apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I agree with Maxwell. I love that orange. Maybe even go for a slightly warmer version; add taracotta flower pots, a basket or two for storage and the addition of another earthy tone, a bowl of oranges maybe, and exposed spices to bring the colors together. I am actually considering the same color for a wall in my apartment, but have been shot down by the boyfriend. Good luck!

whether you paint the wall orange or not, i'd try to bring more color to the room in other ways. you want something for your accent wall to relate to. for instance, if you painted the cabinet wall orange, maybe you could hang some curtains in a similarly warm color, a toned-down version of your orange, or a print with orange as a secondary or tertiary color influence. get tea-towels with an orange stripe among other colors. madras plaid napkins. not necessarily all of those (or specifically any of those), but you get my drift.

another really fun idea to bring color to kitchens is to get colorful utensils and tools. i realized the shade i painted my kitchen was just right when i saw it against my buttery yellow mixing bowls. now that silicone is a hot new trend in kitchenware, you can get so many different things in bright colors.

And plants! Plants will make things a lot less sterile. LOVE the orange idea.

I initially thought it would be an OK idea to pain orange. But to be honest with you, I also thought, "Oh, if it's not the perfect colour, it could look a little tacky." I have a few ideas (just because our kitchen is so similar and it's a rental so I'm trying to find ideas of what to do to make it seem not so cheap and ugly.)

I was thinking of using some funky wall paper with a sheet of plexiglass as a neat back splash. Also, using some nice stainless steal hardware is always a good bet. If you want to keep the cabinets white, maybe you should paint them a fresh coat of "whitest white you can find" to make them look extra crisp. I was also thinking to use some sheets of thin plastic like material to cover the front of the cabinets. I had seen a project like this on Debbie Travis' show a while back. It was some sort of industrial material that was super cheap to buy. She had simply screwed it to the front of the doors and masked the holes somehow. I would use the frosted texture on the inside of the door so that the smooth texture is on the surface of the doors- easier to clean. And then paint the rest of the kitchen whichever colour you choose.

I'm just wondering if orange, black and white will look a little Halloween-y.

Just a few ideas...:) Have fun with your kitchen!

Go for it... I think that you'll wind up liking the kitchen a lot more (and won't be so bothered by other things about it) if you get a pop of color in there. Start with the accent wall and then expand from there.

I say go for the orange. Do the whole thing if you want. It will seem drastic at first but you will get used to it (my whole kitchen is a terracotta). But to me, the thing that is missing is good lighting. Cheap white cabinets look way better with good lighting. Get some little lights for under your cabinets, and even some on top, pointed up towards the ceiling. Dont clutter up your countertop if you don't want to, but warm up the space. And a nice rug in front of the sink look good.

I think it looks pretty good from this angle...nice and clean.

Another idea you might try is painting only the bottom cabinets a deep color, like orange, and leaving the top white, with new hardware all around. That way you can try out a bold color and see how it feels, plus it breaks up the kitchen in a funky way. It would also reflect the split of the attractive molding on the opposite wall.

I live in Albany (Moved here from B'lyn and bought a two-family rowhouse from tthe yr 1840 for under $100,000!!!!)and my kitchen is a long galley of all white cabinets, though the bonus is a wall of blue and white dutch style tiles. I often think of it as my blank slate, and imagine colors all the time for it. I'll be very interested to see what you try out!

Good luck!

This could be my kitchen with the b&w floors, black counters & white cabinets. We have a warm, deep yellow on the walls that punches the whole thing up a bit. Don't know the brand or color name since we haven't touched it since moving in, but probably close to the yellow in the SF post linked below, perhaps a bit deeper.
http://sanfrancisco.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/101706/good-questions/good-questions-starting-over-sofaless-013558

We had some friends paint their whole kitchen halloween orange, and it was so annoyingly intense. I would be careful with the intensity of the orange, even if it is only one wall. Otherwise great thinking.

Love the ideas of having various accessories around to go with the wall.

Hi everyone. This is my apartment and I wanted to say thank you to everyone who commented. I was a little worried about the orange wall idea but I think that is what I'll go for after reading the comments. Although now I'm a little afraid of this "Halloween orange" that a couple people have mentioned combined with the black and white tiles...At any rate, I appreciate the input since I tend to waffle on decor decisions and go with muted/toned down versions of my original ideas (and end up wishing I had been more adventurous).

What an opportunity. The choices are just about infinite, but I like to think of the cabinets all painted black to match the countertop, with a good, sharp, strong color (spring green, perhaps?) for the backsplash. POW! Modern art defined.

You could leave the rest of the kitchen white, but think about those cabinets being black, and imagine the possibilities.

Just a quick thought... we painted our entire kitchen and ajoining family room bright orange, but it isn't "Halloween" orange. It's a color called Marigold from I think Sherwin Williams and it's more of what I'd call "mango". If you imagine the bright, gorgeous orange that fresh mango flesh is, it's like that. I think if you look for a nice clear orange with a hint of yellow, it won't look so Halloweeny.

I am going to be the odd-man-out and tell you that with that flooring, I think orange is going to get old VERY fast. I also think it's going to make your uppers look as if they're floating up there. How about a light dusty blue (check out the 11/06 Domino mag header or page 64) or colors found in nature (actual inside of a lime or the not-so-ripe inside of a cantaloupe, the mix of colors in a pink rose, for example)? They will juxtapose well with the dark counters and floor and most likely make it look as if you spent way more than you did. Most paint shops can color match and you can get Pantone paint mixed in any of their colors (use Photoshop or Illustrator for examples.) Repeat the color one or two shades darker in pottery, art or accessories in the room (cover a cahir cushion!) Add coordinating colored glass (check Anthropologie?) knobs for a more ecclectic look or metal if you're sleek and clean. Most of all don't be afraid. Cool place, BTW.

PS. I upload room photos and "paint" them in Illustrator. Great way to see what it looks like w/o spending a dime.