Help! Any way to visualize light to dark cabinet color change?!
We have what I assume is honey oak cabinetry.
The trend seems to be white nowadays. Not a fan; I'm more of a neutral cozy warm color person, I tend to lean towards darker tones, and I have kids so white isn't ideal!
There is a local lady who paints cabinets and does an amazing job. I've been considering painting them a dark espresso color but I am a VERY visual person and I'm scared to death to go for it without a really good visual for fear I'll end up hating it, or that it'll be too dark - even though that's what I tend to prefer. If I see it, I know immediately if I love it or hate it.
Is there any way to really get an idea of what my kitchen would look like with dark brown/espresso cabinetry as a whole? These little paint swatches or 8x10 stick-ons just aren't enough for me to really "see" the big picture.
The livingroom (where I am standing to take the pic) has dark espresso brown leather couches, neutral beige walls, light carpet.
Also, would dark cabinetry look terrible with our honey oak hardwood floors? I've been considering redoing the floors at some point down the road. Not a fan of the orange tone. But that would be in a year or two when budget allows.
Comments (16)
PROSina Sadeddin Architectural Design
6 years ago
izeve
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Painting brick house & retaining wall: help w/color & visualizing
Comments (18)I live in the South where painted brick is very common, and I love it. However, I don't think your brick is ugly at all! Maybe it's the effects of the sun fading it, or whatever, but it actually looks quite nice to me. My concern about painting your brick would be the amount of sun you say your house gets, as it would likely cause your paint to fade unevenly. Also, as someone mentioned previously, painting your brick would just create a different huge block of color to look at, and won't necessarily help to reduce the impression of size. If I were you, I would give my shutters and trim a fresh paint job; Charleston Green shutters and door with a warm white trim would go great with that color brick. Replace the brass door knocker and handle with some something less bright (even antiqued brass would look better). I also like the idea of the planter boxes for the upper windows to add a little softness and to visually break up the facade a bit. You will never achieve a cottage look with your home, as its overall design is inherently more formal, but I think these few smaller changes will go a long way towards helping it feel more cozy and warm and reduce the impression of size. Once you have your house spruced up, deal with the problems of the retaining wall separately. I agree that a painted retaining wall would not look good at all. I like the idea of a stacked stone or similar material....See MoreHelp!!! Cabinet color change leads to hinges looking ugly! What to do?
Comments (19)Thank you all for your replies and suggestions, especially the reassurance that mixed finishes is not at all unheard of. I went to the store and purchased some Rub n Buff to test. I have never heard of this stuff! I also bought antique brass and bright brass hardware at Home Depot to try spray on, too. Once I showed it to my husband, he said that if we were going to take the time to hand apply the rub n buff wax paint that it might be better and less time consuming to just spray all the hinges instead. Then he spoke to a friend at work who used Rustoleum metallic spray for all his hardware and that it turned out great. I had mentioned spray painting before to him, but his reaction was that it would not work long term due to the movement of the hinges. From what I have also read online, if you do several light coats, followed by a clear sealer topcoat, the finish lasts a lot longer, so we may go this route in the end. We have decided we aren't going to rush this. We are going to consult with a carpenter to get a quote for new cab doors and drawer fronts just to see what it would cost for a new style. I'm suspecting it is more than we can spend right now. If it is, then I will spray paint or rub n buff the hinges so that they "hide" into the espresso stain finish and then decide what color knobs to buy. Then I will re-finish all the bright brass on interior doors, so I will be left with only two finishes around the house... I hope! Thanks for the pointers and if anyone finds this post again, I welcome future input. I will post an update, too!...See MoreHelp Visualize kitchen cabinet color
Comments (11)if you paint them gray, will you changing the tile or countertop? to be honest, the paint color isn't the issue. It's your tile. I'd change that and add some different hardware (pulls) to the cabinets (also a much cheaper option. getting those professionally painted will be well over 3K) I'd also change your wall color. the golden tone just doesn't work w/the other colors in the room. (the pink and the gray) The grays you have are cooler toned, and the walls/flooring are warmer toned. Bringing more gray isn't going to work. In fact, if you want things to work now, try painting your walls a gray that is in the lavender or pink family. bring in a runner w/similar tones to place in front of the sink. maybe some warmer stool colors,,,like these w/a creamy runner. The cold steel and black counter chairs only add to the coolness. bring in something w/wood. and a pattern somewhere. Try that first. (i'd also remove the display bottles on the tops of the cabs. brings your eyes up to the ceiling. maybe put them on a shelf or in a cab if you want to display them) some other grays for the wall you could paint those brown/tan floor tiles too. do a dark color, and then a lighter color over top Heck, you could even try something like this on those backsplash tiles. paint them a dark charcoal, and then go over them w/the creamy white stencil design. Or, just do the floor tiles and replace the backsplash when you can. All of these colors will work w/the pink tones of the tile. Here. do you kitchen like this. copy the window treatment, the pendant light, and stencil your floor tiles. (I'd say do the tile as well, but that's up to you) AND the stenciled floors! would look good w/all the solids in your kitchen. photo shopped the window w/you kitchen. tried to bring in some warm wood stools. and I still like the lavender based gray for the walls. also put in some black nickel hardware. If you do the dark gray shade and light, try doing a darker contrast color on the walls. cloak Gray would look nice. if you want something lighter, try moonlit orchid or ponder. (those red bottles just don't work in here)....See MoreColors are way off in Paint Visualizers
Comments (7)You are fighting an uphill battle. Loading your own photo's to the programs provides very iffy results. The photos that the programs provide are white balanced to match the white balance in their colorization program. Those colors will be closer matches to the paint colors than what you upload, but you still have to contend with differences in the computer's graphic card and monitor. Professional color sensitive systems run $10k or more. I have a laptop that is horrible at displaying greens. My other system does hues pretty well, but I know that colors will look more colorful in person - they are slightly washed out on my computer screen. I am pretty experienced and pretty good at picking interior colors, but have much more difficulty with exterior colors. I usually go one shade darker and one level less colorful than what I think I want when working with exteriors. Bright sun washes light colors out and natural daylight is truly full spectrum light so we see every nuance a color has to offer. That said, you could try sharing the links to the photos you like and we could try to give you advice. You can also use a couple of online tools that may work better than the BM or SW sites. Upload the images you like to this site - it lets you use the image url. https://imagecolorpicker.com/en When you get the results you can search for similar colors using the color match tab in Easy RGB https://www.easyrgb.com/en/match.php With a good computer display these two programs do work pretty well and get me close to the colors I want. If the display is horrible (like my laptop) it will only be as good as your display and you will need to rely on something better. There is absolutely no substitute for testing colors by purchasing painted samples or painting your own samples. I always paint my own, but pre-painted samples are easy....See More
Melissa Gallagher
6 years agoMelissa Gallagher
6 years agoKristine Harris
6 years agoKristine Harris
6 years agoA.Hunter Wow... I love it! Can you tell me anything more? Tips?
Looks like we have similar taste!
A. Hunter
6 years agoOh my gosh yes! Looks familiar, lol the rug! Love that rug :-) Yes I would be happy to help! It's really not too difficult to accomplish, just takes time! You need to remove any existing dirt, laquer from cabinets first. The product comes in the Rustoleum Transformations kit, but I also used TCP to clean them really good first (can purchase at Home Depot, Lowes).
Here's a few more pics (since we have similar taste!)... I also painted my laundry room cabinets, and bookcase/fireplace mantel Expresso to match the kitchen....
Chessie
6 years ago
PROCarolina Kitchen & Bath
6 years agoA. Hunter
6 years agoMy cabinets are oak, even after painting them the espresso color the wood grain still shows through which I like. The Rustoleum Transformations paint is not very thick either, it's actually pretty thin, more like a stain texture but it's paint.
*I meant to say TSP (sorry typo) - this is what I used to thoroughly clean the cabinets first, THEN a de-glosser to remove any existing lacquer...
Chessie
6 years agocpaul1
6 years agoKristine Harris
6 years agoThanks everyone for your input. I still haven't been able to find any software that will allow me to visualize a color change, but I found this pic online and it's the closest to my layout, floor color and back splash. Needless to say, I love it so, I think I'm going to take the advice of the Pro above and just do what makes me happy!
_sophiewheeler
6 years ago
A. Hunter