In the kitchen I would suggest leaving the cabinets white and painting the walls red. That is what I did with my small kitchen. My wall are poinsetta red. It just gives a pop of color.

I would look at coral colors. And I would take those shelves down and paint them a satin black.

What colors does she already have for the rooms? Furniture?

How fun to be moving into their own home!

~Betsy

Lovely kitchen!

My first thought was red also to go with the grey countertop and floor.

LOL RED?? Will that make it look too closed in and smaller?
She said the gals at work said the same as you guys do a barn red! LOL
The only furniture is the table and chairs and its a dark wood Betsy....I don't think black but a very dark brown that is popular now...heck I dunno maybe it is black! Hope she will pop in here and say for sure.
I'm sorta thinking the stuff she has on the walls won't go up at the new place and she will start looking for new things. I know she loves the metal/tin stars in so many cute colors now....otherwise I haven't a clue.

I don't suggest this color of red, I'd use something more rich and darker - but I think red makes the room "pop".

This is the best I could do in Printshop, but it gives you an idea anyhow.

{{!gwi}}

She could just do the walls in red, the lower ceiling could be painted white like the rest of the ceiling and she could use a vintage look tin backsplash (they make them in plastic now too -looks like the real thing) - that might be less overpowering, but still have the wow of the red.

What about a gold yellow and burgundy/maroon where the blue part is now? Or a dark mustard and burgundy.
I saw Decorating Cents today and they did a bathroom with the most awesome gold paint! It was almost a butterscotch pudding color!

I like the butterscotch/gold color, but not with the grey counters. I do like the red tho!!

Hmmmmmm might be a tough job figuring this out!
She is going looking for more paint samples soon.
All I've seen are pictures and I might be able to give better advice if I'd been in it!

To make the room brighter, chose a semi-gloss paint. It's also easy to clean.

To make it pop out, First, I'd change the cabinet knobs to a matte black, black nickel or antique pewter. Using a combination of pulls and knobs will offset the vertical look of the cabinets and will make it stands out from the white look. Pulls for drawers and knobs for doors. The new color will tie the cabinet with the countertop colors as well. I recently did this to my kitchen and it's a huge different.

Home Depot & Lowe's sometimes have real good prices on pulls and knobs and it shouldn't cost no more than $200 for that kitchen.

Is that dining room ties with the kitchen? If so, whatever color she choses for the wall, it looks better if it's the same for the kitchen too. Having the same color will make both rooms look larger. If choosing 2 separate colors, it separates the 2 rooms and make each room smaller.

Chose a color that it will also match with the brown moulding on the ceiling. Unless, she paints that too which I'd recommend so it'd blend in with the rest of the cool colors. Basically, stick with a cool paint color.

Red is pretty but will make the room looks small for sure. Another color that will blend in nicely with the gray is Cobalt Blue or Navy but they will make the rooms look smaller also.

How about a very very pale periwinkle? Then, paint the moulding a dark charcoal, black or navy color.

It'd be nice if you have a pic of the new floor tile they will change to.

Well changing the knobs out is a good idea that we hadn't thought of. The floor is done already Ntthou, but its not in these pictures.
So what if she painted a butterscotch/mustardy color where it is now yellow and a burgundy where it is now blue? Think that will go? Only I might do that entire wall where the sink is. Then change the knobs....

How did you guys do that with the color and picture? Tell me please!!

I used Paintshop Pro. It's easy with that program.
If you want to see any other colors just tell me and I'll change it.

I would put this tin tile for the backsplash, paint under the sofit a bright olive green and the top of the sofit apricot to go with the dining area that would be apricot too. Add a wood crown molding to the dining area to match the kitchen.

then again.........

Here is a link that might be useful: tin backsplash

Sorry I'm no good at this painting program I have Connie. It's my Adobe Deluxe 4.0. My hand isn't steady enough. Jenni's is far superior. Anyway, this is what it might look like with a lighter, more neutral background. Maybe not so creamy. It sure makes it look lighter, brighter and larger. Their accessories can add the punch of color. Do they like contemporary style or traditional? If they like contemporary, they might consider sticking with the softer greys or even a warmer grey. I do like ntt_hou's suggestion for the door and drawer pulls. They would make a huge change in the kitchen and could even dictate the style. I have some friend who bought a townhouse 2 years ago and had the off white cabinets and wood trim throughout. They still chose to paint their walls a white. I was surprised how good it looked. And she's also right about keeping both rooms the same color if they open into one another. It does make the space flow better and looks more spacious.

{{!gwi}}

These are all great ideas!
I wish I could see the house in person!
They don't close on it til Weds. Feb 27, then plan on a couple days of painting and then moving that weekend! Everything at once you know! LOL
Will see what Heather thinks.

Actually, the present ceiling color looks good with the cabinets. The only change I'd do is to brighten/lighten the backsplash behind the counter tops. Go with a lighter floor if that is within reason.

Light lemon colors are good for dining areas. For walls, choose your desired color from paint coupons in the paint store, then go 2 shades lighter. Your eye gets fooled when mentally comparng a small sample to what a larger wall will appear. The apparent color will seem darker when applied to the larger area wall.

I sure do like the lighting in the kitchen!

Our kitchen cabinets are white with grey counters, and the wall colour is verdigris- the sort of greeny-blue colour you get on copper that is oxidising. We like it, and lots of our visitors have commented also.
The closest I can find is the "topal" colour on this chart, fourth from the right, second row down:

Here is a link that might be useful: colour chart

My vote is for a yellow shade, not the big bird yellow in the example, but a nice soft yellow - and change the knobs to highlight that perhaps with a floral patterned knob.
Cool job with the paint program examples, gals!
Suzan J

I vote for butter yellow gloss. Brushed Nickel Knobs.

Gayle

I don't like the color yellow with grey, so that would bother me.

How about a sage green if she doesn't want red.

oy, I just looked up two color charts and the colors I was thinking of looked very little like what the color chart had. Goes to show how it difficult it is to talk about color. For instance, apricot to me is a deep yellow with a hint of orange. On the color chart, it showed apricot almost pink. uuewwww! And olive colors run the gamut.

I suppose your dil will have to see what she owns and go with those colors unless she wants to change. Good luck.

I like your idea of mustard and burgundy. I think if I were using two colors, I'd just stick with one for the paint and use the other for accessories (throw rug, pot holders/oven mitts, cannisters, towels, etc).

I would like anything reddish with the grey, such as burgundy, terra cotta, brick red, corals. I also like eggplant, navy or yellow with grey. Not fond of greens with grey. And if you use a cool color, like navy, I'd introduce a warm color such as mustard or lemon yellow, or coral/terra cotta.

Then for the dining room, I'd select one of the kitchen colors for the walls. Or a lighter or darker shade of the kitchen colors. Then it will "flow" from one room to the next without it being the exact same colors. A friend of mine just repainted her house, and she painted her dining room a darker shade of the living room. It looks lovely.

Changing the knobs may also be an inexpensive way to change the look, as others have pointed out. But I'd wait until the painting is done, then go to Home Depot or Lowes and get several different ones to try out and see what sort of impact they give to the total look.

What fun they will have fixing up their house! It's more important that it reflects who they are than any of our advice here!! It's an adorable kitchen and dining room. I can tell you are so excited for them, Nodakgal.