Kitchen Wall Paint Color (X-Post)

7 years ago

Looking for assistance with color for our kitchen walls. This is the third color we’ve had since moving in circa 2009.

This color was spec’d by a somewhat prominent color blogger/designer and it just feels unfinished (as DH said, “It looks like it’s primered and waiting for its real color.”). She did a great job selecting colors for our master bath, office, and guest room/bath though, so it wasn’t money wasted…

The cabinet color (PPG Spiced Vinegar) needs to stay… that was a nearly year-long oil-based DIY project that we don’t care to repeat.

We’ve had PPG Fireweed (a brick red -- nice, but don’t want red in the kitchen – apparently it stimulates the appetite, which we do not require!) and BM Van Courtland Blue (dusty grayish-blue – selected by a local designer – didn’t love the color), and now PPG Heavy Cream in the room.

In our previous homes, I’d go to the paint store, bring home a couple chips, pick one, buy the paint, and be happy as a clam every time. It seems I can never pick that “ahhhhh” color the first time in this home (maybe the high ceilings or light throw me off?).

I apologize – these photos make it look like there is much more contrast than there really is.

Would love to read your thoughts!! The first picture (no flash) is truest. Thank you!

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gracefullyaged
Original Author

7 years ago

Great question, Lori! I dunno... "ahhhhh?" I like to cook to relax after a stressful day at work. When I get home, I really don't like any stimuli... maybe turn on Food Network for background noise, but I don't watch. When DH turns on music (overhead speakers) I usually turn it down. Brick Red looked really good, but was way too, I don't know... vibrant? for me. Maybe our current color is on the right track, it just needs... tweaked? A different "feel" maybe?

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Lori A. Sawaya
7 years ago
Ok, the current color is not how you want it to look and feel - that's a good thing to know and understand. So, the question is how do you want it to look and feel?
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FYI, a gable is just the wall under the pointy part of the roof. The decorative boards on your garage gable are, I think, battens, which are just pieces of wood that cover up the seams between the wood siding. They are primarily decorative, and if you don't like them, you could probably take them off. (On older Tudor homes, you might see a similar effect created with actual beams, and those would be structural and not just cosmetic). Because your house has the whole California/Mediterranean thing going on, I don't think that highlighting the battens is going to be in keeping with the style of the home, so I would favor painting them to blend in. You could remove them, but you might find that makes the garage gable too plain and boring. As others have suggested, you will have to choose a paint that works with the stone, unless you want to remove the stone. The stone definitely has some of that peachy thing going on, although it has some more muted grays that you could work with. Based on your pics and my images for Waynesboro Taupe (that is, take this with a grain of salt since computers don't always render color right), I don't really like the Waynesboro Taupe with the stone. Here are some colors I liked better: Chelsea Gray Gettysburg Gray Sandy Hook Gray Fairview Taupe Iced Marble (this one runs to blue-gray, which might be too much out on a limb for your neighborhood) I think that you could keep black as an accent color (I like black and taupe together) for the shutters and maybe the front door. I would like to see the garage door go dark, either matching the wall color or even going a few shades darker. The white draws too much attention to what really isn't a great feature of the house (I'm not a fan of prominent garage doors in general, let's not make them stand out more than they have to.) Benjamin Moore's color viewer has a sample picture called "Ageless Tudor" that has some characteristics in common with your home (stone, board and batten gable) that you might want to use for experimenting. Or I think you can upload your own photo, although I can't vouch for how well that works.
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PRO
Lori A. Sawaya
7 years ago
Spiced Vinegar kitchen cabinets are wearing the #bossypants in that space and the black accents look fabulous with it and also brings much-needed balance.

Maybe our current color is on the right track, it just needs... tweaked?

No. It's too yellow to work well with Spiced Vinegar. It's "fine" it just doesn't do anything special for the cabinet color or wood tone of the floor.

Take a look at Hitching Post PPG1070-5. It could be just what you need to tie everything together - and it's not a strong, brick red.

Most consultants only spec Ben Moore or Sherwin-Williams. Did they spec PPG Heavy Cream or was there some color matching involved?
gracefullyaged
Original Author
7 years ago
Thank you! I picked
up a sample of Hitching Post from Lowes (Olympic Brand) and can’t wait to try
it!

Yes, she did specify BM colors for my other rooms, but when I told her the
kitchen cabinets were PPG Spiced Vinegar, she had a PPG deck available and used
it (walls were BM Van Courtland Blue at the time). I have to admit I was disappointed – seemed like
a bit of a cop out selecting a color off the same strip (even I could have done
that and I know nothing about undertones, hues, nuances, etc.).

I did like all of her picks except for the kitchen and the
basement family room (Delaware Putty – yuck!
Didn’t get past the sample board on that one so we still have the same
paint color from 2009!). We’ve lived with the
kitchen for over a year now and it hasn’t grown on us, so it’s back to the
drawing board.

Thank you again!!
PRO
Lori A. Sawaya
7 years ago
a bit of a cop out selecting a color off the same strip

Color strips are misunderstood by many.

Just because colors are on the same strip, that doesn't guarantee anything. No guarantee they all belong to the same hue family, no guarantee they will harmonize.

Happens a lot with exteriors; people will use just one strip of colors. Doesn't always work out. Like from the curb it's impossible to tell that more than one color was used on the body and trim. Or, the daylight exposure reveals a surprise of uncoordinated colors highlighting the fact that no guarantees of color harmony come with those chip strips.

Have to analyze each color individually before deciding to use colors from the same strip. Sometimes it ends well, sometimes not so much.
Brandy Smith
7 years ago
Just commenting to follow what you decided on

Kitchen Wall Paint Color (X-Post)

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Lori A. Sawaya

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Kitchen Wall Paint Color (X-Post)

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Lori A. Sawaya

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Lori A. Sawaya

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