You would not be the first one to suffer from getting burned out. That's ok! We've had reveals that have taken 7 years around here!

We've been wondering what happened to you, glad you popped in. Take some pictures to share how things are right now. We are a bunch of suckers for photos. And nobody really cares if the spaces are finished or not...we are that obsessed!

Sounds like you need another little vacation--without the MR. Just leave him home alone and let us take care of the rest! lol

Hang in there, you are doing the right thing by just letting it sit. No sense making decisions when you are not that into it.

Hope to see some pics though!

Bee

Perfectly normal. Glad to hear from you and get your update. Thanks!

I have been so worried about you and I am so glad you are back. I missed seeing those glorious brick arches.

Sorry about your sink. I remember your sink decision well, because my dream sink was also a Kohler Indio. Guess what. Mine arrived broken too! I actually think it was a scam. When I went to buy another one from the same online vendor the price had changed, my "special purchase" sink that I bought for $202, was now $681. I figure they buy a broken sink, ship it to you, you return it because it is broken and then they file an insurance claim with the shipper garnering more than their initial investment! Pure speculation but it is a very plausible theory. Why else wouldn't they replace the broken sink for the original price? I mean they were willing to sell one at that price, why only that particular one?
I eventually moved on to a Silgranite and I am very happy. Happier than I think I would have been with the Kohler. Yes, I would have thought the Kohler more beautiful, but eventually somebody would have chipped it and I would have been mad, and sad, who needs that.
Welcome back. You were missed!

MrsMM!!! So glad to see you back!

I can understand how you feel. I am just his week going to order cabinets, and I already feel like I'm done, mentally, picking things out. But still have the floor color, wall color, lights, etc, etc.

If its functioning for now, then take a break. You'll get excited about it again in time, then it will be fun picking things out again. As long as your happy, that's all that matters.

Hi, glad you checked in. Now, as for all of your other choices - if you have a direction or are torn between some choices - feel free to post pics and ideas as well because we all have opinions and do like sharing them. When you are ready to start making decisions again, the people here are more than ready to help. But in the meantime, I'm glad the kitchen is functioning well.

Hi Mrs. MM!

So, lets work on the paint, and only the paint for now. The rest can rest.

We've renovated/restored numerous houses and there has been a point in each house where I had to take a break from it.

I currently have 2 walls in the sunroom/gameroom with baseboard leaning against them, all that is needed is someone to use the nailer and install them. I can't decide on lighting for that room either so I have a junction box dangling from the ceiling.

You are certainly not alone and until I read your thread, I had forgotten about the molding and lighting in the sunroom. You get used to it and then adjust. Tomorrow my nailer gun comes out. I will finish.

Take it one step at a time. If you hate the paint, then I too think you should figure out what color you would like and then go from there. Would love to see pictures.

We missed you - we were wondering what happened to you.
Don't fret - it is a badge of honor to be an ABsomething - All but backsplash, all but wall color, all but sink.
We can help you with your decisions! I agree with enduring - pick one thing to work on first.

We've all been sick for over a month now. My oldest was nice enough to bring home a cold from school in early December. After 7 days of hacking and sneezing and ear infections all around, we got a 4 day break of feeling better to start over with another cold, significantly shorter duration second time around. The two weeks ago, we get hit with this flu that's going around. It's been pure misery, and I'm just now starting to feel better. The holidays were miserable on both of our families.

We had a small incident in the old kitchen on the 21st of December that required a wall to be rebuilt. My husband tried to burn down the house, but luckily, it was quickly contained and extinguished, and most of the damage was caused by us being overly cautious to make sure all of the fire was out. Because part of the ceiling and the wall were open, we decided to tear everything down to studs and fix it right, instead of fixing temporarily just to tear out a bunch of hard work a few years down the road. Now structurally sound, rewired, and well insulated. But sadly, all of the things in there had to go to the new kitchen and dining room, so it is not worthy of photos right now. Hopefully in the next couple weeks I can get a more recent picture. I never even took a picture of the island after we got it in. I'm not sure there is even a picture of the counter tops in existence. How horrible is that?!

So paint color. I love the color. I do not like it in the kitchen. I don't think it goes well with the brick. I'm thinking either a grey, greige, or taupe might look better with the brick, but then some colors don't look quite right with the floor, and tend to make it look more orange than I would like. Island is a dark brown/warm black color. Counter tops are darker than the floor by a couple shades. Maybe I'll find some motivation to charge my camera here in the next day or two and clear a path.

Love the brick arches, just gorgeous! I think the color is pretty, the brick, the green are all earthy tones. Do you think you may like it better once the room is accessorized and totally pulled together? Otherwise, pick up a small can of paint and try it next to the brick and see if you like it better.

We were all sick here over the holidays too, compliments of my highschooler, makes it harder. Glad your husband didn't burn down the house, sounds like quite the adventure. Looking forward to seeing more pictures.

Here is a paint color that looks like a nice match for what you are describing. It is Sherwin Williams Accessable Beige.

Thanks for the update!!! I know it can be super tedious.

Hope this helps.
Amy

Glad to hear from you even if it is to report little progress....you certainly weren't alone with having a cold for the holidays...many many people I know were also sick.

I'm not a fan of the green either...I'd look to a warm neutral shade that comes out of the brick, or I'd go in the other direction with a shade of blue....

Good to see you, Mrs. MM! Sorry to hear that you all had the crud. Oh, and that Mr. MM tried to burn your house down. ;) Glad to hear that you are all OK and that we were able to get the fire out before it did too much damage. Yikes!

I still swoon when I see that brick work! I agree about the paint and am thinking if you picked up one of the lesser colors in the brick that would be very pretty. Nothing too orangey, though, to fight with that beautiful floor.

So happy you are back--and sorry for the downers. Illness is such a drag, taking the color out of things for a while.
And speaking of color, here is a ''present'' for you.

Some colorized walls for you to play with. Let me know if you want me to do another color or version of these. I just figured out how to do this. Wow! What fun I had playing with your wall. You should see it in magenta!!

I think the first needs to less intense--greyer. The second I would like a little warmer. But maybe enough here to help you know which directions you don't want to go?

Again, welcome back.

Sandra

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Wed, Jan 9, 13 at 14:33

That white door looks hideous. I was happy to see it go. It's still white, but not with the horrible yellow plastic around the window, and it's a true outswing as opposed to the backwards door.

Bellsmom, I appreciate the color pictures. I agree the first is much too peachy for me. Not a huge fan of the blue, I think it definitely needs to be warmer. The third I kind of like, but I'm not sure what it would look like up next to the cabinets. I'll add a picture of the cabinets next to the brick for a better reference.

I started moving some things out of the kitchen today. It was time consuming and I quickly ran out of steam, and now the dining room is an even bigger disaster. I'm thinking that I'll move some things into the family room just to make sure every room downstairs is destroyed before the week is over.

Here is a picture of a pink marble tile that I really liked, and was going to use if I was forced by Mr. MM to use a backsplash. So far, no arguments, so no backsplash. I'm still thinking about going pink on the walls. Like one of the more neutral pinks in the brick. I'm still so unsure. And Mr. MM says I better be 100% positive this time around, because I wasn't allowed to buy more paint for the kitchen for 5 years.

I love brick in a kitchen. ANd I love how copper compliments it. Have you thought about a few accents--just a few pans hanging on the wall or something? I've got exposed brick (although much more orange) and copper hood and a sage green island. It might be that a different green would work better, if you want green. You could also do a search for brick kitchens and see what colors you find...

Good luck and hang in there. I am on week two of a cold that is moving into my sinuses. It's a bad winter!

I love the detail and closeup pictures of your cabinets, beautiful especially with the pink you are showing. I would suggest painting LAST (after backsplash and countertops). That said, if you hate current paint color, by all means paint now and later. (We will pull the mister aside and explain what a small step this is...). I'm so sorry to hear about the fire. One step forward and three back; I know the feeling. I must have missed something because I was a little surprised to see the kitchen as is (looking new!). Is this in a separate portion of the house than your main kitchen? Best, oldbat2be

Don't depend on what I have here. I am strictly an amateur, and I never played with this Photoshop tool before.

I really agree with the suggestion that you paint and do the backsplash last.

But, FWIW
1, I pasted your tile on top of the kitchen pic, sampled the deepest pink in the tile and sprayed it on top of the tile.
2. Then matched that color in the wall and lightened it.
3. So much depends on the light when the pics were taken. I am not sure of the colors.

Anyway, we are both playing here.
Here's a wall with the pink taken from the tile, lightened, and placed on the wall.

How does this look to you?

But keep in mind this is just paint and a backsplash. Get moved in, live with it, and the answer may become obvious.

thanks for the chance to play with your GORGEOUS kitchen.

and I hope you are feeling better.

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Wed, Jan 9, 13 at 22:12

Since I'm doing my entire house by myself on a yoga teacher and waitress income, things move very slowly. Plus, I keep changing things.

(My resolution is to finish ONE. Just ONE project this year.)

Anyway, sometimes I am so overwhelmed and tired I sit on the couch, read blogs and GW, eat Reese's cups, drink wine and nap.

So feel better and don't sweat it. You'll get a bug in your bummy again and go at it with renewed enthusiasm.

Love those arches!
I must say, I am not a fan of the pink. Too Powder Room, too Peptobismo. Or however you spell that. I think it dulls the brick. JMO.

'You would not be the first one to suffer from getting burned out.'

certainly not! I burned out almost before getting started. So much that I decided to just live w/my kitchen - with only a few changes. sink, appliances, putting in flooring (vs living with the subfloor forever), changing out a light, maybe painting the cabs next yr and maybe adding a few more drawers. So far I have 2 out of 3 appliances and part of the floor done. (eyeroll) No lightening speed here.

tell Mr MM to stop trying to burn it down! That's totally different than being 'burned out' on decision making.

don't rush yourself - you'll regret it anyway. the good part is your kitchen IS usable - such a blessing.

and YES, we love (demand) pics or we get whiny!

'sick' is really everywhere. I've been more sick than not since TG. Almost didn't make it to my sister's for that. Didn't make it for NYs and only managed about 2 hrs at Christmas - after which I came home and crawled back into bed. Just managed to get to the PO and mail out presents this past Tues.

I never thought I sould suggest a grey in a kitchen but I do think a warm light grey would look good with the brick and the cabinets. Then depend on other things to bring in color--a vase, a piece of crockery. Look for a very light and airy and yet warm to pink not yellow grey.
And the backsplash would work too. Just remember the walls are to fade away not to be the main look.

I like what Bellsmom did...maybe a bit of a "taupier" pink though? I really love the pink marble.

At this rate, I'm probably a month out from pictures. I moved a bunch of stuff into the dining room over the last few days, and then Mr. MM moves 10 more things back into the new kitchen. After patiently explaining that there was a demand for pictures at least 3 times while moving objects elsewhere, I decided to give up. I still don't feel that great, and I'm sure I'm slowing down progress on the old kitchen, which is probably more important at this point in time as far as keeping wintery weather temps outside. My middle daughter woke up bright and early at 3 am with a fever again, so I'm expecting a long day today. I can only hope it's not another flu or stomach bug. I will seriously cry if it is. I'm still running slow from the flu we had at the beginning of the month.

oldbat2be- the fire was in the old kitchen, near where the old pantry used to reside. It was originally just going to be a pantry, then we got a new wood burning furnace, so the old pantry and the back portion of the old kitchen became the furnace and wood storage room. Turns out the furnace burns a little hotter than expected when the ash pan drawer is left open for a couple of hours without being checked. I was in the opposite end of the house and Mr. MM and children were upstairs watching a movie. I smelled smoke and asked about the furnace. I've never seen the Mr. move so fast down the stairs in my life. He had forgotten and by the time I could get into the kitchen, there were already flames shooting out of the wall. The old kitchen is behind the third arch, closest to the ugly door. Had there been drywall in that room, I don't think there would have ever been flames, but wood ceiling and paneling on the walls was a recipe for disaster.

hollylh- There is copper in the kitchen on occasion. It wasn't really planned, but we put a few hooks in the brick arch above the range to hang the cast iron. It's almost hidden from view unless you're standing at the range and I have a pan hanging there. They get pulled when I get tired of seeing something dangling from the corner of my eye and put in a cabinet. I don't really like to work that hard to keep them looking nice though, and I use them daily.
Bellsmom, I think it's too pink, but it does give me something to look at. Maybe I'll play with my photoshop this morning before the house wakes up.

CEFreeman-I think I've eaten at least 20 lbs of chocolate since October. I was tempted to start drinking wine, but turns out, I really don't like the stuff. The temptation may win out before long though.

I do think I will live with most of what is going on. It's pretty easy to forget about what isn't done once you get using things and dirty it up a little. It would be nice to pick out sinks, but my heartbreak over the Kohler is still fresh, and I can't see myself paying $700 for a sink. I cringe at the thought of paying $200 for a sink. I still don't think I'm going to do a backsplash. I love the pink marble, but I don't want to do tiles at all, because I don't want grout to clean, nor do I particularly care for the look against the mortar on the bricks. I don't really see me paying $$$ for a pink marble slab either. Not to mention that some of the slabs that I looked at aren't near as pretty as some of the tiles and I only bought the tiles because they were $1 on sale and only picked up 6. Maybe one day I'll change my mind, but it's not something high on my priority list.

The paint definitely bums me out more than anything, just because it's the first thing I see when I walk in the kitchen. I don't think I would notice the paint if I liked it. I should be drawn to everything that I love about the kitchen, but instead I focus on the stupid wall color. It's definitely #1 on the list. I'm painting the bathroom soon because we moved a door and had to patch drywall, so I'll just casually add a couple gallons of kitchen paint to the order. He probably wouldn't notice two gallons in the pile of gallons that I have around here anyways.

That fire sounds terrifying. Thank goodness you were home and were able to put it out.

To find the right paint color, how about searching for pink brick on Houzz, and looking for pictures of what goes well/you like? Paint is an easy thing to correct. Once you find something you like, definitely get samples and paint big swatches in different areas in the kitchen, and live with it for a few days so you can watch the color change in different lighting.

Best of luck, oldbat2be

Hampshire Taupe by BM is a pink hued taupe. Maybe someone can photoshop it for you?

Here are a few from Houzz.

This looks a little like remodelfla's suggestion:

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[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by New York Kitchen And Bath Fixtures CCS Woodworks Inc.

I love the black with the pink brick! Painting the door black is an idea.

[

[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Atlanta Architect Thomas Thaddeus Truett Architect

Another taupe:

[

[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Boise Interior Designer Judith Balis

I forget what your countertops will be? (Love the dark colors in these pictures if you haven't decided yet).

The blue in the cabinets is lovely with the brick:

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[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Philadelphia Kitchen And Bath Ironwood Cabinet Design

And some quick photoshopping.

Hampshire taupe:

No color name, just playing with layer, let's call this blue1:

Blue 2:

This is what I have in my dining room, might work well with your brick? Which is gorgeous by the way! Home Depot has little jars of sample colors to try.

Here's some really bad pics of the color on my walls, I took this pic to show our temp kitchen set up while remodeling.

MrsMM
Please know we are sending good vibes your way. And I am sure no one wants you to feel you must try to send pics when your world is all sideways and upside down.
I hope all of the upheavels pass by soon and you can enjoy the creation of your kitchen-to-be again.
OldBats colors are great ideas to play with in your mind. When things are calm again, kids are well again, the house is warm again, rooms are straight again, the idea of painting swatches of color on the wall sounds like a good one.

I love all of the photoshop pics! They truly do help out a lot in narrowing down some of my choices. The countertops are the same walnut as the floors, but a bit darker. I will try to get some pictures taken tomorrow.

I have another door going in at some point, whenever Mr. MM feels up to the task of making an arched door for the pantry entrance. I like the idea of painting the door black to match the island. There really isn't anything else tying the island color in anywhere. At one point I was tempted to paint all of the fillers by the stove and sink the same color as the island, but kind of chickened out.

The way the creamy mushroom color reads on my computer screen is almost the exact same color as the glaze on the cabinets IRL. I haven't been to any home improvement stores for a very long time, but instead all of our travels have been to local woodworkers and sawmills. I intend on sneaking out somewhere soon to pick up some more color samples. I have all of the Sherwin Williams colors circa 2009, but it's just brain overload to look at a hundreds of colors. I'd really like to just focus on a few colors and work from there. Maybe get choices down to 3 or 4 and get actual paint samples. I will bring bricks, a cabinet drawer front, and a scrap piece of flooring when I go. I will get it right one of these days.

I also kind of like the blue #2. Although I typically don't like blue and would probably tire of it in a short time. The cashmere taupe is pretty too, but I'm almost thinking it's too close of a match with the cabinets, or maybe just off a hair. I'm not sure. Choosing paint is hard! It's a lot of sq. footage in one room though. Maybe I should have ordered more cabinets to cover up the wall. It also changes more throughout the day than anything else in the kitchen.

Or maybe I should just live with the green and work on getting some sinks in there. Finish up trim. Silly me forgot to take in wood for crown molding in when I took the rest of the trim lumber in, so that still needs to be done as well.

Oldbat2be-That top eat in kitchen from Houzz was my dream kitchen and in many of my kitchen planning ideas. Love that room! I'm still debating on crystal pendants for a speck of bling in an otherwise...um....rustic, I guess, room. I'm not really sure how you would categorize it.

Mrsmortarmixer (Mr.MM too!), Ctycdm's sneak peak reminded me of your kitchen and you.

If you've already started laying your pink tile, then please read no further (or forgive the comment).

Love the brick in this kitchen, but it would not have the same impact with pink walls. That gorgeous brick in your kitchen is the STAR, I'm worried about anything which might get in the way of this.

Loved the picture of the kiddos and demo, just keeping the romance alive with all these surprises Mr.MM?!

Best, oldbat2be

Here is a link that might be useful: Ctycdm's sneak peak

Oldbat2be, we have not done anything since I posted this. If I could make up my mind on anything, this whole project could have been done 8 months ago, but I can't, so here we are, putting down dining room floors and demolishing a pantry. It's easier just to move onto something you can decide on, I suppose. I don't know why I make this so hard, but I certainly would rather hold off on any decisions than to choose something and hate it for the next 20 years.

So if you think the brick would lose it's star quality with the marble, is there anything you think would just blend with the background and not compete at all with the brick? At this point in time, I'm wiping off splatters off of one coat of satin paint and it's holding it's own. I'm still not completely convinced I even want a backsplash.

Just a thought out of nowhere - have you looked at granite that is black with some flecks of grey/silver and taupe for your countertop? Since you have the stainless and black appliances I think it would perhaps add the neutral you might be looking for against both the brick and light colored cabinetry. Then looking for a backsplash and paint might not be so overwhelming. I can see some further opportunities there already with some black and grey glass tiles and another color (depending on which paint you choose). I'd be leaning toward something like Blue#2 oldbat2be posted with this combination.

Mrs. MM, may I suggest that you hire an ASID interior designer (one with a 4 year degree) to help finish up your glorious kitchen. I'm just a middle income person, but the money spent for professional help has been worth every penny and then some. Lois has saved me from living in "indecision hell." (Where you seem to be residing.) She has helped me to achieve my dream kitchen instead of just a very nice kitchen. Consultation to help with your final selections should not cost that much.

There is an old Duron color called Tumbleweed that I think would look great. I think maybe SW bought out Duron and would know the formula. It's a taupe with a little red in it to warm it up. Worth a look. It was the go to color back when Duron paint colors were so popular for decorators before being sold.

I am prone to wallow in the swamps of indecision too (doing it now in fact!)

Colors are so unreliable on computer monitors; in some photos the bricks do look really a cool pink, but in other shots they look warmer or I seem to see more grays and beiges mixed in. I definitely would try to pull out one of those other gray or beige tones and stay away from pastel pinks and blues. Look at SW Accessible Beige, or Ramie or Softer Tan.

I am sure that there is a blue and a green out there that would work, but it sounds like you are not a fan of blue, and maybe not green anymore!

I have seen some warm grays that I thought really looked wonderful. I never would have expected to like a gray wall but I did

Would picking up the color of the random darker red bricks work, on one wall at least? Especially if you paint some trim black. I have a card with SW Fireweed here -- it's a beautiful rich but slightly browner red, might be too dark but gives the idea.

We already have walnut countertops. Those pictures were taken right when everything was getting done and we were waiting for the wood to come back from getting kiln dried and edged. It does look significantly better than what it does in that picture, but it's all sort of hidden under a layer of demolition shrapnel that always ends up in there. I promise when we get the dining room floor down and maybe some of the pantry assembled, I'll post some more updated pictures. Until then, I'm far too ashamed to admit that I feed my children out of there LOL.

The island is dark brown/black. Also not shown in these pictures.

Texasgal- I think I might be way too cheap to hire anyone. In fact, since we've bought this place, the only service we have paid for was the gas to be hooked up to our line and the septic pumped to see what kind of mess we were dealing with. I'm not even sure where I would find one locally.

gr8day-I will definitely try to find a paint chip or have them mix up a sample.

raee- the bricks definitely have a mix of colors. Looking at them in real life, I would say that the majority of them have a cool grey coat over the underneath colors. The base colors are anywhere from an icy cool pink, to a darker mauve, brick red, beige, cream, and a darker greyish brown. So there is quite a mix of warm and cool in there. I'm thinking I need to really look at the greys, browns, and in betweens. After this green disaster, I'm thinking maybe neutral is the way to go. Or maybe just fear of having to repaint again leads me away from color.

Ok, if most of the tones are in the cool spectrum that is where you'll want to stay, I think.

A light greyish brown could be interesting, especially with your white cabs.

I had a similar issue with the stair and upper hall wallpaper that came with the house; the background is a cool beige with distinct pink undertones. I like the paper okay (would never have picked it myself, though!) l plus don't have the energy to devote to changing it, but I HAD to get rid of the pinky greige trim and ceiling for something more cheerful and light.

I finally settled on Behr Navajo White (although I had it mixed elsewhere, I didn't like the sheen from Behr eggshell). I was surprised that this old standby color would be my choice, actually (of course it is different in every brand) This has been perfect! it comes off as a muted, warm (even though it is a cooler tone) and calm, tones down the pink tones in the paper but not in your face yellow. It is not a deep color, if you want more of a color statement I am sure that it can be mixed double.

After 4 years I am still pleased with it.

I think the brick is cool, the floor is definitely warm, and the cabinets are creamy with pink undertones I think, or at least not yellow at all. Maybe taupe is the color I'm looking for. I'm really not sure. The color kind of reminds me of a glass of milk with a few drops of coffee mixed in.

I'm keeping a running list of colors mentioned. I have to go get stuff for the dining room floor here in the next few days, so I'll pick up some samples while I'm out. I'd really like to knock out the wall color so maybe I could start shopping for lights, sinks, or faucets again. I'm hoping we can find more rooms that need work so I can get momentarily sidetracked for weeks at a time when I can't make a decision.

mrsmm - if you could post a few recent pictures of the kitchen taken from straight on, I can try to photoshop some of the colors for you. You can email them to me and I'll even try to clean stuff off the counters first :)

MrsM, I am not sure where you live, but the Benjamin Moore paint store near me has 2 color consultants that are free. When you go to the paint store try to bring as much stuff as you can, cabinet sample, a brick or two, countertop and flooring samples and some picture that you think are fairly true to life. Talk to the people in the paint store, in my experience they are very knowledgable about undertones and the like and can steer you in good directions.

MrsM
Saw this picture and thought of you. I like how the deep blue looks with the brick and I think the brick color seems similar to yours. Thought I would share.

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[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Libertyville Design-build Great Rooms Designers & Builders

Glad you and family are feeling better.