Color selection - open floorplan and competing finishes

12 years ago

I really need some guidance. We have an open kitchen/breakfast room/family room space that I really want to paint in a clean, but warm, off-white/cream shade (we just left a house with lots of color and I'm ready for a break). The problem is there are some cool and warm toned fixed finishes in the space that are causing problems for me and my husband is not open to changing them. Here's the rundown...

1) Stone fireplace that is orangey/rust and various shades of gray.

2) BM White Dove plantation shutters and trim.

3) Rubbed black cabinets on the bar with a Carrera marble top (white with gray veining).

4) Warm off-white kitchen cabinets with black granite.

They previous owners painted the space BM Halo OC-46 with the previously mentioned White Dove trim and the walls look like a pale gray but sometimes reads a bit greenish. I've got a solid headache and umpteen cream-family color chips from BM, SW, Farrow and Ball and Pratt and Lambert and am no closer to figuring out how to deal with this mess.

The black bar with Carrera marble is on its own little stretch of wall so I've been tossing around trimming it out in some way and painting it White Dove to go with the trim and then the rest of the space in X color. I don't know - any suggestions?!

Fireplace...

Bar & the start of the kitchen on the left... The bar is generally across the room from the fireplace/wall of plantation shutters. (Ignore the orange sofa - that is not staying.)

Here's one of the kitchen with me standing by the bar. Sorry it's sort of dark, the best representation of the cabinet color is probably in the photo above.

I did not photograph the 4th wall of the room. It is the wall with the greatest expanse of wall space and right now it houses our tv in a tv lift. There is one set of windows with the plantation shutters on them, but no other significant architectural features.

Am I dreaming that an off-white will work in here? Thanks in advance!

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Comments (9)

User
12 years ago
I don't think a yellow based off white will work. A light warm grey-off white similar to what's there would.

Behr Chalk

Behr Toasted Marshmallow

I don't think you'd get much change from what's there for the effort of painting unless you went with an actual color.
riley1319
Original Author
12 years ago
Halo feels so cool to me and it really pulls me towards a color palette I don't like. I'm drawn to lots of neutrals with little pops of color. If I went with a color - where the heck do I go?
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User
12 years ago
One---or several of the colors pulled from the stone would add a nice warmth.

Behr Mulling Spice

Acorn Spice

Falling Leaves

Ground Nutmeg

Burmese Gold
blfenton
12 years ago
We have similar colours to yours (right down to the stone fireplace and plantation shutters) and we used BM cc-520 which is called florentine plaster. It might not be off-white enough for you but it really warmed up our space. Just a thought.
riley1319
Original Author
12 years ago
I have an inspiration fabric that has cool and warm gray/blues, greens and various shades of cream & brown in it. I took it to the paint store and had the guy pull 3 colors for me from the creamier tones. Ended up with BM Powell Buff, BM Shelburne Buff and FBs Savage Ground. Powell Buff looks yellow, Shelburne Buff look camel and Savage Ground looks too pinkish. A friend has suggested I go for a silvery blue - similar to what's in here, but with a bit more blue and not quite as pale. She also suggested I check Restoration Hardware's colors (beyond Silver Sage I am not familiar) I think I'm going to spend a small fortune in sample pots.

Thanks for linking all the red/gold tones but they're too saturated for my taste.

I forgot to pull the Florentine Plaster swatch! I'm going to check it out tomorrow.
eandhl
12 years ago
I would get a sample pot of BM windham cream. On my monitor it isn't nearly as pretty as it is in person. It might have enough yellow to contrast with the white, go nice with the stone and black and it is a very soft color
Sueb20
12 years ago
For what it's worth, I am having a similar issue. I have off-white kitchen cabinets in a large open kitchen/family room and I am looking to repaint the walls in the whole space. Currently I have BM Cheyenne Green, which is a medium gray-green, and I like it, but am ready for a change. In looking at lots of paint chips, I've come to the conclusion that to work well with the off-white cabinets and matching trim (all trim is painted BM Natural Wicker, to match the cabinets), the wall color has to be a certain degree of darkness, and a lot of colors that I like just don't work with the trim/cabinet color. Lighter colors don't provide enough contrast. Anything too gray looks lousy with the Natural Wicker. I would like to use a light-medium goldish tone, but so far have not found one that works.

I bet you'll find something if you just continue to play around with a variety of neutral paint chips. Your cabinets look lighter/whiter than mine, and with a more white trim, your options may be better than mine! I'll be curious to see what you end up doing.
dakota01
12 years ago
SueB20 - I too have cream/brown glased cabinets and cream trim - a "decorator" suggested that I use a dark chocolate for the kitchen walls and then lighter color in the open family room.
I'm not sold on the dark kitchen walls. I'm afraid that it could be an 80's look - or just too much contrast for me. I have a light RH green (sycamore green) and it looks horrible! I looked on houzz and really didn't see many if any cream cabs w/really dark walls. I saw more beige/blue/taupe or yellow walls. So I don't feel confident in going to the dark side.

My valance has gold, brown, green, citrine, and a blue/green in it. I think pulling a color from the drape is the way for me to go. Hoping to find "inspiration" somewhere, anywhere to help me decide.
.
riley1319
Original Author
12 years ago
My neighbor has a bunch of neutrals in her house and was kind enough to bring leftover paint for me to try out (I might as well, the walls look like a patchwork quilt at the moment, why stop now). So today I put up Putnam Ivory, Cameo White (which I knew would be too light but I did it anyways) and Lighthouse Landing. I also got large squares of Monroe Beige and Stonington Gray at the paint store today. I really like the Stonington Gray with the marble and the kitchen cabinets. I really didn't want to go with color per se, but I might have to.

The other idea my neighbor had was to bead board the backsplash area at the bar (over the marble). I could paint it White Dove (the trim color) and then do something else with the other walls. All of the neutrals look too yellow against the cool marble and only a couple of them have enough contrast agains the kitchen cabinets. Any thoughts on the bead board idea?

Open floor plans can really be a PITA!

Sueb20 - I agree my cabinets must be lighter because I have Natural Wicker in my basement and it definitely looks darker than the cabinets. Your post reminded me that I should throw some of that on the wall too and see how it goes. I'm going to run out of paint sampling space if I keep it up at this pace.

Color selection - open floorplan and competing finishes

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Color selection - open floorplan and competing finishes

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