I'm posting so you can add pictures.

Left is baby turtle, walls. Right side swatch is Wild Orchid for lower cabinets, upper ones will be either white or WO.

Formica I like best is the dark charcoal/blue one on the right that doesn't look quite as blue in this shot. Also I like the chip on the left (matches the BT well) but any of these three I think would work for the counter tops. I actually like the contrast of the greener one in the front of this pic but it might not "go with" the wild orchid color as well. And, the counters of course will run right into the BT on the walls....

Ignore the floor. It is leaving as soon as the paint is dry to be replaced by wood or the vinyl plank stuff that looks like wood.

In different light now here, I am liking a dark charcoal Formica chip better than the blue.

I don't know about purple cabinets......

I don't see purple cabinets in there with BT walls and black and red small appliances.

Hi Therealmrsdoodlepunk,

I love purples and greens together. One of my kids has a
room done in purples and greens. The right combination
with the right balance is amazing.

Let me think about the other elements you spoke of.
The black and red appliances, a blue counter, green brown
wall color (baby turtle)and lilac lower cabinets.

What is the trim in the home?
Furniture colors?

This could be really hard to pull off. If it a large
space and you have a fabric that can pull these colors
together you might be able to do it. For me it would be
impossible to pull together. Too many colors. You might
want to narrow it down to just three colors.

Do you have to use Baby Turtle? There are some other
neutral shades in the same family with less brown in them
that might work with the Orchid Lilac that you crave.
The Baby Turtle and Orchid might not balance each other
enough. The complimentary color for purple is yellow.
A yellow bases tan or green would be better than a
brown red based tan in the Baby Turtle.

Here are some images of Green and Purple combinations.
Too remind you that it CAN work with the right balance.

This is a Van Dyke Brown Sherwin Williams. Very Very
close to Baby Turtle and notice the Orchid color is used
as an accent. Just a touch of it. Not an entire wall or
lower cabinets.

Now look at this picture using the colors you like but
balancing it with white or ivory and using more of a green
than a Brown?red turtle color

This purple is darker but with the right balance looks
great with the little green lamps and white.

And check this one out. The dominate color is the orchid
not the Baby Turtle (browns) or greens. They are sort of
a back drop fot the exciting orchid.

And some purple painted cabinets. Notice the other
colors in these rooms. They tend to be a yellow or
yellow green to compliment the purple.

And here is Baby Turtle with white. This is always
a lovely safe option and instead use Orchid or red or
blue as your accents.

Lots to think about and create.
Enjoy the process.
~boxerpups

boxerpups, thank you so much. I knew green and purple would look good together. I have been trying all day long to talk myself out of the purple I have chosen. I had almost succeeded, then along you come with all these pictures! LOL

I can see that I need to go way too bright with the green to work with the purple I have chosen and that would look awful with the living room. The blues and reds are out, for sure. Actually, the red is a cheap clock and an even cheaper microwave - it was on sale and I got it for 20 bucks. So, I can safely say I don't need to keep it, I just liked the color the day I bought it.

I have never "decorated" and never fussed much about how things looked. And it shows.

Baby turtle goes well with my couch, the newest piece I have, and it is due for a change. My trim is all oak or oak-look. It's all getting painted white though, when I paint.

I need to hugely rethink my whole scheme and decide just one or two - or at the very most, three colors. I just have lived so long with drab, dull beige and feel a need for color. I also have boys who leave smudges and dirt on everything in sight so I'm afraid of white!

Come to think of it, maybe I should be painting my trim the color of dirty fingerprints.....

I second, green and purple are great together. If you are painting it for yourself, enjoy your purple cabinets, as long as you aren't planning to sell since we seem to be in a minority. A greener green like what you see in the lower counter top sample, or the color of the vases in one of the previously posted pics would look good IMO.

I actually like that picture with the purple cabinets and taupe walls which is the second from the bottom (above). The SS and/or white appliances would look good too. This should be a fun project to watch. :-)

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=purple+kitchens&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Here is a link that might be useful: purple

I don't know about watching, the looking and learning is sure fun!

Thanks for the pictures! I have antiques and love the second to the last picture on this thread. Lotsa ideas going through this old brain.

I am painting my kitchen Sea Lavender and my accent colors are black and apple green. My cupboards are white. I have been trying to talk myself out of it for 2 weeks now and can't so tomorrow I begin painting.

I say go for it...green and purple will look fabulous!!

I'm a big fan of green and purple, but I had to sleep on this question. The pictures found by Boxerpups certainly address the issues of shade, balance, undertone, etc. But I'll add what I came up with anyway. Baby Turtle strikes me as a slightly formal colour. The purple you've chosen has more of a hippie chic vibe to me. So it's not that I don't like the colours nor the idea of purple cabinets, but that they seem to me to belong in different spaces. If the BT is a have to have because it matches the couch, then I'd either look for a slightly less pink shade of purple, or make sure the cabinet paint job is dressy, like the one above done in almost the same colour. Formal hardware and the like.

KarinL

Hmmm...I like boxerpup's photos, but I think this could be hard to pull off without professional help. I personally like the rich purple shades much better than the orchid. And I would not pair Baby Turtle with purple shades. It is very olive and warm in tone.

Wow, I am overwhelmed with the responses so far. Lots to think about.

I never thought of BT as "formal" but I guess it is certainly somber. I have never seen it in person in a room, but saw it used here in really nice ways and then the sample I painted up looked so good with my living room, I thought it was just what I needed for this room.

This house is definitely not formal. It is a manufactured home with lower end everything, including - unfortunately for me now that I'm starting to paint with REAL paint - really poor drywall finishing. The kitchen cabinets need either to be refinished or painted, they are structurally sound. I no longer like oak unless it's good quality, and I have a lovely round pedestal kitchen table with chairs in the dining area so that is all the oak I need.

We plan on living here until they need to put us away somewhere (we are 50 now) so no plans to sell.

I have had a secret longing for a purple kitchen for at least 25 years. A co worker had painted her whole kitchen purple with green accents and I just loved it when I saw it.

I'm going to see the nice people at the ben moore store this week and will ask for help with deciding on colors. I think I'm ready to give up the baby turtle if it means I can't have my purple. Since this involves what color the living room will be, it is complicated.

I am another lover of purple and green together. I think you can pull this off by amping up the green a bit and toning down the purple -- kind of get them to meet in the middle for a happy compromise. That purple kitchen in the second to last pic BP posted has been in my kitchen inspiration file for some time now.

Just for starters, take a look at Lewiville Green (494) or Tree Moss (508). They are less brown than Baby Turtle and may be easier to work with.

For purples, I would look at Amethyst Sky (1447) and Sleepy Hollow (1454). They still deliver purple but are moderated a bit. Actually either of those purples could look fine with the Baby Turtle, though I'd prefer to see a cleaner green and judging from what I already see in your home, I think you gravitate to cleaner colors.

I tend to think that a more muted green, like Baby Turtle, would look better with a very deep purple than the combination of a greener-green and lighter purple. Imagine a white, Baby Turtle and deep green combo by looking at the two bottom photos above. I think working that into a kitchen color scheme would look unique and very nice.

I have a big sample of Wet Concrete and think it looks better with Baby Turtle than the wild orchid does.

I wish the on line viewer at BM's site had truer colors. Comparing the paint chip to the monitor, BT is just not accurate, neither is tree moss. The both are brown on my monitor. And, the paint store is closed..... 7 inches of snow coming tomorrow....

I thought of Wet Concrete, but it is in a whole different category than the Wild Orchid -- so different I didn't even mention it to you. Is that enough purple for you?

Amy, I like one of the purples you mentioned WAY better, at least on the on line viewer at the BM site. I'm ordering a big sheet of each of those to get a real good idea. Thank you so much!

Good luck! Hope you're getting closer.

"I think I'm ready to give up the baby turtle if it means I can't have my purple."

That's your project mission statement! Hold on to that.

Would it help to post a photo of your LR here? People might be able to give you more site-specific suggestions if they see the space.

KarinL

What a weekend! First I sort of started giving up on purple, then gave up on the Baby Turtle. I really do WANT purple.

I will post photos when I get the extra stuff out of the living room. I am doing my bedroom right now and things are a mess.

Thinking of you and I know you will find the right
balance.

The wonderful thing about paint is it is never forever.
So, since it is never forever have fun with it today.
Enjoy your purple because that is what you crave.

~boxer

Now, here is something I just found over on the kitchens forum. I really like this kitchen! It looks comfortable and fun, and that is what I am working toward, comfortable and fun!

These are photos of my last house on base. The green is "Key Lime Pie," a Dutch Boy paint, I think. I love the color and I thought my purple/plum loveseat looked great with it.

I may use the same Key Lime Pie in the new house living room; I'll decided for sure once I pick the new furniture.

The plum loveseat is now being slipcovered and will live on the "Manly Man's Four Season Porch." He has total creative control out there, so it will probably be slipcovered in camo (which would look great with Baby Turtle!)

My base house was not elegant (nor is my new/old house) but I love being able to use more colors and add or delete trim and elements as my whims dictate. I was fortunate the Housing Office allowed me to paint; the house was schduled for demolition so they relaxed the "No Painting" rule.

Here's the dining area with Key Lime Pie walls. This photo shows more "blue" than is in the paint color. It's a lovely greyed, sage green.

A vase full of wild lilacs with a Key Lime Pie background.

The bright morning light and my little point and shoot camera didn't do anything for the colors here, but it's the best photo I have. The plum sofa is deeper, and the walls do not have a blue or yellow cast.

A brochure for Aura paint shows a purple and green combo for a bedroom. For the life of me I can't remember the specific names of the colors, but they are from their Affinity Collection.