I’ve had my kitchen decorated this way for 3 years but it’s too dark
Help, need to lighten up the kitchen walls, it’s a long narrow room (9m x 3.5m), with only window at dining room end. The kitchen is painted f&b drawing room blue with black granite tops. The walls and ceilings are painted Zoffany silver grey and stripped wooden floor with white woodwork.
It’s east facing, need more light, suggestions please.
Comments (16)
Carolina
4 years agoLovely kitchen! Agree with minipie: I'd paint the walls (and ceiling?) white. You could paint the end wall with chalkboard paint, which you can get in many colours, but black would be good too, And I'd hang some framed prints on the radiator wall. The glass will reflect light too, but it's more interesting than a mirror.
Is the roller blind for privacy or for screening the sun? If you want privacy, you could apply a band of window film at eye level, so people walking past can't see in very easily, but the cats (?) can still see the world pass by.
For example (I'm looking at these on my laptop and if I move my mouse over them, you can see they are more transparent than they seem at first) https://abodewindowfilms.co.uk/product-category/privacy-window-film/page/4/
Erica Carr thanked CarolinaRelated Discussions
Make my room more family friendly
Comments (42)Hi Janis Unfortunately I am not in the Boston area - I live in Ireland! Yes there are red items in 3 of the main rooms, the kitchen, sitting room and tv room (library) - although we have pared those back now and it's not as overwhelming. thanks for all your help everyone, i really feel like it's made a big difference and am excited to finish the tv room and then refresh the play room. do you think I should move the piano to the sitting room? and would the jazz painting work in the tv room? speak later, thanks!...See MoreMake my room more impressive
Comments (127)Lots of ideas....couldn't resist adding my two cents. i copied your photos and did a little cut and paste- it's messy, but hopefully gets the main idea across. i'd put your sofa in front of the large book case, chair by the fireplace, tv on the stand on the wall opposite the fireplace - so you can either look at the fire or the tv. Someone suggested using frames of one color for your photos - an inexpensive way to do that would be to spray paint them all a dark color-black goes with everything. Since your shelves are a medium tone wood, display things that are dark or light so that they contrast against the wood. Limiting your display items pallette to a few values usually helps to unify things. (I think that's why so many people want to paint the shelves or put inserts in the back to help your nice things read more clearly...some get lost). If you want to "splurge" -you may consider having a carpenter make a few solid tall cabinet doors to provide a visual break in the shelving. I'm showing 3 doors - 1 on the right side of the fireplace and 2 on the left to leave two open vertical shelves for display on each side - with things arranged to frame the fireplace as the focal point. To add some height to your big vases, consider stacking some books beneath them. Enjoy experimenting untill you get something you're happy with - good luck!...See MoreHelp with my living room
Comments (791)I've been thinking of you,Fragle - I remember those sleepless nights when the babies first came home and everyone was sleep deprived but life-as -always still had to go on, esp for Mommy. So happy for you that you have a 'good' baby, I love the name too:-)...See MoreHelp for my kitchen please.
Comments (9)Hi Mary, I'd say remove the wall tiles and replace them with a glass splashback the whole way round or have a matching granite upstand put in and simply paint the walls. Splashbacks are my favourite as they tend to add some light to the kitchen thanks to its reflective surface. Also another idea would be to play around with lighting, which is getting more and more popular in kitchens now, such as LEDs under your wall cabinets, on top of your cabinets or along the plinth. The added lighting just adds a little something special to the kitchen and more importantly it doesn't have to cost the earth either! Another lighting option could be to go with the industrial lighting craze right now and get something put right above the island which would really add character to the kitchen too! Marius...See MoreErica Carr
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
Maths Wife
4 years agoWe have lumpy bumpy walls, 'old cottage'. Go with a matt white it hides all sorts and will look lovely.
I would change the tiles for plain white, and paint the walls & ceiling plain white too. It will lift everything.
Erica Carr thanked Maths Wife
Sarah U-S
4 years agoYour kitchen is gorgeous!
Ours is similar in layout and darkness. We went with f&b Dimpse for the cabinets as it’s very light. I’d love a lighter worktop too but can’t justify replacing perfectly good granite. Likewise we have dark flooring (slate) - I’d love a parquet floor but again can’t justify scrapping something that is perfectly ok. We’ve painted our walls pure white and it’s fab. (And cheap). Photo not the best as it was taken at night - however the wall and cabinet colours have most definitely lightened up the whole room.
Erica Carr thanked Sarah U-S
Jules Mc
4 years agoI wouldn't paint the cabinets, unless you have them professionally done., and I love the colour as they are. Agree about the white walls: go for a chalky effect plus lots of texture, different wooden breadboards, stone pestle and mortar etc to echo rustic effect on imperfect walls.
I'd also try a light colour washable outside rug/runner to lighten the floor . Think it will look fab.
Erica Carr thanked Jules McErica Carr
4 years ago
rinked
4 years ago
Reload the page to not see this specific ad anymore
Carolina