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Paint Design Dilemma

Help! What color to paint office desk and cabinets

2 years ago

We are having a custom desk and cabinets installed in our home office. I am having a hard time deciding what color to have them painted. We have four dark stained ceiling beams that I want to remain a focal point in the room, so my thought was to do the cabinets painted vs. stained so they didn't compete. (I know they look painted in the photo but they are stained.)

Our walls are Behr Varnished Ivory and the trim (windows and doors throughout the house) are SW Black Fox.

I was thinking about doing the cabinets in either SW Porpoise or SW Anonymous which are both lighter shades of Urban Bronze which is nearly identical to our trim. Anonymous looks too light to me after I painted a sample board with it, but I'm afraid Porpoise might be too dark. I'm stuck!

Also, I plan to do a quartz top instead of wood as I think the quartz will hold up better to scratches. I liked Silestone Altair as I thought it would blend with the cabinet rather than a contrasting light color that might look too much like a kitchen.

Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated!

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Comments (4)

Christina Nielson
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Very helpful that you gave your pallet and thoughts.

Choose your countertop and then your desk and cabinet colors. Countertop colors are limited, while paint colors are infinite. You can color match to Silestone Altair since you like that one - then go a shade darker or lighter for a nice color flow.

Your pallet is very dark - except for the golden/beige walls- ranging from a black/brown to a brown/green. These are tones we used more in the 2000's so be sure and choose updated lines in the furnishings or the room will look dated already. The floor is beautiful!

For the rest of the furnishings - choose a light colored rug, chairs in a beige or bring in a pop of a rich blue. Definitely add some greenery in natural stone pots on your shelving to bring in nature. A large, modern art piece would keep the vive fresh in this traditional space.
grimstead
Original Author
2 years ago
Thank you so much, Christina! Our first inclination was to go with more of a lighter greige color for the cabinetry. I had selected Dunn Edwards Reclaimed Wood as I thought I needed to go lighter in the space for the reasons you mentioned. But our cabinet maker recommended I stay away from gray based on the trim color and beams after I showed him that first pick.

I am worried about the space not looking contemporary enough. I do have a tendency to be behind the times in that regard! We are going to do floating shelves on the back wall instead of cabinets to keep the feel of the room open and I can definitely use that space to bring in the color you recommended.
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I would think about making the room more stylish with minor decor changes, but make them bold. I would get a new guest chair, a new desk lamp, put a big piece of art over the file cabinets. Consider layering a bold graphic area rug under the desk. Are the shelves in the book case adjustable or removable? I would take out some of the them so you could add some big art or objects. Right now the room lacks curves and swirts, so I’m thinking a modern-ish curvy swivel chair for the guest chair, a dynamic rug under the desk (even a zebra hide!), an archng or round modern desk lamp. Rather than try to jazz up the interior or back of the bookcases, I would break up the appearance of the shelves with a couple of framed oversized black and white photos hung over a few of the shelves or propped up within them, or absract modern artworks with color. Also consider, if it’s not impractical, arrangng some of your books horizontally, instead of all of the spines vertically upright
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Christina Nielson
2 years ago
Open shelving will look great - if they are real wood, match them to your floor. Avoid anything with a blue/purple gray tone or too much brown/greens. Stay in your creamy tones.

If you want a pop of modern:

blue chair

art
grimstead thanked Christina Nielson
grimstead
Original Author
2 years ago
Ooh, I love that chair! I told my husband we are going to go countertop shopping tomorrow and work backwards. Your advice has been very helpful!

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