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Anyone have dark cabinets & chose medium dark wall paint?

14 years ago

Well I'm back in the paint quandry. I tried really hard to love the BM Revere Pewter with my cabs, floor & granite, however the problem as I see it is that it is just too close in tone to the floor & granite. I need something that will allow the granite to POP!

Today I checked out the C.I.L paint line. I really liked "Hiking Trail", but am concerned it will be too dark next to my dark wood cabinets. In the lighting at Home Depot it looked awesome next to my (cabinet,granite & floor) samples. It pulled the reddish brown out of the wood & picked up on the garnet flecks in the Bianco Romano Granite. It looked warm and luxurious. Then at home (its rainy & gray & I have 2 bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling)it looks way too dark.

Does anyone have photos of dark cabinets and a medium dark paint choice?

In a shade chart of 6, Hiking Trail is 3rd down from the deepest color.

Thanks everyone...I really appreciate the input! Maybe I just need talking down off the ledge! My heart wants to go dark, but my head (and DH)says play it safe & use a lighter hue.

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Comments (7)

antiquesilver
14 years ago
Maybe you can use a deep color on 1 wall & a coordinated lighter shade on the rest.
beverly_nj
14 years ago
I having a similar dilemma. I haven't finished with selecting my cabinets and countertops yet, so i've been putting off a final decision. However, I was thinking about a medium color for the room with a light backsplash. In my case it is more to allow the white appliances to blend rather than stick out. In your case it might help the granite to pop by having the light color right next to it.
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katienic
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the suggestion. Only the opposite end walls, plus about 42" will even need paint. One exposed wall is about 5'w x 8'h, and the other is about 122" w, but 69" w of that is a double window.

Oh, and there will be a small amount of about 12" showing above and an inch around the window over the sink. The backsplash area will also be painted for now (tiled later).

What I suppose would be the more safe route would be to paint it all the medium tone and then after the cabs are in I can punch up the 5' wall with the deeper color if it needs it.

Hmmm, now that I start talking about the space I realize that this wall will showcase a piece of artwork. I haven't done the painting yet, but I'm planning for it to include some brighter colors so perhaps the darker paint on that wall will end up being a good backdrop.

Thanks for getting me thinking of alternative possibilities. ;)
katienic
Original Author
14 years ago
beverly, I hope your paint selection is quick and painless.

I honestly think that I'd have less of a problem if my granite was dark, but mine is a light almost white granite.
With high contrast between the very dark cabs & the very light granite you'd think it would be easy to just pick a mid tone to span the two. On a chart with 6 swatch tones, I really need something that is smack dab in the middle of 3from the top & 3 from the bottom. LOL.
beverly_nj
14 years ago
Katienic, none of the other choices have been quick or painless, so why would the paint be any different? I have now decided to go with different cabinets that are probably more medium than dark. I keep sending myself back to the drawing board. ;)
cosmomilkshake
14 years ago
I have ebony (black) cabinets and statuary white marble counter tops....and i have revere pewter from benjamin moore on the walls and LOVE it....I think it is the perfect shade of grey.

i am now building a bank of cabinets in my kitchen on the opposite wall of the black cabs ... this 11 foot run will also be painted and i went back and forth on the color. i have finally decided on grey as well....just a bit darker in tone than the revere pewter...i went with Benjamin moore rockport grey (HC 107)...it goes very well with the revere pewter. another grey color i have heard good things about is also benjamin moore - fieldstone.

good luck -
katienic
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks again everyone for weighing in with suggestions. I had another thread in the works when I was trying to find a gray with hint of purple, so this has been updated to both.

Today I finally decided on BM Silver Fox. It is a medium deep tone of gray with a fair amount of taupe. The paint is here & I hope it turns out to be the absolutely best choice.

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