To Punch or Not to Punch (color of cabinets!)

13 years ago

I'm praying someone here has some photos they can share with me....we are doing an all-white kitchen and we get a ton of sunlight, so to keep it from being too glaring white, we're debating adding a punch of color by painting the interior of the white cabinets (which will be all clear glass-fronted).

We're thinking a muted grey or taupe to help bring out those colors in our calacutta countertop. My husband is more skeptical than I, but as we get closer to having to commit to our cabinet-maker (this week!) I am getting increasingly nervous and would love to see pictures if anyone else has done this.

I myself LOVE a white-on-white kitchen, so could easily go that way, but the idea of the paint intrigues me as it would spice it up a little and make our plates and glassware pop as well. We will have the cabinet guy do a couple of samples so we can check it out..but pictures of a finished kitchen might really help us firm up a decision...(all I can find on the web are cabinets with interiors painted the same color as the exterior (blue on blue, etc.)

Below is a picture (of my KD's dining room) where she has a similar look...

Thank you!

http://www.chdresource.com/inspiration/dining-room?key=233

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Comments (4)

donaldsg
13 years ago
I don't see grey as much of a punch!! but I do like the idea of colour inside some of the upper cabinets. I've seen some lovely pictures in books and magazines with bright colours painted inside. It does look sort of country, though. Is that what you want?

Check out the Long House kitchen #5

http://www.plainenglishdesign.co.uk/longhouse-5

This is a cream kitchen so not quite the same, but the punch of colour is gorgeous!

With white cabs you might want to do more of a pastel, but I'd go for a real colour rather than grey. I'd worry it would just look sort of dingy inside the cabinets. What colour dishes or glass wear will you put inside them? Maybe thinking about that will help you decide on a colour.
kuhnnie
Original Author
13 years ago
LOL - if you knew me, you would understand why I consider grey being "punchy"! I'm into texture rather than color, but I'm pushing myself in my design choices these days, to be just a tad bit less boring :) But it is a struggle! I love the boldness of that look in house #5, but could never get there myself...but it does show how muted the color becomes with the cabinet closed, which does make me want to tend to go a little darker than I might otherwise do.

Definitely not going for a country look per se - more a mix of classic/traditional and contemporary...so I think I ought to hunt some of those books down to check it out. Thanks for the input!
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Before you try to do a hold-back of any portion of the final draw, check your contract to see if you're allowed to! Most contracts here in Texas DON'T allow for that b/c builders use an "off-the-shelf" contract put out by the Texas Association of Builders that, IMHO, unfairly protects builders at the expense of homeowners who haven't the knowledge/experience to realize what an unfair position that contract puts them in. Those contracts say that final payment is due AT THE TIME of the final walk through when the punch list will be prepared. The owner then is given possession and can move in but is left totally at the mercy of the builder as to when, if at all, the punch list items get completed. But, regardless of whether or not your contract allows "retainage," I would strongly recommend that you spend a few hundred bucks to hire an independent professional inspector to inspect the house and get his report BEFORE you do your walk-through with the builder. A professional will catch important issue that you wouldn't possibly know to look for... missing flashing, sewer pipes that don't drain properly, etc. Trust me, it'll be money well spent. Here is a link that might be useful: home inspection
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I think enough to finish the job is a good rule of thumb, unless your contract specifies otherwise. This doesn't necessarily protect you against the contractor disappearing anyway, though. As a point of reference, while we've never worked with a GC, we have done two big projects with a structural and HVAC contractor in the last few years. The structural guy wanted final payment after we passed inspection. He got 90% done and then completely disappeared---no final inspection so we still owed him $3K, and he *still* didn't return calls! Took a month to get him back out to tie up loose ends so we could final the permit. Contrast that to the HVAC people, where the contract specified final payment upon completion of work---*before* final inspection, which irked my husband. But the contract also specified that they were required to correct any inspection issues within 30 days of notice, so there was some protection there. So if they disappeared, we would have had some recourse. I actually think I prefer that to the contract with the structural people, which didn't put any timelines on anything. And then there's our cabinetmaker, who has a 30-30-30-10 contract, with the last payment coming after we are "completely satisfied." Ha, hope he knows what he's getting himself into... :)
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fun2cook
13 years ago
No picture to post. But in my previous house, we painted the interiors of the cabinets in a dutch blue. Loved it! Made me happy every time I opened a cabinet door. It was more of a country kitchen, white appliances, natural cherry cabinets, and cobalt blue tile with white grout on the counter. This was years before granite became' de rigeure'.
donaldsg
13 years ago
I've been collecting kitchen design magazines since I moved into my house 7 years ago in anticipation of a renovation. Now we are actually planning it, I spend a lot of my spare time in bookstores browsing in the kitchen design books. I've gotten lots of ideas, but it means that I've seen so many images I can't remember where I saw things.
You could browse the decorating magazines at the bookstore too. Those BHG ones focused on painted finishes and quick re-decorating (rather than full remodel) will probably have more on painted cabinets.
I like the white-on-white look too. Maybe the colour just needs to come from your dishes. Those are quick and easy to change if you want a different look.

To Punch or Not to Punch (color of cabinets!)

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donaldsg

kuhnnie
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To Punch or Not to Punch (color of cabinets!)

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donaldsg

kuhnnieOriginal Author

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kuhnnie
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