bpkoumentakos - If you can post a photo it would be great. Check out the new to garden web discussion for instructions.

I think the terra cotta would be lovely - but you could go gray or taupe/gray as well. Regarding the backsplash, it would help to understand the style of the kitchen - is it more traditional, simple, contemporary? Do you want the back splash to help move it in a different style direction?

Check out the GW finished kitchen blog (you can just search on google because I don't recall the link) to get ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: New to GW Kitchens discussion

Here are some color combo's that include some shades of terra cotta. Couldn't find any kitchens...maybe this will help inspire.
http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/stove/?action=view&current=LIVING-ROOM---087.jpg"; target="_blank">

http://s1004.photobucket.com/albums/af170/jterrilynn/stove/?action=view&current=image_room_double_1.jpg"; target="_blank">

Many thanks to you both...I did try to post pics using the instructions but once I uploaded them to shutter fly, I couldn't transfer them here....I will get my more tech savvy hubs to help.

When we were considering a remodel before we decided to sell and move, I wanted shaker style cherry cabs, dark granite, stainless appliances, wood floors, with some multicolored slate backsplash...with our change in plan and the purchase of this new home, I'm pretty far off from that. The space is very open and plenty large. The appliances are stainless, everything is in good shape...just want to figure out how to bring in some of the color and feeling of what I originally wanted in a kitchen into this primarily white kitchen. I love the space and the whole house. I feel blessed...just want to change some color until we can afford to do bigger changes down the line, maybe.

http://kpkoumentakos.shutterfly.com/

Here is the site I posted the pics to...until I figure out how to transfer them here;)

I actually posted the pics to shutter fly yesterday and then in trying again to post here today I created the share site...still nothing

Also the furnishings are not ours. We do not move until the end of August. Our stuff is more pottery barn-ish but similar in color.

I'd love some thoughts on paint color for my kitchen....leaning toward a terra cotta or brick color...to bring out that vein in the granite

Also thinking the morning room should be same color...the family room will likely stay it's current color

I'm not good with color, but I agree about the yellow. Also, I'm not sure about the backsplash. There's hardly anything space for it and I'm not sure paint wouldn't make it more cohesive. I'm not sure about terra cotta. Your space is pretty open and I'm not sure how it will go with the other colors. Is that green in the living room? Can you show a picture of the granite?

No designer here but I think a terra cotta would look nice in both rooms. Maybe a darker shade in the morning room since it has so musch light and a shade or 2 lighter for the kitchen?
Good luck with your new house! Looks like you picked a beauty!!

I think a terracotta color would be very lovely. The space is so big and open, I think it needs and can really handle a darker color to ground things a bit.

I think the terracotta would be nice with the green (depending on the particular shade of course), but I can't see it going with the morning room color at all. I think you could paint it the same color as the kitchen, or lighten or darken the same color.
It is hard to tell from your pictures, but I think that you probably wouldn't want to choose another color. It seems very open and that might make too much going on.

If you wanted to do a bit more work...I could really see painting the cabinets darker. I think it would make that kitchen look so much richer. Right now it seems like a big space that they were afraid to do anything with.
It's hard to say--because I know it's not your stuff there...but those pictures influence me to want to paint the cabinets a dark green grey...neutral, but rich and grounding.

It's a lovely space! I particularly love the wall treatment over the fireplace.

Thanks so much for the feedback! I would LOVE to paint the cabs...but they are thermofoil...they are in great shape but from what I've read here in the last few days, they may become a nightmare? What's involved in painting them? Should I just wait a few years till we can afford it and replace them with what I would have chosen myself, something darker?

This is what I would do which is usually the opposite of the norm. First chose the dining room color, if you are leaning towards a terra cotta find a chip that you like that goes from a light to dark, choose the color in the chip closer to bottom for dining. Next go with a med tone in the chip for the kitchen and do a light tone in chip for the sun room. I would keep in the same color family, same chip. Some challenges you have is the rich sun room wood floor next to the light tile thatÂs why I think this method would work because you are riching up the light white areas to blend. You described your style as Pottery Barn; you may want to add some white or light accessories to your Pottery Barn decor in the sunroom and the dining room. This way, your eye will not land on the white cabinets that you are not crazy about and instead travel equally around the rooms. The white or light accessories would look nice in contrast to what you already have and give your old things a new look while still keeping within your comfort zone. After you have accomplished that, as you were talking about changing the kitchen down the road, for now you may want to consider some textural wall paper for the backsplash area. There are some very cool wall papers out there and it would be a nice alternative to tile if you are planning on changing area out in the future.

Thx jterrilynn! What you say makes a lot of sense...actually I had thought of doing the dining room BM Onondaga clay, the kitchen BM Baked Terra cotta...and wasn't sure what to do with the morning room. So maybe i could still do that and go even lighter in the morn rm on the same chip...but that particular chip gets kinda rosy and I do not want that. The family room, next to the kitch/morn rm is a sagey green...we were thinking of leaving it. One friend suggested painting the morn rm the same as the kitch since they are so connected, but I worry that's just too much red. Another person suggested I do the kitch and morn rm the same and go with a beige in the dining rm since the room across the foyer, the library, will be a rich chocolate. I love your suggestions about furnishings, trying to tie it all together. So, any other thoughts?

Personally I would stop short of getting a true terra cotta color and look at the deck on both sides of a terra cotta swatch. A lot of terra cottaÂs can take on an icky mauve in different lighting. In some of the nearer chits in the deck you will find that the lighter colors do not move into the mauvy tones. I went through this myself a few years back and ended up mixing my own color for a bathroom. If you canÂt find exactly what you want and do not want to brave mixing your own, the Benjamin Moore color experts may be able to help. The terra cottaÂs are very tricky and you must do a few samples on the walls. Believe it or not itÂs usually your least favorite sample that ends up looking the best when test painted and you see it in different light. The shade you pick does not have to be an exact match to the terra cotta in your countertop, just a similar shade. You may also want to check out Behr paints, they have a few nice colors along the terra cotta line. I know Behr does not have the "cool" paint factor going on but I have used it a lot in the past for interiors (not exteriors because they seem to fade faster in Florida sun) but I like the thick smooth interior paint to paint with. It also proved to be pretty hardy when my sons were young.

Thanks for your thoughts about terra cotta, jterrilynn! We ended up having a long session with fan decks and paint chips last night - me, my husband, my parents, 2 friends - and I see exactly what you are talking about with the terra cotta. Actually, I got to the place, with the help of the input from all of my peeps, that I think we need to go more red/orange and away from terra cotta. Not so much brown and staying away from the rosy/mauve thing. Like BM spanish red...or merlot red....what do you think of those? I will try to figure out how to post the paint chips of those colors too. Also will try to post the other colors for the surrounding rooms. We're thinking BM wynwood (which is a chocolatey brown) for the library and BM beach house beige for the dining which are in the front of the house. The family room will stay sage for now, just can't paint everything. The kitchen and morning room would be some shade of red/orange like I mentioned above, those rooms are in the back of the house.
I actually found a thread here that featured discussion about terra cotta, and there were photos and recommendations of colors that really were more orange - BM pumpkin spice, some others. One of them was next to a sage room and it looked quite nice....I will also try to post that link.What do you think? More red or orange?
Truthfully, although this is a super happy move, this color thing is stressing me out!

IÂm a big lover of color so all of your picks sound nice, people should get colors that make them feel good. Saying that though, you may want to stay somewhat in the same color family for the kitchen, sunroom and dining. The flooring although nice does not mesh well in that one is rich and more formal looking and one is light and has a bit more of a contemporary feel (at least in the pictures). This would be no big deal if you didnÂt then have white cabinets on the light floorÂhuge contrast to rich wood floor. If one were to use colorÂs that did not relate to one another the differences would be highlighted as opposed to the flow that could be created by using a same or close color family. DonÂt get me wrong I do not believe in matchy matchy décor but there is a trick to it and one is bringing things together through color. Paint is one way and you could take it a step further by adding a rich carpet in dining room to mesh with the rich flooring in sunroom.

So if I stay somewhat in the same color family for the kitchen sunroom and dining, which colors would you suggest...knowing that I'm leaning towards reds now and away from terra cotta? or do you have any suggestions that are completely different knowing what the other colors and cabs, floors, etc are? or what would you paint all of these room if it were your place? just curious:) thanks so much for your input and time and energy!

Colors are really a personal preference, I can tell you what samples I would get to test paint but it may not go with your décor. However, I will share what I likeÂIn the Sherwin Williams line I would test Brandywine, Decorous Amber (or Dacorous Amber ) and Chivalry Copper for your kitchen & dining area. In the sunroom I would go with a creamy lighter color that would mesh with one of the above colors along the same tone value as your green family room.

I think the key to your color choices for both the kitchen and the morning room have to do with how each is likely to be lit most of the time.

Your kitchen is spacious and seems well designed, but you are so right about the yellow not working very well, as well as about the need to consider how colors work with one another in your relatively open living area.

Your kitchen gets its natural light via the large pass through to the morning room, with its generous window areas. In the photo you show, however, the windows are largely shaded and the kitchen gets correspondingly little natural light. It looks as though the kitchen has great installed lighting, but we cannot really tell what it looks like on.

Were I you, I would find something -- fabric, even garments, paper -- close to each of the color ranges you are interested in. Stick each of them on various walls of the room in question and try looking at it in artificial light, in the natural light of your morning room windows when they are uncovered, and in the light of your windows as you most often shade them.

This will give you a crude idea of how each color works in various kinds of light. Based on that, you can pick a couple or three colors to buy a pint of paint in to test on wallboard, plywood, or even cardboard that you can move around to various walls of the room in various lights.

It seems like a lot of effort, but I don't see any other way that you make a decision you will be happy with.

For the record, I like red and orange both, but although they both glow in incandescent light, they both can go kind of flat in natural light. I know you have downplayed the prospect of terracotta in the kitchen, but terracotta is a color I like and so it what I happen to have a picture of in artificial light, in a paint that seems to have a bit of a quiet sheen. The pic has to be clicked to make it big enough to see how nice the walls look with the white towel.

Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: terra cotta in artificial light

Many thanks for your thoughts on this! You all sure do seem to know a thing or two about color. I had NO idea it could be so complicated. We painted the interior of our current home but it's much more of a series of closed smaller spaces so I just picked what I liked and moved along. I got many more paint chips today as well as some small loaner samples on card stock....the only thing I know is that I am consistently drawn to the same colors...I hope its ok if I check back in in a day or two when I go through everything. Thanks so much for the color ideas as well as the terra cotta photo. I really do love the color.

Many thanks for your thoughts on this! You all sure do seem to know a thing or two about color. I had NO idea it could be so complicated. We painted the interior of our current home but it's much more of a series of closed smaller spaces so I just picked what I liked and moved along. I got many more paint chips today as well as some small loaner samples on card stock....the only thing I know is that I am consistently drawn to the same colors...I hope its ok if I check back in in a day or two when I go through everything. Thanks so much for the color ideas as well as the terra cotta photo. I really do love the color.

http://stg-ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/decor/msg1015382416791.html

Forgot to post this link I found on the decorating forum I think....if you scroll down a little you'll see a room painted with sw spicy hue, next to a sage green room...I love it. If you scroll to the end you'll see a kitchen with similar finishes as mine painted a red/orange, can't remember the name...love it too.

What do you guys think?

honorbit's picture is a good example...very nice. It's not a like a lot of terra cotta's, it has a bit more orange in it and less red/brown that can look mauvy in different light. I love that color family, especially for dining.To me dining should appeal to all the senses, warm colors are sensual, exotic, that mixed with smells and tastes of good food, candles and good wineÂperfect!

Hi-
I just wanted to add my .2 cents worth.. I LOVE terracota and sage together.. In my old house, we had all earth tones and I plan to use them in my new house as well.. Have you looked at Mayflower Red by Benjamin Moore. I had it in my Dining Room in my last house which I LOVED!! In my house before that I used Audobon Russett by BM the kitchen had a lt. sage green. I also like the Mayflower Red with Desert Tan by BM which is more of a camel color. I know you said you weren't a fan of the yellow, but it is more of a brown yellow. The two together look smashing (at least to me)

I have no training in any of this, but do love these combos..