I think lime green would be great. Or red. Or yellow and black. The rest of the kitchen is so nuetral you can go in almost any direction... hot pink, torquoise. Yeah, I would say do something bright and bold and a real color, not just black or white. I actually like sample one that you posted though.

You could do almost any color with your kitchen, and yes, I think something bright might be the thing to do. Is there any bright color you love in the living room (or whatever) is next to the kitchen that you could cross-pollinate over there? Make sure it's something you really like.

Well, I just bought this fabric to make shades with

{{!gwi}}

so I guess I'm in the "try something crazy" camp.

What the heck is crazy about lime green? Your kitchen is lovely and sensible and yet...it's screaming for some lime green! Make it happen!

I love the idea of lime green, I think it would look wonderful!

Green is cheerful and fun...you'll love it! My mom's kitchen has soft, leaf green walls and it's her favorite space.

If you look on the Internet, lime green is VERY popular, right now...especially with turquoise and/or hot pink :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to kitchen images

I like the fabric with the circle-y pattern on it. Your kitchen space, which is lovely by the way, is very formal in that all the lines are straight and borders between one surface and another are crisp. I think the addition of the circle (what is that?) fabric adds a warmth and whimsy that brings a hominess to the kitchen. -Kind of like letting the kitchen out for recess.

Ah, I love you people. Not only did I know you'd be honest, I knew you'd also post links to help me see what I was thinking.

Before I got married I had a bright sunshine yellow kitchen decorated with all things martinis. It was bold, fun and totally me. Then I got married and everything got tasteful. I have lots of red in my house but honestly I'm kind of sick of it.

I found a few fabrics to start out with including:
http://www.onlinefabricstore.net/drapery-fabric/geometric-drapery-fabric/waverly-chippendale-fretwork-grass-fabric-.htm
http://www.onlinefabricstore.net/drapery-fabric/geometric-drapery-fabric/braemore-cartwheel-spring-green-fabric-.htm

So off to greenland I go. Hubby raised an eyebrow when I told him, but he did the same thing when I said I wanted white subway tile. At the end he loved it. If anyone else has any links or ideas on this, I would love them!!

So, i posted about window things with bold ideas and got some great advice. Course, I'm still stuck on other things and haven't actually done it yet... but here's some great fabric thoughts these kind folks shared with me!

So many cool fabrics - Ikat's and Suzani's are really in right now. You may be the first on your block :)

See link below!

Here is a link that might be useful: my hunt for window fabric

Some Suzani at Pier 1

I love lime green- so fun and bright! Go for it!

I don't think a solid lime green would work great, but a bold print with it would be awesome. If you could somehow find a black, white and lime green, that would be ideal. The ones you show are nice, but too tame IMHO. If you found similar that had some black or other strong color with the lime green, I think it would have more panache.

I peeked at Ikea and the closest I could find was:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20160035

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70150915 (second one down)

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70153990 one of these

None hit me as "aha!" but you never know.... I picture something bold and fun.

Here are some fun ideas. These are from the JoAnn website under Home Decor Prints. AND they're 50% off at the moment.

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

OK, I admit it, I love fabric.

suzannesl --
You asked about my "circle-y pattern" fabric. It's from Blank Quilting, pattern #6113 in teal, called Zanzibar.

There was nothing teal in my kitchen up to now (the green, yes) and I would never have said my kitchen had an Indian ocean island influence (except some of the contents of the spice drawer.) So I'm surprised at myself for being so drawn to this at the fabric store. But a bit of whimsy can bring a lot of smiles, and curtains that one sews for oneself are not an irrevocable commitment.

Here is a link that might be useful: Zanzibar fabric

Awesome feedback. I need to sit back and think about the "are you ready to go bold" comments. Since I have an open floorplan, I guess this does commit me to something. In the mean time I went to the fabric store today and grabbed these...

I'm going to leave them up for a while and think about them. I really want to change things a little, though, so I have definitely decided to break up from the black/white theme. I need some COLOR!

I think you could use almost any color and pattern. That said when I saw your pictures my first reaction was how nice a red print or plaid would look.

i like the bottom pic best. looks great!

Lime green or a bright color will look great. In my old kitchen, the color scheme was white and dark dark, so dark you thought it was black green. I put a lime green tea kettle on the stove and left it there full time. Loved the touch of color it added. The shade will do the same for you. It will be so fun and exciting and will go really well in the space.

I like the last picture the best too. I think whatever fabric you pick, it needs to be mostly one color with one other colored design on it (like white, black, grey or another neutral). The first two prints you put up in photo one don't provide enough punch b/c they are so multi-colored and busy.

What about a Marimekko fabric?

{{!gwi}}

The unikko patterns are my favorite:

{{!gwi}}

This is much more subtle:

I love it in red:

oh yeah. I'd add color into it. I loooove lime green!

I liked the orangey.red fabric you out on the right side of the window. go for it.

Yellow would be gorgeous! Not warm but a nice bold yellow that would stand up to all the white. All the white is somewhat over powering. You also don't have to go with the same pattern on each window. Mix it up a bit but make sure they complement each other and they will all work together to add your personality and character. (Like the Martini glasses.)

I cannot help but like the lime-ish Suzani, second row, on the left.

Trendy, but who cares, it's only fabric.

Well, ladies, I've figured a few things out. For one, I want my accent color to be turquoise/aqua. I tried the lime and there was too much clash between the paint and the green. Blue is much, much better. I've also narrowed the fauxman shade fabric to two choices:

or

a black suzani:

Also, I have this fabric for new living room pillows to tie in the blue and the brown & red in the living area.

I'm opting for the black curtains so that if I get bored with the blue I can still interchange it at will. Any fabric votes? Thoughts? Dejections?

You are still being shy. I think you need large chunks of solid color turquoise or green or whatever. You can put in a print to compliment or as an add-on, but first you need some bigtime color or personality in the kitchen. The kitchen window areas are too small to permit a print to dominate in the kitchen against all those neutrals. A print, esp one with white in it, just comes across as an eyebrow. (Now if the kitchen drapes were taller, more dramatic, poofier, or etc, perhaps the print would gain some power.)

The glory of fabric is that when you tire of it, you can replace it. Be bold but also be dramatic.

I'm confused. You say you want the accent color to be turquoise/aqua but then in the second photo you said "black not blue". I like the color of the aqua one but I LOVE the pattern of the third photo but not in black. Remember what you called this post.. do you ever feel like doing something CRAZY? That print in black is normal, plain, average, not crazy. Have some FUN with a color. Go on, give it a try. Florantha is right - you can replace the valiances when you get sick of them.

I like the black print a lot. The pattern is very strong and would work with many accent colors. I'd like it because it is neutral but not boring in the least. I'd put a fun accent color and change it out from time to time. You could have 20 different looks depending on your mood and still keep the wt in place.

i think turquoise will be stunning, especially many depths of it. go for it!

Thanks folks, I have a sack of about 10 different 1/4 yd cuts that I've bought/ordered/lived with. I had them all up for varying lengths of time from hours to overnight to days. Hubby is sooooooo over it. Every time I tried a bright color it just looked off to me. Once I put a big, bold pattern in it just clicked better. I actually really like the same pattern in blue over the sink, but when it's in the eating area it's not quite right. So essentially I think I'm ready to go neurotic but not quite certifiable crazy yet. I'm going to accessorize with a lot of blue but if I decide to go back to red or yellow or orange in the future, a can of spray paint solves the issue. This thread has also made me love suzani now. :)

The eyebrow comment is valid and definitely makes me think. I've got one more fabric store to visit today, but at that point I think I have to make a call of some kind. I could put this off for months if I let myself.