you want a more “contemporary” look to your kitchen you could paint your cabinets with a metallic paint. Silver would be good. OR you could take the doors off, paint the frames black and take the doors out and spray paint them with a Metal Hammered Finish spray paint.
Going modern I’d use a square pull on the doors. Something more linear for a pull.
Or, if you want a more “country” look you could paint your cabinet black and then rub the paint off here and there (edges, corners, etc.) to give them a worn look.
Excellent paint colors for your walls, to go with your black and white room, would be salmon, or green, or taupe, or red or turquoise. This gives you a wide variety to choose from for your walls depending on what feel you want to end up with. Even yellow would be a good choice depending on how bold you want to go.
Are you painting your floors? You could tape them off and paint large 2 foot by 2 foot squares of black and white. I wrote an article here about painting diamonds or squares.
Hope these ideas help. Please send a picture when you finish so we can see how fabulous it looks.
THAT Painter Lady
Here are a few resources on choosing color that I find really helpful:
Barb… You could do one room in the stripes and the other in the crystal affect using the same colors, or one room with stripes on the bottom only and the other room with stripes on the top or on the whole wall.
They won’t look “identical” but will feel complementary.
Also, if you paint stripes in your bedroom the fact that the seams show in the paper job that is currently there won’t matter. Just make sure that your stripes either end or begin at one of those lines. They will become part of the stripe edge and no one will ever notice!
Yet another option would be to “paperplique” your bedroom.
Take brown paper bags and tear it up in random sections, then crumple them, flatten them out and crumple them again. About three crumblings and you’re good to go.
Use these to wallpaper your walls. The color is perfect (taupe like) and you don’t have to worry about seams showing through!
Stripes and “Paperplique” may not work in your home depending on your tastes and current decor, but your options are unlimited in what you can do with the two colors you have chosen.
The most important thing is, yes, unfortunately, you will have to remove the rest of that wall paper that someone started to pull off.
Now… get to the paint store and have fun choosing adjoining room colors!
It’s all about color lately… spring is in the air, and we are all ready for a few new colors on the walls. The problem is… colors on those tiny little chips look mighty different on big large walls.
Then… throw in the idea of a faux finish… and the color choosing gets very confusing.
This is a question from a reader about How To Achieve A Tuscan Kitchen Faux Finish:
Hey there, I have a few questions I know you can help me with.
1. I am texturing a huge living/dinning area with joint compound, should I use glaze for the faux finish with such a large area ?
2. I am trying to get the aged Tuscan look. I am stressing myself on what colors to put on the wall. My kitchen cabinets will be a light color of pale yellow/tan with a brown wash on the top. Please give me some ideas for a 2 or 3 color wash on the walls. I don’t want a orange or a southwest look.
3. Should I seal the texture before I paint it, after, or at all ?
I have done faux finishes before, but because this is my first house to build and pick out everything. It is driving me crazy. I love all of the Tuscan colors or earth tones.
Thanks for your help. Lisa Kelley
Question 1: Yes you can use glaze for the faux finish over joint compound… but you must paint it first or the faux finish will just suck into the walls… and not glide over them.
Question 3: See question 1 answer. )
Question 2: The big question. Aged Tuscan Walls. How do you achieve this look? And… she wants advice for a 2 or 3 color wash.
Okay… first… of course, get thyself a Woolie pad… you will thank me many times for this suggestion.
The application is simple… I’ve included a video (from fauxfun.com) that gives the same basic technique I would use… except I use a Woolie pad to pat the finish down and blend.
That looks easy… it is!
Colors? To keep it a simple Tuscan Kitchen Faux Finish… use taupes and light browns. Add in a creamy color to keep it all blended.
If you want a more “contemporary” look to your kitchen you could paint your cabinets with a metallic paint. Silver would be good. OR you could take the doors off, paint the frames black and take the doors out and spray paint them with a Metal Hammered Finish spray paint.
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