I'm not very good with color, but I liked your herbal green because it seemed a comfortable color for a kitchen and it echoed the greenery outside your windows.

I hope you do keep the valence as it makes your kitchen even more architecturally interesting and makes a nice focal point when you walk into the house.

sky

Thanks, Sky. I like the herbal and organic greens, too. DH thinks green is overdone, but I find it energetic and relaxing.

The problem with the valence is that we're going to have to build a drywall box on the ceiling - it's vaulted - for the hood of the pipe to go through. The GC's concerned about how crowded it'll get up there from the kitchen side, and about the valence and box for the vent hood blocking some over-bar cans we've installed. I wish there was an easy solution.

Also, apologies to all about the size of the pictures. I resized them in Photobucket, to no result.

Well, I'm not really getting the big picture but if your space can handle it, I like the Blue Spruce. Thinking you might have to go a bit lighter than that though. Is that one of the granites with blue in it?

Looking at the granite the first color that pops to me is the goldish tone. I think it would look nice with the red/black tones of the flagstone without competing with it.
And - I have pale gold in my kitchen and love it, so I'm partial!!

Hi Cate!

I'm not 100% sure I understood the floor plan (I think I did) but for what it's worth (which may not be much ...) I was really drawn to the Buttered Hazelnut, Herbal Green and Cayenne (although not the whole space in Cayenne, like the two dining room walls or an accent wall -- I like the idea of setting the dining room off a bit ...).

Based on what I know (from this post and in the Kitchens forum) of your materials is why I am drawn to those colors. I think one reason I'm esp. leaning toward the Hazelnut is because I think it could really make your lovely views POP! It would frame your large windows, at least that's what I think.

However, I also really like the green because it's a great neutral but not a blah neutral -- it's got some life to it, but not too much life, if you know what I mean!

I'm going to keep my fingers crossed your valance works out -- I think it is a stunning feature and I really love what it "says" as you enter your home.

I'm having a hard time figuring out your dining room window coverings. We had (and will have remade once the remodel is done) Thai silk (which I hand carried back from Thailand on more than one trip over the course of ten years -- I really love this fabric!) drapes in both our dining room and living room and didn't have any problems with the children and pets. Let me be clear: I'm using the past tense as our children were younger and we had fewer pets. I don't know what will happen now that the children are older (3.5 and 1.5) and we've added two more pets (one cat, one puppy) to the mix. However, I'm a pretty firm believer in living with nice things (and my children!) for three reasons: 1) gives me great aesthetic pleasure, 2) teaches them to enjoy / appreciate nice things and 3) teaches them that they are my most precious objects. (I grew up with a mother who clearly, loudly and repeatedly valued her possessions more than her children and it hurt my brothers and me. I'm leaning so far in the other direction to ensure I don't teach the same miserable lesson to my kiddos.)

My point being: why not the dupioni? If you really like it it might be worth pursuing. ???

-Brooke

Squirrelheaven, the blue spruce is a nice, bold, but soothing color, isn't it? It reminds me of some of the colors in my in-laws' contemporary Victorian.

The stone that looks like granite is Cambria Bradford engineered quartz. It has some blue, gray, cream, darker blue, and almost black. The darker counter material is Basalt Slate laminate.

The Cambria doesn't quite have blue spruce in it, but the tones might coordinate. Oh, and the total space is about 22' x 25', with vaulted ceilings up to 10-11' at the peak.

Justnotmartha, I'm glad to hear you have the gold. I have a throw pillow that I love that has tones of gold, champagne, and dusty blues and greens. I keep coming back to that pillow, thinking about the gold or the champagne. I am a bit nervous if it's high-enough contrast with the cabinets.

Thanks for thinking about the red in the flagstones, too. I really haven't figured out how to bring that around, other than a few accessories. I was thinking about putting a couple of small red tiles in the backsplash but not sure if it's trying too hard.

Brooke, good to see you over here! The floor plan is a little weird when presented like I did here. I bet the picture windows threw you off. They're between the living room and dining room spaces but do seem to need their own identity.

I keep coming back to the Hazelnut, too. I originally picked it to go in the basement, then ran out of steam and ended up with rugs of about the same color. And the Cayenne has a lot of energy, and the green mixes energy and relaxation. Geesh. I really want to get this right, since the GC's actually doing the painting. I don't want to do it again! We have other rooms that we've been trying to get around to painting for months.

Good news about the valence - got a call from the GC a few minutes ago, and he's working on it. Whoo hoo! Now, I hope I got the proportions on it correct. At least, it'll be a relatively easy feature to fix.

The dining room window coverings are a bit Asian in style (well, I think so). There are 3 different fabrics, repeated one each side of the window (so 6 panels total). The fabrics are a bit sheer - enough to block light some and muddle views some. Because they're light in color, they also make the window look much bigger. I can pull the panels across the window in any arrangement I want. I'm not sure I helping matters with the explanation, but I took a shot. :P I didn't see anything useful on IKEA's website, of course.

I bet your Thai silk curtains are beautiful! I'd love to see a picture. We have some Bulgarian and Moroccon wool rugs/tapestries that I'm using in the kids' rooms and some Chinese pillowcase covers and art that we use in our room (all on the walls). It's so nice to have the memories and stories. Oh! and some Guatemalan tapestries, from a trip we took to Belize when I was 6-7 months pregnant with DS. Our "last" trip for a good long while!

Thank you for sharing the lessons from your mother. I've been harping a bit on the kids lately for being rough with some of our furniture. I'll step back and take a closer look.

The dupioni... it's still on the table. My kids (same ages, approximately) absolutely adore playing hide-and-seek behind curtains. It's adorable but really rough on the curtains. If we got the dupioni I know I'd want a creamy, light-colored shade and don't want the dry-cleaning bills. You're right that it's a good lesson for them to appreciate nice things, but I've also been learning (in-laws and grandparents have been saying) that nice things often need to wait until the kids are older.

I'm still listening if there are any more opinions out there and really appreciate the time you're all taking.

Cate

I have zero suggestions about colors, but just had to share that your adorable little guy looks like he could be the long-lost "twin" of my nephew, Caleb (he'll be three next week). Looks like both have heads full of curly locks! :-)

{{gwi:1599737}}

Cate,
Do you happen to have a pic of your IKEA sliding panels? I'm wanting to try them in our big kitchen window, but my DH is reluctant, so I'm looking for some pics to convince him! How smoothly do they open and close? Have you had any problems with the edges of the fabric fraying?
The price is really good on them, so I'm very tempted!

Silk dupioni is beautiful. We have kids aged 2 and 4 as well. I got some blue-grey fake dupioni curtains in our living room -- that may be a reasonable option for you until they are a bit older, and could then be switched to the real thing. Some of the fake ones are not bad.

Good luck on the paint color choice!

Ooops, I just realized how tiny that pic of Caleb is ... here's a better one. (Please forgive my thread hijacking!)
{{gwi:1599738}}

Jen, they really do like alike! Same crazy hair. I have very straight hair (although the pregnancy hormones added some wave), so all of Jack's is from his dad. They look so much alike! What's amazing is how people comment on his hair - except for about 3 weeks after he gets it cut.

Mayland, I don't have any up-close pictures; and the blinds aren't up right now. Here's the best I can do:

I haven't had huge problems with fraying; but where I have, they've been easy to trim with scissors. They open and close very smoothly, and you can hook the panels of each side together to get them to move together. My advice is to do it. If he does end up being unhappy with the fabric, you can easily make a substitute with something from a local fabric or handmade paper store.

Also, thank you for the tip on fake dupioni. Did you get yours from a particular source that you can recommend?

Thanks Cate! We were not sure we could get them to move together, but now I know we can, I might just do it.

Our fake dupionis were from JCPenney. we got them in the store, but i think they are the ones linked below. We like them but you can tell they are not silk -- i have seen more realistic ones at Expo (but they were more $, and we went for price!).

Have a look at the JCPenney online outlet too -- they have several real silk dupioni curtains and drapes on sale at the moment.

Here is a link that might be useful: JCP

Mayland - Thanks for the link! I had a lot of fun checking it out. I think I'll pop by Penney's soon to try to see some of them in person.

Cate -- I have a question, please: in the pictures of your gorgeous new arch (yea!) on the Kitchens forum, which side faces the front door and which is the kitchen? I think I know which is which, but I just want to make sure before piping in about color ....

I'll check back tomorrow. I'm really excited about all your progress, glad you're feeling better and I'll be keeping healing thoughts for your husband and daughter. (and no-more-illness thoughts for you and your son!) I think your new space is going to be just ideal, and I confess to being a tad envious!

Thanks for asking and for the good thoughts. :)

This is the kitchen side. The island extends 36" out from the knee wall, towards the scaffolding. The box in the ceiling was necessary for the range hood.

This is the living room side. I was standing by the front door to take the picture. The flagstone extends from where I'm standing to the nearest column, more or less. The fireplace and large windows (you can see the windows in the background in the picture above) are to my right, and across the bar you can see the kitchen window (over the sink) and dining room slider in the background. The bar's going across those knee walls, and barstools can go under it - in the living room, really.

Hope this helped and wasn't so much information that it added to any confusion!

I'm going to go back and look at your colors again and think about it some more, but my v. first thought is that the columns and arch should all be the same color but different from any other wall / ceiling / trim.

This arch / will-be-bar is going to be something special and a real focal point -- I'd let them completely stand alone as a single unit (meaning all one color), both sides (living room side and kitchen side).

Hmm. Maybe this is a good spot for the Hazelnut and (most of) the other walls that lovely Herbal Green. ???

Off to get a cup of tea and spend more time looking at your room and color samples. But that's my initial reaction. Be back later!

I've been looking and looking, and what I think may be ridiculous based on the amount of natural light your kitchen gets and in which direction its window is facing. (for example, ours is true north facing and gets no direct sun -- it casts a v. "cold," grey feeling on everything in there)

However, with that big fat caveat out of the way: I now think painting the living and dining rooms the Herbal Green, the arch (all of it, both sides) the Hazelnut and the kitchen the Blue Spruce could be great. And this is why: the Herbal Green is soothing and subtle but still has a presence. I also think it will frame your gorgeous windows and views and totally set-off your fireplace. The Hazelnut I like because I just really like it! It is so warm, such a happy (but not in-your-face happy, if you know what I mean) color and its tone totally makes sense with the Herbal Green (neither are jarring, both appear to have similar dusky undercurrents), plus I think it'll subtly highlight your new arch. The Blue Spruce I like because, again, I think it "makes sense" with the Herbal Green and the Hazelnut (because of its tone) and it helps set the kitchen apart somewhat -- somewhat, because you don't want anything too crazy when all the spaces are open to one another.

I don't think you'll actually have lots of room for the Blue Spruce, right? Because it's a darker, bolder color I think that can work to your benefit in the kitchen: it will highlight the blue-ish feeling in your basalt slate countertop and echo the earthy feeling of your cork and hardwood floors, all without overpowering / darkening the space.

At least, in my mind's eye of your house that's what I'm seeing.

My youngest is now up so off I go! Take care of yourself,
-Brooke

Brooke - So sorry not to respond for so long! I admit I got wrapped up in the project. Your last reponse - along with everyone else's - helped me realize part of why this was so difficult: I was trying to make the fireplace the focal point instead of the arch.

At any rate, I ended up with some extra time to make the decision as the mudding and sanding took some extra time. I dragged DH to the store and harassed my family, and we ended up with a green on the walls and gray on the arch.

And green on the ceiling. Sight-unseen, as that color chip was out of stock. We had to guess how many shades to drop down.

I'm terrified. About all of the color. But the decision's made - DH says it'll be fabulous but that we can repaint if we need to - yeah right! When the kids are in college, maybe! Lol.

At any rate, thank you all for the help. - Cate

(Oh, and I really tried to make the buttered hazelnut work, but it was just too close to the tone of the cabs.)

Cate, get a fan deck! It's $12 or $14 for pure color joy!

There's a steely, pottery-ish blue green in your fabric, in the collage photo. What is that fabric?

The BM color viewer is so not helpful. The colors come out way, way off. Is that what you're using?

I agree with Squirrel about the blue green being nice and going a little lighter. Take a look at Stratton Blue (maybe?). It's a BM historical color and it's just a very laid back blue green (more green).

Also, I really like the colors on the Vanderberg Blue strip, though the lighter colors may be too bright... you might look at the neighboring grayer/greener strips.

Anyway, those are the colors that immediately come to mind.

Chicory - Thanks for the ideas! Not sure which is the steely, pottery-ish blue green. All of the surfaces in the collage are floors, counters, or cabinets. Maybe the flagstone or quartz or laminate?

I was actually going very low-tech and using custom Microsoft Paint colors. Just to get an idea. I played with Sherwin-Williams color tool and liked it but couldn't upload my picture and didn't have the patience for BM's tool.

We bought the colors Thursday night. The walls will be Valspar's Garden of Paradise, forgot the ceiling color (it's 3 shades down, on another chip), and the arch and columns will be Valspar's Iron Frost. Seems like a lot of people here are more familiar with BM; for comparison, Garden of Paradise is very close to Mountain Lane.

Colors are going up today and tomorrow, but it'll still be a couple of weeks before it's all put together.

Here's how our colors turned out, minus some cabinets, appliances, counters, and functionality! (lol) Thank you all for your feedback.

(I'm sorry; I can't resize the pictures from this computer.)