Does anyone have painted cabinets that aren't white?

8 years ago

For decades, literally, I was always drawn to pictures of kitchens with white cabinets and glass front uppers. I think I may have become saturated though after seeing so many white kitchens on GW. Lately, I have been enjoying pictures of cabs painted in colors. My favorite colors are the greens, blues, purples. I find myself wondering if maybe I would like green lowers if I were ever in a position to do that. Or would I tire of them too quickly because they weren't neutral? What if after a few years I wanted to change the color scheme of my home?

Anyone with painted colored cabinets want to share their experiences? Why did you decide to do it? Any regrets?

Featured Answer

Debbie B.

8 years ago

Hi llucy et al., great thread! To my way of thinking, the great thing about paint is that it is really the biggest bang for your decorating buck! Meaning that, relatively speaking, it's an inexpensive way to totally change the look of something like a kitchen. So if you love green today and two years from now you're sick of it and want purple...it's not like you have to buy all new cabs, you just go get a gallon of paint and change it up! My thing is do what you love! It's YOUR house, and if YOU think it's beautiful, then it's beautiful! My cabs are going to be IKEA bodbyn gray. When I first dreamed of gray, I honestly had no idea it was "trendy." Some say it's on the way "out," but I really don't care if it is or isn't. I love it so I'm getting it. The people who make these decisions about what's in or out don't have to live in my house, but I do.

I admire the all white kitchens from afar. Some of them that have been posted on gw are stunning! But if I had an all white kitchen, the first day I would undoubtedly spill coffee all over and it would be ruined. Ha! But it's true. I am way too clumsy to have an all white kitchen. Or white carpets. Or white furniture. I don't want to be on edge, living in fear of spilling something, in my own home. I like a nice, clean, organized home, but I also like being comfortable and especially with company. If someone else spills or something, I don't want them to feel bad because they've ruined my kitchen or living room. Lol, the ad that's up right now to the right of this post shows a living room with all these gorgeous all white leather chairs. I'd be terrified to have those in my house! :-)

Lavender Lass, I love those pretty knobs! They'll look great on your light blue cabinet!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (23)

User
8 years ago
My friend painted her cabinets a beautiful eggplant color. I am normally not a fan of painted cabinets but hers were lovely. She loves them and has no regrets.
llucy thanked User
PRO
Missi Smith Design Co.
8 years ago
I think navy cabinets are stunning in a kitchen that gets a lot of natural light!
llucy thanked Missi Smith Design Co.
Related Discussions
does anyone have experience with a shower tray and curtain??
Q
Comments (28)
Thank you all so much for your input. Really do appreciate it. (AS - unfortunately the loo has to be on the side nearest the riser that holds the waste pipes - but thank you for taking the time to do the plan). I should probably have mentioned that the shower will be a rainfall one and the pressure isn't great - so it's not a really powerful shower that would definitely flood. What I am looking into now is perhaps a slightly recessed shower tray - harder for water to go up right?! rather than ugly built up sides. A bit like this image bit recessed shallow tray.
...See More
Does anyone know laminate worktop in bold solid colours or geo?
Q
Comments (9)
Maybe an opportunity for a company such as Formica to offer something new?? I am sure there would be lots of interest from architects / interior designers / consumers for something a bit different but with a decent price tag too? Flooring brands like Forbo really showcase how their products can be made modern and contemporary, without having to necessarily mimic another type of finish (although they offer these too I think..?). Wallpaper designs are almost limitless, so why not start designing more creative laminate worktop designs? Printed surfaces are limitless when it comes to creative designs. They don’t have to be complex. Simple, commercially viable to produce, but filling this market gap.... If someone could start designing and producing something for next year I’d appreciate it lol!!!
...See More
would anyone have some ideas on what I can do with this space?
Q
Comments (30)
Yes safety first, but just to be clear, I wasn't recommending a piece able to be climbed on against the handrail. Not only for the safety aspect but because I wouldn't like to look at the side of it through the spindles coming up the stairs. I was banking on there being enough room for it to go along the brick wall, assuming there'd enough depth to open drawers or cupboard doors.
...See More
Does anyone know what colour- The White Company
Q
Comments (8)
It could be any two cool greys from several sources but it may not matter. If you look at for example Farrow and Ball's colours it could be Ammonite and Purbeck Stone which could look very different in different settings or it could be Dimpse and Lamproom grey. In a sense, the most important thing is light because no matter what a colour looks like on a chart or an image, the light in a room can alter it dramatically. If you want cool greys then get one test pot of a pale cool as a starting point and go from there.
...See More
phoggie
8 years ago
Mine are painted pearl...kind of a cream...love them.
llucy thanked phoggie
mama goose_gw zn6OH
8 years ago
The lowers on two sides of my kitchen are 'Dried Hydrangea', a goldish green, with a few uppers and the fridge box to match. The rest are a creamy white. I still like the two-tone color scheme after four years. I love painted kitchens--they seem so much brighter than kitchens with stained wood cabinets. Also, my house is very modest, and I think painted cabinets suit the style.
llucy thanked mama goose_gw zn6OH
desertsteph
8 years ago
I've seen lots of pics of painted cabs on kitchens. green, blue (light and dark), yellow, grey. Some have uppers and lowers different. I've seen teal cabs - I'd love those. or purple - a kitchen pic I saved (not from gw but maybe an ad or something a gwr posted as a sample of cab style, counter top. not for the cab color) had purple lowers. I love those too.
llucy thanked desertsteph
llucy
Original Author
8 years ago
Thinking about this, an advantage of having painted cab's might be that if I did tire of the color after X years, I wouldn't feel guilty re-painting them to go with a new color scheme.

Missi Smith, do you follow the Kitchen Forum? Recently someone posted a few pic's of blue painted cab's on a thread there. I thought, "Wow, I really like those better than white or wood." It's what inspired me to bring up this topic here. :)
jennbo
8 years ago
We just put in painted cabinets that are on the grey side of taupe - stone bluff by Crystal Cabinets. Loving them and balanced them with wood stained island.

I love the idea of navy.

If you want to go with something bold (teal?) - I'd consider it for something that was a statement piece (e.g., island, hutch) versus the overall kitchen. But that is just me.

Do what you love because it will make you happy.
llucy thanked jennbo
scone911
8 years ago
I have green lower cabinets, and white uppers. I think it looks snappy, and it's certainly unique, for better or worse!
Nothing Left to Say
8 years ago
We kept a wall of original built ins when we did our recent kitchen remodel and had them painted blue. (The rest of the kitchen got new white cabinets.)
llucy
Original Author
8 years ago
I love the blue cab's crl!

Scone911- green & white is such a fresh feeling color scheme. I would enjoy seeing a pic of your kitchen if you'd like to share one.
raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Someone posted a kitchen a few years ago in a lovely, soft sage green that I still love. A color like that is almost a neutral to me. I love blue also, and who was it with the fabulous yellow kitchen about 2 years ago?

Mine are sort of a bone, so I didn't stray far from white -- Martha Stewart "Gull" It looks different at different times of day, sometimes more gray, sometimes more cream.

Edited to add: here is the green that I loved; http://finishedkitchens.blogspot.ca/2012/10/lisawis-kitchen.html
llucy thanked raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
writersblock (9b/10a)
8 years ago
Oh crl_, your built-ins make me swoon every time I see them. I'm so glad you were able to work them into your new kitchen design.
Nothing Left to Say
8 years ago
Thanks writersblock! I am glad we kept them too.
Ann Scott-Arnold
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Actually working on them now. Been there done that with white decades ago. The devil to keep clean

THese are a very light tan-grey khaki (the tile backsplash are not easy to work with because 1/2 of them are a deeper shade of that color and other 1/2 are cream)

It is total of 8 coats - primer; base color; 1st glaze of color #2; 2nd glaze is scattered and uneven in color #3 ; 3rd glaze is thinner coat of #2; 4th glaze same as 3rd - then 2 coats of clear gel paste/varnish that is not a gloss of any kind.

End effect is layers of colors that shimmer through and add depth to the color without being obvious

FOr beautiful painted cabinetry, check out the stuff by a Philadelphia area high end custom cabinet maker. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Roger-S-Wright-Furniture-Ltd/177421972291829

He uses the same stuff I do -- Old Village Paints (oldest paint company in the US and considered beyond 'premier' -- my local Benjamin Moore dealer is awed by that stuff after I showed it to him - nothing close to - not benjy, not Sherwin, not big box....)

WHen I get bored with this, they will become Old Village Dressing Table Blue (buttermilk finish so tough you can use it outdoors)
llucy thanked Ann Scott-Arnold
Lavender Lass
8 years ago
The new base cabinets we got for our small remodel were white. The rest of the kitchen is wood...and I did not want to paint everything. So, I'm treating them like a free-standing unit and painting them light blue.

They will also have different hardware. Once we add some flower/vine decoupage to the wood uppers, I think it will look great...and very unique! :)
llucy thanked Lavender Lass
llucy
Original Author
8 years ago
I look forward to your reveal LL. I think I may have seen numerous kitchens that are so similar to the point I'm coming to crave seeing unique.
Lavender Lass
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I know what you mean! I used to love white kitchens. I could still see one (with a lot of blue and plants) if I had a larger space, big bay window and room for a table. And maybe a fireplace :)

In our smaller, northwest facing space (with five inches of snow outside) the wood seems pretty nice. The green walls really help brighten everything up. And I just got some new knobs for the light blue cabinet....here on Houzz. They match the ones I already had from an antique shop. Mom is going to love the yellow!
llucy
Original Author
8 years ago
LL, I live in 1990's "golden oak paradise".

Dated though it may be, I find it warm and comforting on chilly grey days. Especially when chilly grey days turn into chilly grey week after week. :-)
scone911
8 years ago
llucy-- thank you, I will try to get some pictures up when it is more finished; it still needs a lot of work. And at the moment, it's filthy! :)
Shades_of_idaho
8 years ago
I had Cream cabinet frames with the jade green doors drawer fronts. I also had the same cream cabinets with a country blue door/drawer fronts. WE are wood now I am fine with it and it goes well with my backsplash, I have a mixture of painted and non painted furniture in our dinning room kitchen living room which is all open together. I am good with that. I also have different woods. OH my. LOL
llucy thanked Shades_of_idaho
PRO
Mod Punch Designs
8 years ago
I think Navy cabinets are awesome.
Wendy
8 years ago
I agree, the white kitchen are all sort of starting to bland together for me.

My color is supposed to be part of the white family, a pale taupe. Hopefully, I will be able to keep it interesting and different through details.
kitchen: flowing as one space · More Info

Does anyone have painted cabinets that aren't white?

Debbie B.

Comments (23)

User

Missi Smith Design Co.

Related Discussions

phoggie

mama goose_gw zn6OH

desertsteph

llucy
Original Author

jennbo

scone911

Nothing Left to Say

llucy
Original Author

raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio

writersblock (9b/10a)

Nothing Left to Say

Ann Scott-Arnold

Lavender Lass

llucy
Original Author

Lavender Lass

llucy
Original Author

scone911

Shades_of_idaho

Mod Punch Designs

Wendy

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Does anyone have painted cabinets that aren't white?

Comments (23)

Related Discussions

llucyOriginal Author

llucyOriginal Author

llucyOriginal Author

llucyOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

llucy
Original Author

llucy
Original Author

llucy
Original Author

llucy
Original Author