We are likely going to get our cabinets painted. They are solid wood, and we don’t want to change anything about them except the color. And we will ditch the desk and have them build a cabinet in the opening instead.
I’m now thinking a blue island would be really nice with the rest of my white cabinets. And yes, I’m getting white cabinets.
When we built this house, I wanted blue counters in the kitchen. Both my husband and the builder had a fit, so we got a sand color. But my two upstairs bathrooms both have blue counters, and when they get redone…there will be blue in both rooms somewhere.
Funny…our builder tried to convince me that I didn’t want light blue walls in our master bedroom. I politely reminded him that this was my house, not his. So he reluctantly got the blue I wanted. Once it was on the walls, even he agreed it looked great. It’s a large room, with big windows…and the light blue is so perfect.
As I look in my house, there is blue something in every single room. It’s my favorite color, that’s why!
Lots of people still like unpainted wood cabinets and, depending on the style, sometimes just changing the hardware can make them seem fresh and current. I would hesitate to paint unpainted cabinets before listing for sale - you really don’t know what prospective buyers will want.
It’s funny that in every other house, I let my mom’s tastes sway our decision. She was also a realtor who drilled into us to keep everything neutral. The most we ever did was some green throw pillows.
With this house, she was already too sick to travel, so we did what we wanted. Like @thumper1 - this is some blue in almost every room. It’s so soothing to me!
My cabinets in the kitchen are a very, very light grey (almost white but a bit warmer) and the island is “peppercorn” - a dark grey but with the blue undertones. We love it. We use the dark grey for the cabinets in our master bath with the same blue walls and it looks fabulous.
In our case our cabinets are unpainted but worn - SOMETHING has to be done to them. It would cost a fortune to replace them or reface them because there is LOTS of cabinetry. So for resale purposes (and affordability while we are here) painting seems the best option.
Counter tops will be installed in a couple of weeks. Could have been sooner, but I can’t take off work this week or next. I have not chosen a back splash tile yet, but I’m pretty sure I will go with something very neutral. It’s easier to change paint color and accessories than it is to change permanently installed items!
Some trends of the past that I regret are colored small appliances. I have a cobalt blue toaster (rarely used and kept in the pantry) and a cherry red electric can opener which is used frequently and left on the counter. Also have red (decorative only) glass canisters. I’m a little tire of the red, but the can opener really works good! So hard for me to replace perfectly good stuff just for a different color. That’s why I still have an almond refrigerator that just won’t die.
Can’t you have colored appliances re-glazed (probably not the right word) or something to make them a different color? Seems like I’ve seen that done before on decorating shows.
Or you can try spray paint. We bought our first stand mixer to match our kitchen (Ivy wallpaper); it was a green KitchenAid. I have sprayed it several times over the years to blend with our kitchen decor, and you can’t tell it wasn’t purchased that way. Right now, it has a hammered copper finish. I have spray painted many, many items over the years with great results. Not sure I’d bother with really small items (though I did spray a tall pepper grinder), but appliances, patio furniture, frames, garden pots, chairs, iron wall art, why not?
We spray painted a refrigerator at our cottage that was getting bleed through rust spots due to humidity. We used an appliance spray paint. It was easy and has lasted 3 years without any additional bleed through. Inexpensive fix too!
I saw a great video a few years ago of people spray painting washer/dryer sets with some very cool designs. My favorite was a blue and gold set that had “M GO BLUE!” across the pair. Why be boring?
Stainless steel appliances! I just went to one of the big box home improvement stores to investigate a new fridge. According to the appliance sales guy, people hate white appliances and I am a weirdo. I have a pretty small kitchen footprint and it is wide open to the great room. I think white is less imposing and cleaner than black or any of the stainless variations (plus I hate fingerprints). My options are limited since most manufacturers have abandoned white.
