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eks6426

wall paint colors vs granite

eks6426
14 years ago

Is there a rule of thumb on how to choose a wall color? I will have warm white cabinets that will yellow over time, medium brown oak floors, lighter granite that has warm golden tones and grey tones on a cream background (pic below). My plan has been to do a light greyed down aqua bluish color..I had an earlier thread on this.

I really have very little true wall space so my plan was that I would find tile similar to my paint color...or find a paint color similar to the tile. Finding a light bluish aqua tile is fairly easy right now...went to the tile store with a piece of wood painted the cabinet color, another the potential light blue wall color (BM-Ocean Air) and a chunk of granite...

As I was looking at tiles similar to the wall color, hubby says, "but the blue doesn't really match the granite...."

Huh? I thought of my granite as a neutral. I really wasn't thinking I needed to match it....

But maybe he is right. What do you think? If I were going to match the granite, I would need to do paint and tile that is probably more of a warm tan type of color.....but I really love blue....

I need to paint the walls this weekend so I have to decide quickly.

Disregard tile in the picture..flooring has been replaced with the medium brown oak.

{{gwi:1574228}}

Comments (7)

  • beekeeperswife
    14 years ago

    I'm not sure I get the aqua blue for tile with that granite. You might be able to add that color for accents though.

    I would go with a light gray color for the backsplash. I'm not sure of your budget, or how much you need, but one tile that I love is by Mandala--French Grey. This gray might look really classy and elegant. The tiles have different levels of color, which would help with your wall color choice. We were going to go with their Stingray color--has a bit more taupe, but then we decided to do just white 2x8 subways, and save some money and also because we ended up painting with that color instead!

    Also, there are frosted glass tiles out there, maybe a gray in that? That might pick up on the slate floor too. Since I'm not sure of the colors in the rest of your house, it's hard to pick a paint color too. But if the backsplash were a gray, then maybe a darker gray for the room? It would really accent the white cabinets and the stainless.

    Of course if you are more into the goldent tones, you could something in that picks up the caramel color in that granite, which is gorgeous.

    You need to take my advice with a grain of salt though. I still have 2x8 subway tiles drawn on paper and taped to my backsplash. Fire is the only enemy of this particluar treatment!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Here's the mandala tile

  • riverspots
    14 years ago

    I haven't seen many blue kitchens I liked. Those I did like were either in tropical settings or had the yellow and blue French country theme going.

  • eks6426
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Hmm, I see how grey could work but I really don't want grey tile or walls..although they could be dramatic.

    I was thinking more of a whisper of aqua blue like the ones in this thread that I had from last week: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg011628185661.html

    I am somewhat thinking of beachy type colors but much more toned down since I live nowhere close to the beach and I'm not in the tropics (it's very snowy at home right now!)

    The kitchen has many windows that open into the backyard that is very flowery in the summer.

    The rest of my house has light shades of tan, green and the aqua blue. I generally like cooler tones shades but I warm up the rooms with wood tones (like the warm wood floors) and furnishings often in more of a camel color.

  • ejbrymom
    14 years ago

    I think for your granite i would go with something more blue grey. But I still think RH Silver Sage would go beautifully if you want something more aqua-ish.

    My granite is VEnetian GOld but looks so much more like Santa Cecelia and I want with a golden yellow on the wall (BM Pittsfield Buff) since I have black appliances and will ultimately have white cabinets, ORB handles and medium wood floors. The paint color goes really well with the granite.

  • ejbrymom
    14 years ago

    Some colors i think would look beautiful with your granite:
    winterwood BM
    edgecomb Grey (very soft neutral/putty color) BM
    revere pewter (greybrown) BM
    wickham grey BM
    coventry grey (grey blue) BM
    pebble beach (BM)

    you can also bring out the nice warm golden tan color going through your granite to warm up the space. Or something like a golden neutral.

  • cooksnsews
    14 years ago

    I agree with your hub and beekeeperswife. Blue doesn't work at all with that granite. On my monitor, the streaks in it look olive green. Whatever colour they are, I would use that to pick a paint colour. It doesn't have to be that intense, but needs to pick up the base undertone. If you go grey, pick a taupey grey that picks up that golden/olive tone.

  • User
    14 years ago

    Have you considered putting a sandy tan or cream on the walls and bringing in the blues you love through accessories? The thing is, by putting a solid blue backsplash in, you're sort of limiting your options in the future. Tastes change but I'm assuming you want that backsplash to last a while. Another option you may want to consider is more neutral colored backsplash with added embellishments of the blue. I don't know if you've seen this blog before, but it has tons of backsplash pictures that you can go through, maybe youll find one that would work well for your situation.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Back splash pics