Here is Lichtenstein's Whaam! I am not sure I was thinking of Whaam! in particular, because I usually think of ....I'd rather sink than call Brad for help!" usually pops into my head first. But I got the flames from somewhere.

My personal favorite Lichtenstein is "I can see the whole room and there's nobody in it!" It cracks me up every time.

Just to say these are all marvelous! You guys are so creative and inspired. Thanks for doing this.

I thought it was interesting that you could take something traditional like Farrow and Ball Polka Square wallpaper (or other traditional polka dotted wallpaper) and it would read as something completely technological as benday dots, in the right context.

I don't have a particular opinion about what comes next. One think I will say is that it is awfully hard to get a good picture of a harvest gold or avocado green appliance so we may have to fake it out of blocks in the right shade.

One that I would suggest adding to the list is "Strange new finishes/color options".

I have noticed when doing these that many relatively high ticket items (quartz or solid surface countertops, for example) have some new introductions either in colors I would never expect to be popular, or downright strange new options. Of course some of this is for the commercial market...even Formica within the past year or so introduced a plain burgundy laminate and a plain post-it yellow --I don't know where these particular colors are coming from.

Burgundy and post-t yellow? Sounds like one of the colorists at formica graduated from Virginia Tech...

(Marking so I can read this at leisure later...looks like big fun and VERY inspirational!)

I'm late to the game as usual, started 3 boards for this one and finished none! Work got crazy, but maybe I'll wrap one up and post it soon. In any case, I wanted to chime in that I've been following the thread and absolutely love the stuff you all have come up with. I would really be happy to live with most of these kitchens, and as others have said above, the interesting palettes are fantastic all around.

All these DATs have been very educational for me, but this one has been particularly so. I'm slowly re-decorating my entire house, and as a person with little instinctive vision in this area, the idea of using art I already love as a starting point is really helpful.

I have also started several boards, but I'm REALLY slow and have other stuff going on, like plumbing disasters.

Here's my contribution for Florantha's Blue Louise granite challenge (although I'm cheating a bit, as I used a few elements from the yellow kitchen I did with said slab.) I decided to focus on the smokey gray-blue and rust-browns. Walls may be too dark for some, but I love saturated color. I went really light on the floor to contrast the rich color of the walls and pull that lighter color out of the granite. The blingy chandelier references the stars. Note that the backsplash tiles have a little more of a blue tinge on my computer than they seem to when posted in this thread. So if indeed they are more white to you, my apologies, they should be an icy gray-blue.

Purplepansies, it's great to see your interpretation of this challenge. I'm mired in confusion. Should the Starry Night be glitzy to honor the light effects or plebian to honor the working class topics of the originals? Should it really evoke night or just use the paintings as a starting point? Should I ignore the additional burden of including a "Van Gogh/Blue Luise" piece of stone?

I ended up doing some net surfing and found a very informative slideshow about Vincent Van Gogh's twilight, evening, and night scenes that others might also enjoy. Scroll down the page to find the start of the multimedia slide show.

Here is a link that might be useful: Metropolitan Museum of Art online Exposition of Van Gogh Night Sky Paintings

It looks like there are several votes for designing around a material next time. Options:

Avocado or Harvest Gold appliances (like Pal, I've looked for images of these and they are surprisingly hard to find--but as Pal noted, we could use a colorblock stand-in)

Pal suggested stange new colors/finishes (can you suggest a few specifically?)

I've been lobbying for a while to do a design around items you might find in a restaurant supply store.

From the list we also have:
Knotty pine
Metal cabinetry
Interesting tile (we can do this one over and over)
Vetrazzo
Marmoleum graphic series
Back-painted glass

I found a lot of avocado and harvest gold appliances, if you go to yahoo and search the images for them. Is it me, or do the 'avocado' green appliances, look more like split pea soup? :)

Here's a few ads and the actual kitchens... {{gwi:1777788}}From April 23, 2012
{{gwi:1777790}}From Avocado green and harvest gold kitchens
{{gwi:1777792}}From Avocado green and harvest gold kitchens
{{gwi:1777794}}From Avocado green and harvest gold kitchens

I think the challenge would be to use the colors, in a kitchen that is not from the 1970s.

A few ideas.... {{gwi:1777796}}From Avocado green and harvest gold kitchens
{{gwi:1777798}}From Avocado green and harvest gold kitchens
{{gwi:1777800}}From Avocado green and harvest gold kitchens

Funny we should bring up pictures of avocado appliances. I just took pictures of this beauty while on my getaway this weekend! Gotta love it!

I've seen some of these pictures, I am just picky and like a straight on shot so I can do my elevations without something being at a slant. I know, that's a bit rigid.:)

As far as strange colors or finishes, I am not saying that I don't like some of these, but I don't know where they are "coming from" trend wise, nor how they would be used in a residential environment, commonly.

Blue Spice
{{gwi:1777805}}

Queen of Sheba quartz
{{gwi:1777807}}

Hickory Smoke solid surface
{{gwi:1777809}}

Oxyd2 linoleum
{{gwi:1777811}}

Fiesta laminate
{{gwi:1625667}}

I would have given a straight-on shot of that wall oven, but I would have had to have crouched in the refrigerator to take it! The kitchen was only about 7' wide.

I think you are right! Even looking at it, it was kinda hard for me to tell what was going on. To my inexpert eye, it had a dios de los muertos vibe to it. I just took it to be a random decoration with an early '70s "anything goes" sensibility. But a quick google images search of "aztec calendar" has lots of very similar examples.

Imagine sticking something like that on a range today? (Well, I suppose perhaps this year, 2012, we may see a Mayan calendar in the mainstream!)

In case it was not obvious, that last picture is a blow-up extracted from the first one I posted.

That's a great slideshow, Florantha, thanks! As far as your confusion about how to go with your kitchen, I don't think there's any right or wrong. It might be interesting to design a kitchen based on each of the elements you mentioned: one glitzy, one plebeian, one that evokes the night, on that uses the palette, one with and then without the granite. And probably, if we all designed off of the same painting, we'd get this variety.

As for harvest gold or avocado appliances - yuck! I'll do it, of course - but yuck!

Lavendar - I love that chair! Where is it from?

Pal, I don't find the first three you posted to be all that strange, but those last two are only going to work with limited (and currently unpopular) palettes. I kind of like the Oxyd2 linoleum, but it looks like it belongs in a 1970s kitchen, and it could easily be overwhelming on a large surface area, like, say, a floor.

The Fiesta laminate reminds me of orange sherbet. A perfectly fine color, but who is using it in kitchens nowadays?

There looks to be some enthusiasm for avocado and harvest gold appliances, though. Should we just do that?

Thanks for the close up Angie, I really do like that stove. I guess the Aztec calendar mimics the starburst style clock to the right.

I just read an article in a UK home magazine ("Ideal Home") about coloured appliances. They mention the popularity of gold in the '70s and note that in 2012 "you'll find appliances in everything from bright red and oranges to deep purples and pale blues." Coloured appliances seem to be quite popular in Europe.

I'm just back from a holiday at a friend's apartment in Lucca, Tuscany. I've pasted pictures below of her cobalt fridge (and for good measure her gorgeous sink and a couple of bonus pics). Isn't it a great little kitchen?

I envy the choice Europeans have, and to be honest, I don't mind avocado appliances at all (anymore).

Purplepansies- The chair popped up when I did a search on 'avocado kitchens' I believe. I saved it, along with the others, in case we decided to do something different with avocado. I think it's all the other 70s elements that date the kitchen, as much/more as the avocado color.

I'm no expert, but the first picture looks 1950s (?) the chair, 1940s (?) and the last picture could be a modern take on maybe 1920s (?). I was kind of thinking...if avocado appliances had been around since the 1920s....what would they look like, in the various kitchens? :)

I've found stranger, but I might want to use them:)

Strange is maybe too strong a word, but unusual colorways? or patterns?

The first one reads very 1980s teal, and that doesn't seem to be popular with too many people for right now.

The Queen of Sheba is dark gray with dark green "outlines" --I like this one, but what is it? It looks vaguely mossy in this colorway.

The Hickory Smoke is a smeary looking pattern with large translucent particles in it...butterscotch pudding mixed with tapioca?

The Oxyd02 was designed by Claudy Jongstra, based upon felt. She is Dutch, and I think that Europeans have different feelings about color than Americans do. Its kind of bilious looking to me...

The Fiesta Formica is kind of peachy, and so is the Hickory Smoke in one of its tones, and again...I am just not seeing this going in a typical American kitchen.

I looked at the others in the same line as the Queen of Sheba, and some seemed quite subtle, while others, notably the Queen of Sheba and the Ocean Palace, looked really blotchy when viewed in context. Others just look like an oversized crackle pattern. I was kind of wishing the Queen of Hearts had been available for the Pink DAT. I probably would have used it.

Bilious is a good word for the Oxyd2. It's a color tha might come into fashion some day but probably wouldn't stay long. It's a color that a lot of people have a negative reaction to from fashion--it's unflatting on a lot of skin types. I've seen some folks who look fabulous in mustard yellow, but many more who really don't. And if it's something you avoid like the plague at the clothing store it's probably not something that's going to appeal to you in the kitchen showroom.

Here is a link that might be useful: New Caesarstone colors

I used Queen of Hearts in my Steampunk kitchen.

Yes, I think we can do Green or Gold appliances next if no one objects.

I can set this up over the next day or so, and then we can start posting the designs in May. Does that sound okay?

Sounds fine to me. It should be a fun thread...especially if we can change a few people's minds about green and gold appliances. Who thought we'd get so many wonderful pink kitchens? :)

Sounds good to me. There's a website (see link) that might be useful for setting up the background that talks about when various appliance colors were introduced and discontinued.

Here is a link that might be useful: History of Appliance Colors

Oh my! I think I love every one of these art inspired kitchens. Haven't had time to read the posts that go with them but wondering if the reason they are all so pleasant and live-able is because of the work the original artists did in selecting colors, material and texture? If that's true then can I extrapolate that ANY room (not just a kitchen) can benefit from starting with a gorgeous piece of art?

Here's my entry into the Van Gogh Starry Night/Blue Luise challenge. I relooked at the night sky paintings above as well as at the bedroom paintings above and decided that I would give myself permission to remove portions of the Van Gogh palette. This is more sedate in colors than you might expect, but there are still aspects of the original paintings...can you spot them?

Here is a link that might be useful: Muted Starry Night Kitchen olioboard

I would say the Indah tile is the most evocative of Van Gogh in shape even though it is expressed in a completely different way. It shows that you can be very loosely inspired by artwork rather than being literal or specific.

I agree, palimpsest--I saw this tile in an ad in the new House Beautiful, but in a more elaborate form, photographed with cowboys no less, I looked it up immediately and it got me thinking. I had to choose between this form of Indah and the even swirlier one.

I had previously messed with fabrics that had similar swirled circle themes. There are a lot of them. One of the problems was editing...I couldn't include much more action than the countertop and one more distinctively live thing before the kitchen became a sideshow and not an integrated whole. I decided that plain dark velvet drapes were the most prudent alternative to fabric with circles and pulsing movement.

The light fixtures are inspired by a Van Gogh that is in the slide show from MOMA...they illuminate the tavern around the periphery of the billiard table, although I took poetic license; actually these were hanging gaslights that faced upward I'm sure, but the idea is kinda the same. I would be sure to include upfacing accent lights over the cabinets if there were space for them. This kitchen needs distinctive light.

The teak tile and the wood of the table are exotic--references to the Gauguin end of the impressionist world. The knobs are sunflowers or stars or whatever, and they're creamy off-white, which is the color I decided to use to keep things calm.

I wonder if that range burns peat too.

I think this is the first time I have heard the terms "black velvet" and "Van Gogh" in the same breath! ;-)

I like this palette a lot. The teakish colored natural cherry and the Whispering Blue floor are very soothing to my eye.

Ok, last one for this thread.

I like the tight palette on this one, and the painting.

The painting is *really modern looking for its era.

The scouring pad light gives me the creeps a little bit, but scouring pads do that anyway for some reason.

I think it should give you the creeps, it's a storm cloud!!! :)

I really wanted something reminiscent of a thunderstorm in the room, and lightening was a little too cliche (and not in the painting.) I was pretty surprised that I got a hit when I googled "storm cloud light fixture!" Had to use it!

I have a weakness for Vuillard, for his patterned textures as well as his palettes. Back when you all were were envisioning Pink Kitchens, I had summoned up this amber and rose painting as an inspiration, but I am hopeless at any challenge that doesn't start with a concrete room that has three dimensions and a bunch of idiosyncrasies.

Would any of you accomplished Channelers of Concepts into Kitchens take this on? Please?

Honor, that's a great painting but there's a lot in it. Can you speed us up by putting some words to it...name the colors and textures and features you are noticing?

I am completely flummoxed, florantha. I don't seem to be able to identify what about the painting I think is kitchen-adaptable.

All I can say for sure is that I see it in the Low Countries, where it is often overcast, so that the room -- rather like the Peacock Room at the Freer -- may have handsomely tall windows but is not meant to be seen in strong natural light.

Anyway, I gave up on trying to articulate and decided to see if I can do a room. It is incredibly hard both creatively and -- for me -- technically (I ended up using Paint). I copied and discarded a zillion items before I collected some I thought went well together.

I do not know how you guys do it.

Anyway, here's what I came up with. I forgot to note the identity of the items used. The lights are Rejuvenation, the floor is cork, and everything else is in stock somewhere except the barnwood-ish cabinets, which can be ordered online.

I know it's late in this thread, but I hope someone more accomplished will take a run at it.

Cheers. hbk

HBK, I'm willing to give it a try, but most likely won't have the time until the weekend to really put something together. I'll start thinking about it and choosing some elements and see what I can come up with.

HBK, I think that is a nice interpretation.

I tried to evoke the bold color palette and used the knobs to evoke the primary imagery in the art. Unfortunately the cabinet color is a little more dark and ornate than I wanted (I was aiming for a simple style in bright cobalt blue). I do think the ambiguity in the style of the kitchen matches the ambiguity in the painting. Overall I love the loud colors in the piece and it's probably one of my favorites from this artist. The painting is Salvador Dali's Landscape with Butterflies.

Purplepansies Blue Louise--I love the combination of the copper brown and the blue.

Florantha Starry Night--Good job finding swirly tile. I tried this exercise, but was stumped searching for swirly tile. I love the dark blue drapes.

Purplepansies Approaching Thunder Storm--Oooh, I love the artwork! You did a great job of capturing the colors and the mood of the painting. I love the magma supreme granite.

Honorbiltkit Vuillard--Also a beautiful painting, full of interesting details and patterns. You captured the color of the rug in the painting, and the painting you chose for your design does a great job of mimicking the painting in the painting. If that makes any sense.

Palimpsest Vuillard--You also did a great job of capturing the colors of the painting, playing up the neutrals a bit compared to Honorbiltkit. The floor--is it Marmoleum?--mimics the colors of the rug. Style-wise, the table is unexpected, but I really like it in the design.

Pricklypearcactus Lanadscape with Butterflies--I like the interplay of colors in your kitchen just as much as in the original painting.

I just want to say how very much I've enjoyed this thread. I liked the artwork, I liked the kitchens, and I liked all the creative thinking that went into putting them together.

Vuillard was a very modern painter so I wanted to do something modern. Yes it is Forbo Linoleum.

The butterfly kitchen is very fresh lookng.

I love your Vuillard kitchen, pal. You didn't shy away from the maroon, which is very brave. But are you sure you didn't give your range a slightly more coral cast than it has in real life? That issue raised, I do understand that a custom colored range is more realistic than what seems in retrospect to be my 10'-high fresco of a Japanese screen design.

Generally, in these challenges do you get demerits for whatever is the opposite of verisimilitude?

I started this one a while ago and thought it might be fun to finally finish and throw in one more design for this DAT topic.

Prickly: Wow! I think the palette works great in this kitchen, too! I find it really soothing, and yet very engaging at the same time. I agree -- the backsplash makes it. I like it a lot!

Why not go for his later work and put in (wait for it....) a bridge faucet? ;-)

Awesome designs I really appreciated efforts what all people done, I made a new house past couple of months, but I have some difficulty while I think about my kitchen I wanted to place there some fine accessories, but don't know what to do my all interior is white & now I confused that should I install accessories silver or white, could anyone suggest me which color should I place there.

Someone suggested me to get the idea some from a temlates website like webgen.com but I think that was a useless idea, I appreciated if someone suggests me.

Carla, I recommend you start a new thread with your question. Also, read this thread that gives tips on how to ask for advice (what info to provide, etc).

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4306041/new-to-kitchens-read-me-first?n=185

I see that Photobucket's change in policy regarding 3rd party hosting has decimated the old Design Around This threads. I'm kinda sad.

Thank you Cawaps, now I am creating new thread regards this thank you for your suggestion