Cabinet Color . . . cream, gray, black?
We are finally getting our cabinets redone! All new uppers that will go to the ceiling with crow and all new doors on the lowers. I just can't figure out what color. I love the look of black but heard it is terrible to keep clean and I have 3 kids under the age of 6. Then someone suggested a creamy white (50% antique white and 50% snow), but I worry with the warm granite and light floors it will all look washed out. Is grey even an option with light gray walls and warm granite? The black backsplash will also be going. Any advice is appreciated!
Comments (48)
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White/Cream Cabinets with Black cabinet Island
Comments (13)Hello Kiki!!! First things first, I love being mentioned by my buddy Rmkitchen. She is a pro at getting the right, relevant information to you quickly. She's also got a great sense of style. We love RM!! I do think my granite would be of use to you, if not the same granite but my overall approach. I also wanted to marry the two things - I knew I'd go white cabinets, dark island. I thought from all the granites I saw, that the warm coloured granites like Santa Cecilia and Kashmir Gold, would work well to bridge that gap between the dark and light. My granite, Bianco Antico, just "works" with both colours. It's cooler than the granites I mentioned above, so you need to decide if you want warm vs cool. I myself, love the feel of moody, old-fashioned, vintage, antique-looking things, and I get that feeling from our granite. It also feels somewhat more "formal" than the warmer granites which come off more "casual"...I feel that way about warm golden hardwoods vs greyish brown hardwoods. Not sure if everyone feels this way too though!! I had considered doing one counter on the island - and a different counter colour on the perimeters. I've seen this look great, both in magazines and on Garden Web. But you know, I really like how it turned out when we used the same granite on both colours of cabinets. It ties things together. Note that we did do a wood top on our dark desk area, and I feel that this change in counter type does work well and adds variety. You were worried about the contrast - I think that having dark wood floors helps to soften the contrast between the two cabinet types. I also kind of like the contrast as it makes a dramatic statement. Anyway, I can go on and on. Good luck!...See Morecolor to paint cabinets-black or cream???
Comments (4)Black would be very striking with a hickory wood floor. If the floor is pale, I probably would not choose cream or white, because it's nice to have some contrast. The island could be an accent color, maybe in driftwood, slate or olive. You may already know this but you can search by cabinet color in the Finished Kitchen Blogs, and get an idea of how the various colors might look. I personally like Benjamin Moore Historic Colors - they might be a good inspiration. Good luck!...See MoreHELP! Should I paint my cabinets black or cream or taupe?
Comments (38)"I sure hope you like black. There are some of us who would not even consider it." I take no personal offense at that statement, but it's very narrow. Isn't that what makes the world more interesting...diversity? My previous kitchen was beautiful with matte black painted maple lower cabinets. I had no uppers...just art hanging in that space. the cabinets weren't heavy looking, nor did they make the room too dark. It was a beautiful space.....and understated...quite like the proverbial black cocktail dress, a classic. I had tons of natural light...one solid wall of windows and my wood floors were oak with no stain so they weren't dark. I would agree it depends on the kitchen, style of house, countertop, lighting, etc. Decora cabinets used to send potential clients over to see my kitchen anytime someone was considering black. I wish I could post photos, but I only have the real estate tour and you can't snag stills from it. The house sold in 45 days during the worst of the housing crunch. The buyers specifically said they loved the kitchen at the act of sale. So there are also those of us who would and have chosen black. Like everything else...it depends on the big picture....See MorePaint - the perfect light neutral gray taupe or cream color HELP
Comments (20)Hi - We just painted our entire first floor in Farrow & Ball "old white", which is a taupe-y grey. In some light, it also has a very slight hint of sagey green, but not so much that you'd think it's a green color. It definitely looks more taupe-y than anything else, and we've gotten lots of "oohs and aaahs" over it, even from the subs. We have dark wood floors and white trim and baseboards (which is done in F&B "Pointing" as are our ceilings). In the office and master bedroom, we used F&B "light grey", which is also a wonderful color but definitely darker and may not feel light enough for the main areas in your home, depending on what your natural light is like (and obviously, depending on your taste for dark vs. light). Farrow & Ball has such wonderful big hand-painted swatch cards, and I would highly recommend purchasing them...they're a hefty $50, but definitely worth it and WAY better than the little brochure they'll send you for free, which has tiny little bits of color that give you just enough of a feel to want to see more! If you're interested, I can take photos of these rooms, but we're moving in on Friday (after an 8-month whole house renovation), and we're in the throes of last-minute chaos with electricians hanging fixtures, painters doing touch-ups and punch list stuff. Our contractor put rosin paper down on the floors so they won't get messed up, and so the tone of the red rosin paper may influence what you'll see as the color of the walls. Here's a tip for you - if you go to Google and press the tab for "Images" and type in the name of the paint that you're considering using, you'll probably see photos of rooms from magazines that used that color. It's very helpful. When we were considering using F&B's "Middleton Pink" for my teenage daughter's room, we were worried that it would be too little girl-ish, but when she saw the image of several rooms painted in Middleton Pink, she liked it and so we went with it (unfortunately, later on, after it was on the walls, I made the mistake of mentioning that it wasn't a very sophisticated color. DUH! WRONG thing to say to a teenager). Anyway, Google Images was very helpful! Good luck with your search. I went through the identical struggle on the neutral grey taupe about six months ago so I know how difficult it can be! Susan...See More
slk873
5 years ago
slk873 thanked decoenthusiasteslk873
5 years ago
Elle
5 years agoNot at all! Your warm granite is actually what drove me to pick navy over a harsher contrast like black. It would look especially great if you did warm toned pulls.
Honestly, I don't really like the idea of creamy white either. A bright crisp white like Chantilly Lace (shown on the white cabinets in pic) would really work best with your existing grey paint. And it would make your granite pop like a feature, rather than look like something you were trying to hide.
slk873 thanked Elle
My House
5 years ago
D
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoI like the idea of cream. Here's what our light grey cabinets looks like (with light grey walls), which might also be a possibility:
slk873 thanked Dslk873
5 years agoLOL I had just read that article this morning! I guess it applies to navy as well, huh? I think my only hang up is visualizing the cream cabinets next to our light floors.
slk873
5 years agoElle
5 years agoElle
5 years agoElle
5 years agoThe first picture is Chantilly lace on the left, creamy white on the right. Second picture (with microwave) is white dove, which would also be a good fit for your space.
slk873 thanked Elleslk873
5 years ago
Rita / Bring Back Sophie 4 Real
5 years agoElle
5 years agoslk873
5 years agoElle
5 years agoUser
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoslk873
5 years agoThanks to everyones suggestion we fnially finished our kitchen project! Well except for the backsplash issue but I'll get to that in a second. We ended up with cream uppers and lowers and a navy island (it looks really bright in the kitchen picture but the wetbar picture is acurate) it all has brushed gold hardware. Now when I look at the before pictures I just cringe! In the first picture we are still missing the drawer microwave. I also included the wet bar which I LOVE in Navy! So thank you thank you thank you for all your help!
slk873
5 years agoNow our problem is the backsplash for the kitchen. We want something to downplay the yellow in the granite. We've had samples of gray glass, ceramic chevron/herringbone and don't know what to do! Lately I am leaning towards the darker longer tile in the last picture especially since we have light floors. But then I keep loving how the glass tile looks too! What should we do?
K R
5 years agoslk873
5 years agoElle
5 years agoWow I love it!!!!! Looks awesome.
For tile I'd pick one color of glass from your wetbar to use as a full size glass subway tile. Not grey- either a cream/white or a pale blue. The glass will help the space feel bright and clean. But you need a bigger tile size to keep the backsplash from feeling too busy against the counter. The busier counter is the same reason I'd avoid multicolored tile. You already have 2 stars in the kitchen- the countertop and the accent color on the island. It's ok to go more laid back for the backsplash.
Alternately you could go the complete opposite direction and do a navy backsplash, but still in a glass to keep the brightness of the space.
For shape you could do classic subway, hexagon, or arabesque.
PROAqua Kitchen and Bath Design Center
5 years agohousegal200
5 years agoslk873
5 years agoI love all the pictures you guys post I feel like I am making this way more complicated than it needs to be. I just can't figure out the color, you don't think a cream tile will be too light with our light floors? I just stumbled upon these . . .any thoughts? I dig the shape, not sure on color. .. go figure.
housegal200
5 years agoElle
5 years agoElle
5 years ago
daisychain Zn3b