Keeping my existing cabinets is a decision I’ve second-guessed a few times as I work on this kitchen remodeling project. There are several details of layout and design I would like to be different if I was starting from scratch in the kitchen. I briefly considered total cabinet replacement, but realized that wouldn’t work within my goal of a low-cost renovation– particularly if I wanted to replace all the beautiful natural cherry with a similar grade of wood.
But if keeping the kitchen cabinets was the right choice for my budget, I have wrestled with how best to make the cabinets feel updated. Painting the cabinetry is a popular DIY choice these days, and painted kitchen woodwork would be a more historically correct choice for my bungalow than lots of natural cherry. Historic or not, however, the cherry is such a beautiful, premium material I just couldn’t bring myself to paint over it. Painting inside it, however, is a different story.
Several of my upper cabinets are constructed with glass door panels, and the cabinets themselves are backless against the wall. This means that I can just paint the wall at the back of the cabinets and get a lot of the visual impact of color while leaving the cherry cabinets unpainted.
Selecting paint colors is a job I choose to delegate to my friend Molly. I’ve wasted too much time and money on the wrong paint, and her picks are always better than anything I had in mind. That said, I got impulsive with this one and decided break my own rule by making a color selection of my own. For some color inspiration, I looked to a plate I found at an occasional sale that is displayed on the kitchen wall.
With the plate in mind, I used the online Color Selection Tool at True Value Paint to find a color like the plate that was closely related to the color on my walls. Picking colors online is tricky, but I knew that even if they didn’t look exactly right on my monitor, related colors should look good in person. The screencap below shows the related number codes and colors between my wall color , Seedling 21C4, and my selected cabinet accent color, Victory Lap 21D4.
When I went to the hardware store to buy the paint, the clerk confirmed for me that not only were the paint codes similar, most of the pigment colors and quantities in the accent I chose was identical to the wall color. With such similar formulation, the colors would have to play well together, right?
Two coats of paint later, I reassembled the interior shelves and put back the dishes, glasses, mixing bowls and serving pieces. Against this new colorful background, my dishes suddenly popped out visually like they hadn’t before. To enhance this effect and make the cabinet contents look snappy and uniform, I removed things we didn’t use often and pared down the colors of my stuff to either white, stainless steel, and clear glass.
It was after dark when I realized that I didn’t have a photo of the wall and cabinet colors together, so this final image captures the two colors side-by-side, though the lighting was pretty lousy:
For my first self-selected paint color in a while, I think this one turned out well–and Ms. Bungalow likes it, too. The new paint and the monochromatic shelf contents combine to give the old cabinets the updated look I was aiming for, while also costing less time and money than replacing or painting the cherry cabinetry.
I'm Josh and since 2005 I have shared home improvement stories and ideas from my family's Arts & Crafts bungalow in Minneapolis, MN. I'm trying to combine the best of 1923 with the best of the 21st century-- and I hope it won't take another 88 years to do it.
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Oh wow, they look fabulous!!
I think it’s perfect. Cheers Aimee
Neat! You’re so lucky to have those beautiful cabinets! Ours are from the 70s likely, so I had no problems painting them! Is that a green or a taupe-gray in the cabinet?
The new paint is definitely green, Janelle, though you’ve identified the trouble I had getting pictures that captured the colors well. On my monitor, the screencap of the online paint selector is too desaturated, so the yellow wall looks beige and the green cabinet paint looks gray. The colors in the final picture are a bit too vivid, so reality is somewhere in between.
They look great. We’re considering doing something very similar with our backless cabinets. Green was a cool color decision.
Cool. I’ll have to look for that one, Reuben.
Looks great, but can I ask what color you used for the adjacent wall?
The yellow color on the kitchen walls is called “Seedling” from the True Value paint collection. The paint code is 21C4. For more on the kitchen wall paint, check out this post: Painting The Kitchen.
Cool, thanks. We currently have a similar green color in our kitchen (and bathroom), but looking for a change.
I think they look outstanding.
Kitchen looks great. We really enjoy your blog!
Very pretty! Nice color.
Can’t believe you even for a fleeting moment considered painting those cabinets! My boyfriend’s 1934 original cabinets were originally stained wood as were my 1914 cabinets. Both painted now unfortunately. Mine have tongue and groove backs so the Beadboard wallpaper from England (not the American stuff) might look good if you have any more to do .
I think the colour looks fine and I’m sure you’ll use some textile to pull all those colors together, although the plate may do that.
It’s amazing how incremental changes can create such a differnt feel!
Teresa
Even though it’s not my house, I am so glad you didn’t paint the cherry! The color you selected looks marvelous. Job well done!
Beautiful! I’m glad you kept the wood as-is! It’s cherry wood! A fine material, indeed.
Amazing colours. really nice
I absolutely love the green inside the cabinets, i would never have thought of trying it! looks great!
door251.blogspot.com
Looks great!!
door251.com
Even simple things can add a touch of beauty into a space. In this post, the green paint added a classic touch. Great job!
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