LOL, Francy! Every DIYer could relate with the need to use blue tape that way once in awhile! ;-) Your kitchen's looking wonderful!

:)

Yellow!

Love yellow.

Your paint job looks great - patience always pays off - & the jeans look soooo familiar! I think I'd have to use duct tape to keep quiet though.

Signed,
Another obsessive perfectionist cabinet painter

LOVE the journal aspect to this post... the sequencing of events. The drama over the brother's work. the stand off with the husband. your beautiful design drawing with the result a dead-on match (how often does that happen!), and the hard work you are putting in to bring this to life. a great story... will stay posted to read the rest.

ps: a question re: your backsplash... is that a mock up?

Beautiful color. I am anxious to see the end results.

The backsplash: yes, those are index cards. They look pretty good from a distance! We lost the original backsplash (it still pains me to talk about it) due to incompetence/damage. I am reproducing it as closely as I can. I guess I should order those tiles. Maybe today!!

francy

I am in love with that color, Francy! And you sure are cute up there!

When I was going through my KITCHEN (real) folder, getting my prices / information ready for my Finished Kitchen description, I came across an inspiration picture from 2006 Traditional Home and it was of ... a soft, buttery yellow kitchen!

It was so funny, because you are now that inspiration picture. I LOVE your kitchen!

I LOVE that yellow! What is the color? And what color do you plan on painting the wall? I've gone back and forth between off-white or yellow cabinets. I love the look of yellow cabinets, but I can't seem to get past if I use yellow on the cabinets what do I paint the wall?

Thank you rm! Your kind words always make me feel better when I'm utterly worn out!

And thank you mom2! The yellow is Benjamin Moore Barley. It took forever to settle on that color. I wantd a soft yellow that was vintage looking (i.e. a little bit "drab" with some grayish undertones). And it does have that look under SOME conditions. I wish someone could invent a paint that stays the same color in any form of light. At night, with the lights on, it looks brighter than I wanted.

The walls. The walls. And the trim. Oh, the choices. I'll link to my yellow inspiration kitchen below (can't figure out how to post a pix from another website directly in the body of the text). In this picture, the walls are the same yellow as the cabs, and the windows/trim appear to be a creamy white color. I don't quite want to go that route, mainly because my window is right above my future white subway tile. And I like the look of colored trim next to the white subways. It has been white all along, and I never preferred the lack of contrast.

Ideally, I want the baseboards a traditional dark tannish color. But then what about the door frames and windows? Same dark tannish? Maybe. But I'm probably going to do the walls a very pale yellow (the color at the top of the card that has barley on it). And then I would have dark trim against light walls (with cabinet color in the middle). And I'm just not sure about that.

Sooooo, walls several shades lighter than cabs, and all trim either the same as the cabs, or darker. Once I get the cabs done, I'll put splotches on the wall, and trim, and see how it looks. Another reason why this is all soooooo slooooow. Choices!

My other favorite kitchen color is vintage drab green. I had that in my old kitchen, and I might do this one that way in 8-10 years.

:-)

francy

Here is a link that might be useful: Inspiration yellow

Here is another one. I love the trim color next to the medium wall color. But I"m not sure I like the trim color where it meets the lighter wall color over the doorway...

Here is a link that might be useful: 3 shades of

Thanks for the links! I'm going for a vintage kitchen look as well, but mine is a bit older more Victorian looking. I love yellow kitchens, so bright and cheery. Yours looks fabulous!

ROFL! I'm so there with you, except it's a wall of closets in the master bedroom (I've now got a paint station set up *in our master bedroom*) This is a g'web classic post, dear :)

LOL! Another use for blue painters tape! Thanks for sharing! It looks so great! You should be so proud for having patience. Love your stove! I used to have that one in my first house and was sad to leave it behind (it's second only to my new DCS with grill).

I too found your journal style entry with photos very interesting and when I got to your photo, head cocked to the side and taped mouth, I CRACKED UP!!!

The yellow cabinets are lovely and I'm glad you stuck to your guns with the design. It's looking great. I don't trust my paint instincts though, so I'll leave the wall/trim suggestions to others.

I hope my contractor doesn't see the last pic...he might get ideas!

I love the yellow. I'm just getting ready to do my laundry area in yellow cabs (a precurser to doing the same thing in the rental). Gad I hope they come out half as good as yours!

Loved the play by play, the photos, but most of all, your kitchen makes me smile!

Love the thread and your kitchen...thanks!

Love the yellow kitchen and cabs. Just beautiful. Of course you chose my favorite color--yellow!

Francy -- You did NOT ask for this, but I just wanted to pipe in that (in my opinion) if you're planning on using such a close variant of the cabinet paint for your walls (did I read that right? America's Heartland for the walls?) I'd stick with something with some yellow / green in it for the trim.

I happen to LOVE the idea of a darker trim color. What about
-Mustard Seed BM 222 (just slightly deeper, a yellow-olive-tan)
-El Sereno Gold BM 223 (darker, almost a baby poop color, but would look FABULOUS with the Barley, America's Heartland and white [subway tile]
-Grenada Hills Gold BM 229 (a deep green-gold)

I may be totally off-base here (and I apologize for butting-in), but I'm just really enjoying your yellow kitchen ....

I want to know who took your picture sitting in the cabinet, LOL. Yellow always feels like sunshine to me. It's optimistic and cheery. Our hall is yellow, and I like it so much I am tempted to paint every wall in the house the same color. You are doing a terrific job on your period kitchen. Thanks for showing your progress and encouraging us along the way.

Looks wonderful - now that you are getting done, can you come over to help pick out my perfect blue - I've been trying to decide for a year now .

My just-turned-7 year old took that picture.

Him: Mama, why are you putting tape on your mouth?
Me: In case someone asks me how I'm enjoying painting my cabinets.
Him: Mama, why are you climbing up into the cabinet?
Me: Rmmmph pruuuumph mrrummmph.

rm: I most definitely need help on the walls/trim!! Maybe the America's Heartland will still be too dark. I haven't tried a sample yet, just thought I could stay on the same card and be safe. Then I wondered if I should pick a dark color on the same card? I don't have cards for the colors you mentioned, but will get some tomorrow at the paint store.

Thanks again for all the kind words. This job has been infinitely more difficult because I'm not getting any kind of...ahem...spousal support. Like, no one offers to take the boys away on the weekends so I can paint. So I stay up til 2am. Then I get grumped at for waking Him. Then I get grumped at for being in bed at 9:30am, thus forcing Him to feed the boys. Grump, grump, grump. Oh--wait. I am getting support: he pays for the paint.

:-)

francy

Francy , it looks wonderful...I wish I had thought of the blue tape over mouth....I would have used it on my cab guy...he has a hairy face..would have been fun to remove it too :)

I have the three shades of yellow in my living room. I love love love it. Yours is looking so beautiful. c

Hey, it's good to see you back here. I'd be that slim if I were still chasing small kids around. Come to think of it, those were the days when I painted the kitchen including cabinets all day and late into the night for 3 days running while my husband took the kids away. I was really tougher then too. A lot.

I love your kitchen and your choices.

Francy, I don't remember where this photo is from, and the color is not as buttery as yours (I love yours), but here the walls, trim and cabinets are all the same yellow. I LOVE this kitchen, but I think it might be too bland if not for that wonderful wood island...I figure it always helps to see different examples.

{{!gwi}}

Ooh ooh ooh, fabuloso! (claps! claps!) That's amazing work, Francy. You get the DIY Community Cheer Award -- double, since it's all been post-midnight work.

Yellow! Yay for yellow! For my painted bits, I was trying to coordinate with the handles on my O'Keefe&Merritt, and wound up with a great color I might not have found otherwise - it's Birdseye Maple from the SW exterior historical preservation palette (of all things). Slightly muddy yellow with the very faintest tinge of green (maybe rather close to the baby poop rmkitchen recommends?). It works really well with the fir floors I think we have in common - something to check out?
This is the color, and to cheer you up that your workplace is vastly neater even with 2 kids ;-)

Love your kitchen so far, Francy! You're doing a great job and you look fabulous in blue tape! : )

Wow, I know what a big job that is. My hubby and I painted our small galley kitchen cabs (yellow!) a few years ago. We loved them, but are moving ... and moving on to brand new cabinets. Yours look fantastic. Love the use of the tape too :-)

Oops-I forgot to tell igoo thank you for the compliments! Coming from the VenetianPlasterIglooChickenTwoYearOldChasingGodess, that is high praise indeed! How do you plaster/paint with a young child around??

Wow arlosmom: that kitchen makes me seriously weak in the knees! I think what also helps it from being bland is the sparkle of the high tile above the stove. Just wow. I had thought of doing a color like that, but wanted more warmth. Wow, I want that counter space!!

Circus: I love that color. I wonder how close it is to the Barley in real life. I don't have access to SW. Isn't it great how the words "baby poop" get close to describing colors we like for our kitchens!!! I wish my yellow looked a bit muddier (it does in some light, but not in others). I'll have to let it get dirty...

Trailrunner: do you have pictures of your "3 shades of yellow" that you could post? Only no scrumptious food allowed in the pictures!

:-)

francy

Francy, I love the yellow you chose. You're a hoot, too. Enjoying your painting and soapstone posts while I frantically make last minute decisions. You know in the end, DH is going to have to utter those famous words, "You Were Right" as you all sit down to a delicious meal in your happy, yellow kitchen.

Francy, I was just thinking about you the other day (as I was contemplating my chosen soapstone slab and remembering the saga of the "crack"). I have always so enjoyed your posts which are so full of humour and personality. LOVED this one and your beautiful yellow kitchen! We're renovating a 90+ year old house too and heritage colours are our choices (yellow, green). So this is truly inspirational. Of course, as you can see from the pix below, we have a ways to go :-)

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}{{!gwi}}

and our kitty's not too happy about it either :-(

{{!gwi}}

Thanks also for the soapstone update. Although I do like freshly pressed linen pants the reality is that by the end of the day I look like I slept in them so I think I'll be cool with patina!

Eliz