apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I really like the blue and orange combination. It seems very mod to me. You could also add some plants to add interest.

N.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

Blues look fabulous with bright orange! The suggested color palette reminds me of one of my favorites at Colour Lovers:

http://www.colourlovers.com/palette/92095/Giant_Goldfish

that's a great palette. Since she's painting I would recommend painting out those window frames too.

I've been trying to figure out how to conceal my own horribly depressing fluorescent fixture in my kitchen, and I think I've got something that might work for you:

Could you hang a stretched canvas (of some more-or-less translucent fabric/paper/etc. ) from the ceiling just below the light? I bet linen or a heavy watercolor paper could look really gorgeous, or even a painted canvas, if the paint is sufficiently thin.

(I feel like this was on thekitchn.com or someplace on AT in the past couple of weeks...)

i agree with spossberg. if the owner/management is ok with painting the walls, i'm sure the windows would be fair game. a nice crisp white would really make them pop from the blue walls...

You can buy higher quality fluorescent tubes that have a different (warmer) color temperature to help with the green glow.

I really like that blue with the orange. It would make those random orange tiles make sense instead of looking like an afterthought.
I also agree with bloo_mountain about covering the flourescent light with some kind of diffuser. I have the same problem in my rental, but putting up a pretty diffuser and taking off the dated gross plastic 'lens' over the 2 blubs would probably slove my problems.

I say go for it!

I also agree with white window frames. It would look so sharp! This inspires me to paint my kitchen... perhaps I'll call the ol' landlord next week.

I love the blue. I think it would tame the brighness of the orange and also would make the kitchen cool and relaxing. And I don't you should paint the the window frame because wood is always on fashion and finger mark are always more evident on white than wood. Anyway you just gave me idea with my own ugly kitchen.

Yes, agree with others that the blue is great. But I would definitely paint the window frames white. We have white frames and they look infinitely better than "natural" wood. If you use a gloss, it's very easy to keep clean and would make the kitchen look finished.

no, no, 1000 times no. please don't paint the wood. i have lived in far too many apartments where beautiful wood has been painted over (where everything has been painted over for that matter - light switches, nails in the wall, etc.)

how about cutting that thin paper they use in Japanese laterns and using wallpaper paste over some parts of the light. Bright big blue stars with the orange? Or you could buy gallery glass paint, and paint over the light in a design, craft stores or online for this one. you can also use liquid leading and make it look like stained glass lead and then do the gallery glass paint within the tiles.. It could be a mod design or traditional. You could also do Flor tiles (removable) or sew together the cheap ikea rugs to make a big rug in color. I wouldn't paint the molding you will get in trouble for that

Bloo_mountain, is this what you were thinking of?
http://modernself.com/?p=281

Blue does work well with orange, it really amps up the orange color. But just a note, blue on the wall is going to amp up the orange in the wood as well.
The color palate that AT suggested looks great, but that brown on the end doesn't seem to be an accurate reflection of the wood color in the kitchen. Just a heads up. :)

if you like the wood window frames, leave em. If you don't like them, paint them. Whatever you prefer.

Oy, one of my pet peeves: wood trim like that. But I doubt the landlord would allow it, even if they are open to repainting the walls.

Since all the trim appears to be wood, I would not paint the kitchen trim white. While I prefer white, I think its better to be consistent. Plus, as a renter, it seems like a little too much work.

Wow, those orange tiles certainly are... random. That blue is a great choice though!

I agree with whoever said to change the bulbs in the fluorescent fixture rather than the fixture itself. Some of the newer T-8 or T-5 bulbs are very true to outdoor light (non color distorting) and very energy saving, too. Don't knock it. As far as color. I like light blue and orange a lot, myself, and terra-cotta color usually harmonizes well with wood--so it would be a natural choice for the countertop -- but are you going to change that?

I also think you should keep the wood trim (especially if you are not going to change the cabinet fronts). But I don't see how you are going to have all those many colors in a smallish space.

If you are renter, can you even change the wood trim??

Perhaps embrace the orange. Pick up a couple of fun items in ikea in bright orange. Cheap and whimsy, inexpensive to throw away when you leave...Plant pots, utensil holders, a couple of dish towel...just enough to bring it into the decor, and easy to get rid of after. If I recall bodum used to have a bright orange electric kettle if you like tea...

Though not one of my favorite colours it is a nice bright happy colour to be trying to integrating. I like it combined with green and white. But that might be my heritage showing :-)

That's my kitchen, thanks for all the great comments and suggestions.

Wood trim is off limits, though for the record I would paint it white if allowed.

I would love to switch out the light fixture but there are two problems, 1) it would need to be replaced on move out and there is no where to store it in the mean time, and 2) won't the ceiling be in bad shape where this fixture is attached? So I would have to repair and paint the ceiling, and replace the fixture, and return it all back to existing when I move out.

I think I will try one of the diffusing screens mentioned, and I already switched out the bulbs which helps some.

Finally, and sadly, I already painted! I went with a buttery yellow (because you know, kitchen...yellow...), Ben Moore's Hay Stack which I'm not incredibly happy with. I think this blue would be fantastic, funny thing is I painted an accent wall in my living room the exact Birds Egg blue recommended by AT. But oh, how I now want it my kitchen.

Well, I'll post pictures on Flickr once it's presentable, in the mean time I'll wish my kitchen was blue until I find the motivation to re-paint!

Replace the light fixtures. The owner could care less after he sees how much nicer your upgrades look. I speak from experience.

I had that hideous light fixture in my kitchen- when I removed it there was no damage at all the ceiling- just the hole for the electical box. The only problem was after 30 years up there there was a lot of dirt and oil so the ceiling under the light was whiter than the ceiling around it- so I did have to paint.

If you plan on sticking around for awhile, it could be worth making the more labor intensive changes. I made a few no-no changes in my apartment, most notably taking down all the ugly vertical blinds. I also painted...and re-painted...until I found colors I loved. I want to make this place my own because I know I"m gonna be stuck here awhile (it's been two years and counting) so I figure it's worth the effort. Now I'm pretty happy with it..it feels more like a condo than a plain apartment...my only wish is that it actually got some light during the day!