Most of the kitchen is neutrals but we will have a maroon red 3" backsplash in a strong pattern and "baked terracotta" red-brown for paint alongside it. No regrets. Nor for the green apple green on adjacent walls.

I was the one who founded the "Red Freaks" thread last year--can you tell?

I went with color on accessories purely by accident. My kitchen was going to be brown and white. and then I saw this primary colors tablecloth that made me remember being 4 years old...the rest is history.

I'm quite pleased with myself for remembering anything about being 4 years old. I'm at the age where remembering anything at all is cause for celebration.

Here is a link that might be useful: for the umpteenth time- My kitchen

Everything is neutral in my kitchen save for a meadow green tiled wall and a teal tiled wall. Love it.

I think it does have a lot to do with knowing yourself. If you know without a doubt blue is for you~ always has been always will be~ go with your heart.

I have had white cabinets in my kitchens, barn red cabinets, and mahogany colored cabinets, along with walnut stained cabinets. I have never liked wood cabinets so I always end up painting them. I like painted cabinets. This time around I will have two tones of painted cabinets but neutral in color.

I know that I am a changer, not constant, but every 5 years or so I will re-invent my environment or my backdrop to living. I will envision a new color, ideas for new window treatments, or see some cute throw pillows that set things in motion. Things I don't change are "stuff" I've collected or acquired over time, my treasures so to speak. They are usually re-circulated, re-purposed, or re-arranged around the house.

I guess that means I don't love any colors enough to be married to them forever, which is why I feel good bones are important. Color is an accessory in decorating whether it is a wall, counter or sofa. Some of my worst decisions in decorating were picking big ticket items that locked me into a color for years. Changing out window treatments is way easier than changing out a sofa or a carpet. In the long run good design, individual style and a good neutral base (neutrals can be different for every one depending on likes and dislikes)can really go the distance to creating harmony in the home, at least for me.

Everything that is permanently installed is a fairly neutral color: White counters, marble backsplash, wood floors and cabinets. However, we did the walls a deep barn red for color. When we get sick of the red, we have many other color choices that would work and would change the look of the kitchen dramatically.

Here is a link that might be useful:

We had our new custom built kit cabs painted barn red.

Our cabinet stain is, on purpose, quite orange--not pumpkin and not golden honey, but somewhere between. It's the sort of thing that people are remodeling their kitchens to get rid of. We like it.

Our KD (who didn't much like the cabinet stain) came one day near the end of the project to choose a wall paint color. (She's been dead on with paint picks for us so many times that my husband calls her "Color Girl" and wonders if she'll show up in a superhero's cape.) She picked an assertive green, much to my surprise. It had never occurred to me that we were building a green kitchen. And now I have a REALLY green kitchen. We're so glad we trusted her. I love my really green kitchen.

Yes, the walls could be painted a neutral someday if we have to sell. I don't see doing it for us, though.

{{gwi:1589802}}

Yes, I have color in my kitchen at home. Blue with a hint of green. And for one side of the backsplash I used a wide wallpaper boarder with a coastal scene. That was about 7 years ago.

I am getting ready to repaint and we are thinking about selling the house in a couple years, so I am going to tone it down.

All of the kitchen's I did in our investments houses I did as neutral.

Someday we will buy a house for us to keep, and yes that kitchen will have some color.

When you colorful people get ready to sell.......DON'T change the paint color! It will give potential buyers an eye full and if THEY want to change it, they will. You have no idea what color they will like, maybe the color you already have it. Or maybe they are like me and wouldn't have considered your color but seeing it on the walls - well! Wowzers! That really makes the room!

I'm a neutral. Or I was. Until I found that first 1940 tablecloth. So I changed color plans after the kitchen construction was done. But my bathroom is black because I saw the steampunk kitchen here. The rest of the house, yup, you guessed it, all neutrals.

I love color so much I change my kitchen with doses of
color using dishes, accents, windows, wall paint, rugs,
glassware, art...My kitchen is neutral so that I can
play. My kitchen has been red, camel coat, blue wilow, dark
green, light green, potato chip yellow, .... right now they
are so light almost white with a tint of sage green that
brings out the tint of green in my Jet mist granite. I just
finished a fushia bedroom and now I am on to changing a
bathroom. Possibly Nemo orange but I also love Egg yolk
yellow.
~boxer

We just finished our kitchen DIY,,,,,all permanents are neutral,,,cabinets off white, counter uba tuba, backsplash tan subway....walls are currently Wilmington Tan,,,,I am using avacado green and shots of yellow as accents colors right now.....I get a lot of compliments on how warm and welcoming it is.

I had oak cabinets and medium dark green walls for over 10 years before this reno........I was just so sick of it.......I really love now that I can change the entire feel of my kitchen with just a few accessories......

I have permanent color in my kitchen and love it - but I also own three purple coats - it's just the kind of person I am. We went with a blueish Cambria countertop and picked wall color (BM Nantucket Fog) and backsplash (Winchester Teal, Danube and Lace) to highlight the blue. Of course, no one is going to say they hate it but people do ask specifics like what's the name of the paint and counter so I think they really DO like it. The counterop guys loved our choice. They ranted about all the brown counters they installed all time. To them the blue was fresh and different but still nice.

I think the key to color (and neutrals) is to do them well. For every warm and inviting colored space is one that's cheap and garish. Ditto for neutrals - some are calm and elegant but plenty are cold and bloodless.

Colors are easy to do in our house because we have beautiful QS oak and we pick colors to highlight their beauty, not for the color itself to be the statement. If you are really concerned about decorating I would recommend having someone come into your house (it has to be done onsite, really) and give you some guidance. It can be very helpful and reassuring.

Well, you all know our kitchen is colorful! No regrets. It fits with the character of the home. The PO's installed the blue ceramic floor tiles, so we went with it. As much as I love the style of a farmhouse kitchen, I just don't see it working for us here.

In general, no, we are not afraid of color in our other rooms.

Nope. We don't believe in color. ;-D

And this is one of the duller colors in the house!

Some:
Stained glass, during daylight, the brightest thing in the room.

I love color, but just recently learned to really love the power of neutrals! My kitchen will be assorted shades of white and brown and some black. I'm going to have one cabinet painted a very pretty yellow.. I've let the cabinet maker know that its a piece I might end up painting every few years when I get a new favorite color. I'm very exited about it!

I generally go for color in my paint and accessories in the kitchen and will probably do the same in the reno. My current kitchen is a brick red, LR & DR are a grey green (custom mix), and FR is a tan. But, I love colorful kitchens and will probably do so once we downsize our house and retire. Colorful unfitted kitchens just seem to speak to my heart.

Xand83, I love the peek into your kitchen. Can we seem more (in another post)? Would you mind telling me the brand of stainless shelves you used and where you purchased them? TIA!

I just want to point out there is a kitchen disaster thread on the front page posted by someone who chose neutrals at almost every turn, and now dislikes their new kitchen even before it's finished.

I think neutrals can be beautiful if one goes all neutral, adding interest through textures and subtlety. But I think the conventional wisdom that "neutrals go with anything" and "just add pops of color with accessories" is flat-out wrong. First of all, neutrals do not go with everything; most neutral colors have undertones of yellow, purple, blue, peach or whatever, so mixing and matching is not as easy as it sounds. Second, these rooms almost always look like an indecisive person suddenly realized their room was blah and ran out to buy orange towels to jazz it up. Nothing really hangs together.

We have yellow walls, cream cabinets, and blue accents in our current kitchen, and the new kitchen in the new house will probably have the same or similar color scheme. I've always loved yellow walls, and here in northern Alberta, where it's white or gray outdoors from October through April, I need some color inside the house to liven things up.

We farm, so while we will probably rent the house out when we build the new house, resale isn't a consideration for us.

I think Marcolo makes a very good point and it relates to a general *Opinion* I have about the mythology of the use of neutrals.

I tend to see a lot of real estate, and I have noticed there and in a number of the kitchens in here, that there are a lot of neutral palettes that I feel don't really hang all that well together.

This is because of conflicting undertones, as Marcolo has said. The other aspect of this is that just because they are neutrals, I suspect, people combine multiple neutrals, textures finishes, accents and contrasts all together which can make for a somewhat bland and yet chaotic or non-cohesive whole...and then feel they need to add color on top of it --and that color may not related to anything fixed in the kitchen.

I find that I really have to reel people in and remind them that the counters are going to have dishes, appliances, food, and other aspects of daily life and cooking added to the mix so the background may not *need all that much variation in texture, contrasts, accents etc.

I would have an easier time buying a house with a well-considered purple kitchen than one that was neutral but both bland And random (blandom?) Imo.

Yup, I have color. Green lower cabs in the front (Oak on top), yellow cabs in the back. A yellow backsplash. Last kitchen had a different green on the lower cabs and walnut uppers.

Every room in my house has color...red sofa, green and "baked cumin" walls in the living room. Pale green in my bedroom. Soft blue in the guest room. An apricotty yellow in my son's "chill" room. Silvery sage in the spare room/craft room.

There's no doubt that neutrals are inoffensive to everyone and that it's easy to pop them up with color accents. But if you know you love a color and feel happy with it around you, there's absolutely no reason to wimp out and not go for it.

IMO, Lavendar...you love blue. You've been consistent about it from the get-go. It makes you happy. You're going to live with this kitchen for a long time. Unless you know in your heart that you're a fickle lass and will hate blue in a year and love red, because you love color in principle more than you love blue, go for it.

And by the way, my previous house was also quite colorful. And it sold, even in this market, on day 1.

Yes, have an accent wall in ours. Even kept it with the update accomplished this past winter. It gets many positive comments from family and guests. Wall colors are only paint however our update included painting the existing cabinets to contrast with dark granite counters (which are more permanant).

No second thoughts so far other than I wish the housing market would have justified a more major redesign/remodel.

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Album

Well, I have white and cherry cabinets with marble and black granite counters, stainless fridge and cooking appliances, white subway splash with 3 rows of pencil liner (2 blue and one pewter) -- oh yeah, and an 8 ft wide, 10 foot tall wall of cabinets to the ceiling (minus the fridge) in deep blue. It's onthe more permanent side, but I love the color, have never in my life tired of blue (except baby blue), and I feel like it makes the kitchen mine and ties it into the rest of the house instead of just being all white or all wood. A subsequent owner could either treat it like a neutral and bring in more of another color or paint that one wall.

Currently my entire kitchen--all cabinets, doors, countertops is old formica butcherblock from the 70s (when it successfully strove to be far more lurid than the real thing), so I guess you could say I have plenty of color, and not in a good way. :)

But I totally agree with the posts about the neutral colors myth. There's a house up-island from me that was very charmingly redone during the frenzy with kiwi colored walls and a watermelon front door and lots of tropical plantings. It was such a delightful little house, but it went the way of all charm once it got listed. The realtor made them paint it white and it's just been languishing on the market forever--just another boring house now. I'm 100% sure it could have sold in a reasonable time with the fun paint scheme. For one thing, it said that people loved the house, and that suggests that care was taken, which is a point that never seems to come up in these "go neutral" discussions.

Yes. Lots. And I still love it after all these years.

My yellow range is considered a neutral. Who'd thunk?

Yes, we have a lot of color in our kitchen:

Do we have color in our kitchen? YES!

I am a blue lover--particularly shades of periwinkle, and I have loved it as long as I can remember. I also love shades of aqua and shades of yellow.

We have blue walls, blue pearl granite, and a mosaic above our cooktop that has frosted blue glass and marble, with the rest of the backsplash being white. As for accents, I have black and white accents, with punches of blue and aqua here and there. Our cabinets are a creamy white-with a teensy hint of yellow. Our stairwell that is open to the kitchen is a buttery yellow.

I feel so happy and peaceful in my kitchen. If only we could finish it.... *chuckle*

You bet! Color(s), whichever, as many, and whenever I want them. My kitchen's mostly white with a dark honey colored pine floor. The honey tone is carried up in the wood counters and the pale creamy walls, and the white of the ceiling and woodwork are white warmed with honey. The backsplash is painted wall, the "permanent" accents the field and woods viewed through long runs of window over the counters. I can and do put any colors with this--and remove them all, too. It's about time to put away winter's red, cream, and gold for...haven't decided. The fruit trees outside are about to bloom in pinks and white, though, and I don't want to clash with them )for the whole 10 days or so). Last summer it was nice and cool with my MIL's silver serving pieces and green in and out.

@Flwrs n co: Haha- Yes, I actually posted the finished kitchen today. I think it's the only thread with "Orange" in the title. The shelves are Elfa. Sold only at The Container Store. Pretty basic. We used them in a large master closet and like them so much, we used them in the kitchen. Enjoy!

Um, yes I have color. I started out trying to get this serene look in my small kitchen in an old house.

Unfortunately, my attempt to replicate this subtle palette ended up looking dead at night. So here is where I ended up, as of this afternoon.

Yikes.

Oh, dear.

Is that someone crying on the floor, or cowering?

Oh, dear.

Is that someone crying on the floor, or cowering?

LOL Marcolo!

I love BLUE! I chose blue cabinets. Even my cat is blue.

I lived with beige for 14 years. The cabinets, flooring, back splash, counter tops, and walls were all boring, relentless, cold oatmeal beige.

I don't care what any future owner thinks of it. Obviously the previous owners didn't consider my sensibilities!

Honorbiltkit -- I pausing and saying "wow, I love it" as I scrolled down and was surprised to see the "yikes". I think it's cool.

Honorbilt:

Your kitchen reminds me of Maine Cottage furniture: have you seen their website? It's traditional furniture in saturated colors.

Love color! Here's our plan for our modern kitchen - signal yellow Culinarian range (huge commitment to color there!), tomato red hutch, cosmos blue pull-out pantry wall, Carrera marble ledge, cherry end-cut butcher block island, stainless steel countertop, some stone (not yet picked out) c'top for the hutch. The neutral will be the warm gray lower cabs. Very, very different from most of the traditional kitchens but we think (we hope) it will sparkle.......will post pics someday when it is done!

Honor-- I think that blue just "looks" like its too much. If you accessorize to go long with that color, either matching it, or complementing it, it may be really fabulous. As the stand alone color in the monochromatic kitchen at the moment, its a bit more shocking.

Cooksnsews-- I think perhaps --I don't care what any future owner thinks of it. Obviously the previous owners didn't consider my sensibilities!---
is my new motto!!! LOL I totally agree :)

Lavender-- I hope these replies are boldening your faith in your eclectic blue and white french/english/cottage/garden/romantic/FABULOUS kitchen plan. :)

My kitchen reads like a black and white photo. Unless I add in color with accessories (flowers in a vase, veggies or fruit in a bowl on the counter, tablecloth) you would think you were looking a b/w photo. Especially since I have gray walls & curtains!

The reason that I did this was because I wanted to be able to change out my paint color and not have something that would not work with be a permanent part of the kitchen. I almost went with a really great tile for my backsplash that as it turned out was the same color as my wall. (see srg215's backsplash, I live vicariously through her). But I decided that if I want to change the room by just changing curtains and paint, I can do that.

I didn't choose this "safe" color scheme with future buyers in mind. I chose it with my desire to change things in the future. I mean, I often look at my house and imagine the buyers that will go running due to the fact that I have a nearly black high gloss ceiling in the 2 story foyer! They won't even make it into the kitchen!

AT THE RISK OF SEEMING DEFENSIVE --

marcolo, have you never seen anyone genuflecting in awe while pretending to install a drain?

kris ma, many thanks. I am somewhere between thrilled and alarmed by the color, but I am going to try to live with it before I either tone it down or change it.

palimpsest, many thanks to you as well. Now if anyone asks, I can say I am going for the Maine Cottage look. I hadn't seen that site before, but much of the stuff is wonderful.

noebee, I am so hoping that you are right. I am definitely going to try to see if I can make it work before I mess with the color in any way. The house is small and funky, and the turquoise is a way of acknowledging that fact.

Everyone, can you think of a better way of diverting attention from 417 odd things hanging from the ceiling than having a pair of large screaming blue cabinets on the horizon?

Honor,
I like the turquoise. When things are in place, the turquoise won't scream as much. When you're done, submit pictures to Erin at House of Turquoise.

Just an FYI for you or anyone looking to do the same match to the inspiration picture, the main cabinet color needs to be more of an off white with a yellow undertone. The wall color the very softest, light yellow or cream, the blue a more grayed down shade, more like French Blue, and the counter a grayer, chalkier soapstone - not oiled it looks like to my untrained eye.

I LOVE color. I have fully embraced Christopher Lowell's "No White Walls" in my 4 houses. My problem is that I'm very fickle. I like to think of it like Picasso's color periods. Of course, DH will argue it's NOTHING like Picasso and the only thing we have in common is our Spanish blood, I'm sorry, I digress.

So, I'm in a gold neutral with green accents period now. But I'm feeling the siren's call of turquoise/aqua and orange. But, it's not an easy combo to pull off. I tried it in one room, with a robin' egg living room but ended up back in gold neutral. I'm going to try again in the kitchen, but on accents. I'm going creamy white and light on walls and cabinets. Not because I want those to be neutral, but because my kitchen tends to be dark and cave like. It's mainly north facing, so the colors always read cooler in here too. I think the lighter warm toned colors will help bounce light around the room making it feel airier than the heavy, dark oak did. I'm planning to go with some type of turquoise-y color on the island. I'm not totally sure yet, I've only changed my mind about a dozen times since Friday ; )

I'm not done. I'm the one in charge of painting the cabinets, soooo, ya never know until I'm finally done. Here's some inspiration...

My great-Aunt had a Mustang that color, as well as a square bathtub and vanity top in her bathroom. I think the way you have done it is effective, and it could work either way, with other spots of color or with everything else white...and those two cabinets could be any soft or intense color under the rainbow and it would also work, I think. I would probably not use the turquoise anywhere else and have that sink area be a stand alone statement whether I introduced other color or not.

Kathy- I love your paler aqua kitchen. The farm sink is wonderful, as is the faucet. I'm thinking that the pale aqua color (with maybe just a hint more blue) will be perfect for my island. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos :)

Honor- I really like the turquoise! I think once you tie in some turquoise accent pieces on the shelves...and maybe some fabric...you're going to LOVE it!

Noelle- Thanks for the encouragement...here, and on the other post!

It's interesting to read about everyone's color choices. I like neutrals, but I also want some color. Maybe it's smarter to keep all the 'permanent' surfaces neutral, but I really want to do something fun with the backsplash and have some color on the countertops. Too much neutral can be a little boring :)

I was going with neutrals and planning on the splash of color being the backsplash.

Then I got distracted and put in Moonson Wave soapstone. This stuff is loud and green - I tried bringing in more green to balance but that wasn't working as it overwelmed the rest of the colors (and they are all installed) now I'm looking at a beige backsplash and walls to match, and using accent peices to go with the green.

Do I have color? I LOVE color. I have a red range, yellow walls, a red brick wall with 3+ other colors on it, and lots of movement with my typhoon bordeaux Granite. I calmed things with my off white backspash plus cherry cabinets and oak floors. In other parts of my house I have a red dining room (well I still have to paint it), an orange sitting room, a purple room, a green office, blue bathrooms, plus other colors. I don't have one beige wall. I get lots of compliments and I don't think it's overwhelming. Did I mention I love saturated color?

I saw this cartoon last week and thought about white kitchens on the GW. Couldn't find a place to use it. But now is the moment...as a color person, my muses tell me this is the spot to post it!

White kitchen people, change that maraschino in the panel to Honorbilt's blue, or any other color of your passion.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brevity Cartoon -- accent color with white

OOOH, I am totally digging on that Maine Cottage furniture!

Honor, I love color, and that turquoise is waaaay fun! What a statement! Add some punches of bright turquoise and you will love it! Definitely a kitchen that makes you smile!

It seems that Maine Cottage Furniture is no more - foreclosed on by their bank - all customers lost their deposits.

I Love Honor's turquoise cabs too - I would paint the window trim between them the same to tie it all together, maybe paint that wall a nice faded sunny yellow.

I LOVE color too and plan to add it in my kitchen as well. I have a red Chambers stove and I want ultra glossy aqua or pale blue upper cabinets. I plan on having a glossy red stand-alone tall dish cabinet as well. My colors are red (stove), Jadeite and pale blue and aqua. I think I'll go with the pale blue cabs and jadeite backsplash and use my aqua stuff as accessories. I do LOVE that picture of pale aqua cabinets in the sunny yellow room, though!

Neutrals - the floor - this is one area I would not go crazy with - very expensive to change. Of course, if I lived in a Spanish Mission bungalow, that'd be a whole other story ;) We put in custom milled long-plank random width Sassassfras wood. Currently it is a pale yellow / light orangey brown, but it darkens with age. I'm ignoring it in the design of the kitchen (it goes directly into the family room). We did purchase two red folk art floor mats made of neoprene from Plow and Hearth - one in front of the patio door, the other either in front of the sink or stove. They go really well with my Swedish and Polish folk art (which I MIGHT display on a plate rail above the header).

The walls are a medium-dark (I really expected it to appear darker) green-grey, but once the cabs and backsplash go in the paint will mostly be in the family room. The dining room on the other side of the kitchen will be a steely aqua to match the upholstery (a shimmery steely aqua with dark red flowers and gold stems). It is an impossible color to match in a paint (changes in the light / shadow). I might use Ralph Lauren's metallic paint.

My other "neutral" in the kitchen is stainless steel - I plan one wall to be all stainless appliances with glossy pale blue uppers at the ceiling. The kitchen will be an "L" with an island. The base cabs on the other wall will be either stainless (expensive) or a dark matte charcoal. For the island, I'm not sure, maybe more glossy red or even stained wood. The raised bartop will be butcher block. The rest of the counters will probably be either soapstone or concrete.

Wait! Going neutral is the "smart" decision? Why didn't anyone tell me that?
:)