Kitchen wall colour, please help!

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I have a cotton white shaker kitchen with egg shell finish. I went for a granite carrera work top which has a grey grain in and splash backs. The walls are currently painted white. It's still not fully finished, no flooring and kitchen isn't entirely finished. But I feel like something is missing, like the colours need to tie together.

My dilemma is, should I paint the walls a very light grey or leave them white and tile them with the below tiles? But I'm not sure splash backs suit tiles? Can anyone help?!? I'm thinking maybe I made a mistake and should've got white kitchen cupboards :-(

ps - we are getting grey tiled but in wood effect flooring

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Juliet Docherty

6 years ago

Hello Katie. Are you concerned that the white of the cupboards doesn't go with the worktops/walls? Firstly I would not think about wall tiles just yet, but focus on tying it together. Are you able to load a photo of the kitchen with the flooring sample? What aspect is the room? Also when you say cotton white, is that a brand colour? This is all about the undertones of colours (ie warm cream undertone/ cool violet undertone etc).

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Comments (15)

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FifteenFifteen
6 years ago
Hi Katie,

I wouldn't advise tiling the walls as it would detract from the Carrara worktop and the splash back. The best thing to do would be to paint the walls in a pale grey that picks out the greys in Carrara. In terms of choosing the white cupboards, soiling could be a problem so these might have to be repainted eventually so it's best to keep the initial palette as simple as possible so you could add another colour in the mix at a later stage.

Hope this helps and best wishes,

Natalia
Katie Charlotte thanked FifteenFifteen
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Daisy England
6 years ago
I too would suggest painting the walls in a light grey. Definitely don't bother with wall tiles. You could also have a feature wall in a different colour if you wanted to inject more colour into the kitchen.
Katie Charlotte thanked Daisy England
Katie Charlotte
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks so much for your advice. I bought the tiles and then when I was looking into it And thought maybe it's a bad idea.

The colour is called linen white sorry, not cotton! It has a slight cream undertone, that's the most detail I can get regarding the shade of colour from looking on Wren kitchens website where we purchased the kitchen from.

I am just waiting for a sample of the flooring so I'll post it shortly!

Now it's finding the right light grey to use. I'll get a load of samples and paint them onto the wall this week.

Thanks again for your advice. Katie
Katie Charlotte
Original Author
6 years ago

Yes, I was worried the worktops didn't match the units.

See image of the plan if the kitchen, the other end is an open plan diner, would you agree to carry the light grey all through to the diner as well?

In the dining area we have a built in seating area, see below. Ignore the red arrows. This is for the aspect of the kitchen.
Midcenturylass
6 years ago
You could colour match the kitchen units or the worktops to the wall colour, but whatever you choose, I would continue it to the dining area walls. I would jazz up the dining area though, by painting the inbuilt seating a deep colour like inky blue. And also adding some artwork in that area. You could make padded seating cushions in a ticking stripe material, which would make a nice Scandi vibe.
Katie Charlotte thanked Midcenturylass
Juliet Docherty
6 years ago
This is one of those colour conundrums. The cupboards have a cream (warm) tinge and the marble is reading as violet (cool) and they are accentuating each other. They are also tonally quite similar. I would fix the expensive things first - ie. get the flooring right. At the moment it is looking a bit insipid and it needs some dark tones to make it work. I would hold fire on paint until the flooring samples are in. If you do get paint test pots paint them onto large pieces of paper so they can be moved around. At the moment it looks like the seating area could look good painted a darker gutsy tone as it gets lots of light and it would make a TV blend in. Certainly some wood would help.
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Katie Charlotte thanked Juliet Docherty
minnie101
6 years ago
Hi. It looks a great room. It might be worth getting a tester of farrow and ball shaded white as seen here with the same tones as your kitchen. I've also copied a link showing it in different aspects etc. You could consider a darker shade for the utility wall and the tv and logs (?) alcoves (or just a dark wall light similar to colourhappys first pic could look great on the utility wall). Agree some wood, a couple of dark accessories and some texture will look great but it makes sense to try the paint with the floor

http://moderncountrystyle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/farrow-and-ball-shaded-white-colour.html
Katie Charlotte thanked minnie101
Juliet Docherty
6 years ago
That is a great article, I have seen it before. I have Shaded White in my lounge and it's very versatile, but can read as a bit greenish in my house. It's also worth looking at Little Greene as I think they have the best range of cool/neutral/warm whites. Plus they do oil based eggshell.
Katie Charlotte thanked Juliet Docherty
Katie Charlotte
Original Author
6 years ago
Ooo that looks a great possibility. There are two undertones to this colour green and grey. I'd say green complimenting the cupboards and grey the work tops.

Lots of colour testing to do on paper once I have the flooring sample and it laid.

Yes I definitely need dark accessories. I was going with copper as I am going to have two pendant lights over the breakfast bar. Do you all think copper as the accessory colour would work? I am having an oak kitchen door and dining table with an oak bench. Seating area I was thinking paint a light colour but reupholster with a dark blue shade (now decided from your advice) and then tile the inside of the log fire background in a patterned dark blue tile?

Thank you
Juliet Docherty
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I would be tempted to paint that whole area dark just because you can create a different atmosphere. It's light enough to take it during the day and at night would be fantastic with candles. Blue tiles sounds amazing, are they the fired earth ones?

http://www.firedearth.com/tiles/range/andalucia/hacienda
PRO
Christine Harrison Fine Art and Mosaics
6 years ago
I would wait til you have floor in place - it may dramatically alter your choice. Whenever I have colour conundrum I take a look around for favourites - it may be a dress a painting, a cushion, something that makes you smile when you see it. Gather these things up and just place them against your kitchen just to see if you get an ah ha! Moment. It's your kitchen, not a showroom :)
Katie Charlotte thanked Christine Harrison Fine Art and Mosaics
Katie Charlotte
Original Author
6 years ago

Hi all, so I have bought lots of paint samples and I don't think the farrow and ball shaded white makes the cut. I have put together some pictures, what are your thoughts?

Excuse the messy (builder) background, trying to do this while keeping a 6 month old entertained was quite a challenge!

I have put in the sample of our flooring, ashen oak. We need to paint the walls before the floor is layed.

At the moment I'm thinking Silver Thistle down is looking the best?

Many thanks

Katie
Juliet Docherty
6 years ago
I agree. The shaded white is looking too beige next to the marble. Sliver Thistle Down looks good with the floor too.
Katie Charlotte thanked Juliet Docherty
jrbertin
6 years ago
I agree, go with the Silver Thistle Down. It looks a lovely colour. I also agree with not doing any tiling. Keep it clean and simple. You can add other colours with flowers or a vase etc.
Katie Charlotte thanked jrbertin