Struggling with light and paint!

2 years ago

We are remodeling our new home (built in the 70s) in Southern California and are clueless about lighting and paint! The house has views of a beautiful winery and valley and is surrounded by California Live Oaks.

These pictures are from the living/dining/kitchen. We removed a wall so the kitchen is connected with the living room. The kitchen cabinets will be green (sagish), we will have a wood island, a combination of uppers (sagish) and floating shelves (wood). We are leaning towards soapstone countertops. There will be furniture setups by the fireplace and front of house. Furniture will be neutral (leather, white, grey etc.).

I’ll start with with paint. We love the rough sawn look of the beams and don’t want to lose that character. We want a rustic/coastal/California vibe but don’t want it to be dreary. The walls will probably be painted a creamy whitish color…

We can try to match the existing stain and carry that through the kitchen. And then paint the walls a complimentary color.

Alternatively, we can paint/stain/etc. the beams, ceiling, and walls new colors.

As far as lighting goes, we have no clue where to put the lighting and what style to choose. We do not want farmhouse style lighting.

Thanks so much!!!

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Comments (11)

California Live Oak
Original Author
2 years ago
Forgot to mention that floors will be oak, wide plank, honey color.
acm
2 years ago
I think you may need to look through some inspiration photos and see what speaks to you! With all that light, you have a lot of options.

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calidesign
2 years ago
I'd have a lighting professional come to your house to let you know what your options are. Lighting is so important to your finished home. I'd try to get recessed lights if possible, or if not, use sconces on the high walls between the top of the sliders and the ceiling. You have a wonderful space and I like your sage/wood/warm white ideas.
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California Live Oak
Original Author
2 years ago
Great ideas! I appreciate all of the input.

Our GC said recessed lighting may not be possible since the ceiling is pretty much flush with the roof line.

I forgot to mention that we are adding 3 picture windows on the side of the house opposite the kitchen. 1 rectangular window on the opposite side of the existing one to match it. And two high trapezoidal windows above those windows.

I’m curious if anyone thinks we should match the existing stain color or should start fresh?
PRO
RL Relocation LLC
2 years ago
I would want to start fresh with something that brings a little bit of the grain and destress out.

As to lighting, well that's my passion, and I worked in a SO-CAL lighting story for many years.

I would say you could run rail or cable lighting for areas that need the light like the kitchen it would run with the beam and be somewhat tucked away. I prefer rail to cable bc it never sags. With LED you no longer need a big remote transformer so that is a good thing, tho it is low voltage and will need to stub out of the wall, not the ceiling. IN the other areas I would have them

add another box to the bottom of that beam if they can where the fan is evenly spaced, I'm not sure how you plan to set up the room, but I would also consider adding some floor plugs, possible wall sconces
California Live Oak
Original Author
2 years ago
Great advice! We like the idea of doing either the rail or cable in the kitchen. Our concern about the rail is that is seems a bit too industrial looking. If we had to choose between the two kitchen lighting schemes below, we would choose the upper one.
PRO
RL Relocation LLC
2 years ago
The upper one is rail or track as well the lower one just has it on longer drop-down extensions.
PRO
RL Relocation LLC
2 years ago
first decided what you will do with the ceiling then choose bronze or satin nickel to blend in.
PRO
RL Relocation LLC
2 years ago
what is the floor plan for the kitchen?
calidesign
2 years ago
Since your floors will be honey colored, I'd either keep all of the ceiling with the natural color/clear stain, or paint the ceiling white and match just the beams to the floor. Are you keeping all the trim in the honey stain as well? That would make me more likley to paint the ceiling white and just stain the beams.
California Live Oak
Original Author
2 years ago
Here is a drawing of the layout of the kitchen.

We are going to have a white trim or a wood colored trim. If we do a wood trim, should it be the same as the floor?