apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Dark gray/blue like in House Call: Jon's Contemporary Hybrid (Benjamin Moore Wolf Gray) would look cool.

I think you're on the right track with some of those foggy blues you have taped up.

i vote for BM's Oxford Gray...it has kind of a blueish hue to it, which would play nice with the red cabinets, chrome accents, and dark wood. also, its masculine and looks good with most greens, too, which would transition nicely into your bedroom.

Battleship Grey

As long as you use a couple of decor items (pillows, vase, art, etc) within the living/dining area....any color you paint it should work. Just pick a color you love that goes with your other stuff.

I'm on board with everyone else . . . go for a smokey grey or foggy blue (I lean more toward the grey). The room gets a lot of light, so it shouldn't close in too much, and the red of the cabinets will really pop against the smokey color. Bring in some lighter colors in accessories and you'll have a really fun dining room!

decor items matching the red on the cabinets is what I meant.

It is the end of the week and my brain is mush.

I don't think the colors are the problem the area around the pass through looks bare. Put up some art. I have a similar set up in my condo and I always think it looks weird to have the area around the pass through empty.

As an aside, your pass-through looks a bit high and awkward as is -- do you actually use it to pass through dishes?? Most pass-throughs have some kind of seating on the other side.

Definitely a gray-blue... but not a gray. I think the red is a big harsh against ANY neutral.

"a big harsh"

Sheesh. I meant "a bit."

I'd use an intense blue to make the red cabinets come out beautifully - and white (white on the wall where the light falls on to). I'd choose artwork in red, yellow and blue (cobra!) to complete my colour scheme ;-).
http://www.galeries.nl/kunstwerkz.asp?idnr=70558&artistnr=5014&sessionti=24873119

Grey would look awesome, especially a nice steel grey or something similar. I would also say blue except that I'm unfond of blue in food-related rooms. That said, I quite like the teal/blue color, third sample up, that you have in your picture.

yes a dark grey, grey paint is hard you can try suggested ones and others just get small samples and test them on the wall live with several options for a couple of days. Look at them different times a day because the last thing you want is any purple undertones for your space.

Paint the base board as well do not leave white. I think when you have a beefed up larger profile baseboard ok in a different color but the skimpy ones not.

You will need to bring the red back into the dining area and not in another solid way. I would get some fun slip covers for those chairs break it up.

Behr Grand Rapids -- It's a blue-gray that still has a pop of lightness to it.

See it:
http://www.materials-world.com/paint-colors/behr/behr-colorsmart/behr-colorsmart-27.htm

http://www.thisyounghouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/foolproof-bedroom-kitchen-bathroom-family-room-living-room-paint-colors.png

grey!

pale silvery bluish grey. My style is a little less modern but I have lots of red in my house and the pale blue compliments it really well.

those two blue-ish swatches near the bottom of what youve chosen would look nice against both the floor and the red cabs. nice color combo.. n very similar to what ive been toying around with.

I like the darker grays you have chosen and note that they seem to play well with the beige. Have you thought about painting the pass through wall as an accent? I think this might make the space feel more whole, so it doesn't feel as much like the kitchen is behind a wall.

White.

"Most pass-throughs have some kind of seating on the other side."

Not if they were built in the 1930's-1960's
- most were just a hole in the wall, or had shutters to close off the kitchen.

It wasn't until the mid-60's-1970's that eating counters came into vogue.

I just went through a similar dilema,
I have a red sofa that I love but figuring out what to paint the walls was tricky.
I ended up choosing a dark grey for an accent wall (the wall behind the sofa) and a really nice pale yellow for the other spaces. Yellow was hard because I didn't want it to be to country looking. I have white trim.
The colors I used are by General Paint, the yellow is called Yates and the Grey is called Lamantha.

I think for your space and the dark furniture you have, Greys and blues would look wonderful.

Personally, I don't like blue-gray, coz I don't like blue most of the time. Taupe and red look great together, probably because both brown and gray look good with red.

I'm not crazy about expanses of colors together with the same intensity. That's probably not the correct color term, but some of those blue-grays on the wall are as strong as the red; to me the colors fight one another. Actually, I love red and white together. "Glacier White" is a BM paint on the cool side with gray undertones. And with the dark wood and gray accents...

panels in wood the same tone as the furniture.... in squares, simple and will really give the room an upscale flair.

I would do light blue gray, on the accent wall. Use some decor to the left of the open space, using some red, orange... It definitely needs more art work.

I like the bottom swatch.

Paint the pass-thru wall red....it will look great with the kitchen. Right now it just looks like an awkward hidey-hole.

What kind of light does your apartment get? North, south, east, west? If you get cooler north and east light, a grey or blue grey could look downright drab most of the year.

I'd just paint the pass-thru wall red and wait and see how the beige ends up looking because of it.

I think that beige looks pretty good, IMO.

I would paint the LR grey - light grey or steel grey, depending on your preference.

1 on grays, but not too dark - from the looks of the photo you're a long way from the natural light source and you run the risk of making a small space feel smaller.

As an out-there suggestion, have you thought about buying some ply and boarding the pass-through up? From the looks of where the door is (and the table positioning, though this may just have been for the photo) it doesn't look like the pass-through is strictly necessary. The kitchen looks like it might be quite cosy if it were enclosed and it would give you free rein in the dining / living space. Just a thought.

I don't like the blue-greys; they, along with the builder's beige, make your space seem quite dull (which is probably why your friend suggested red in the first place -- to liven things up).

Paint everything a wonderful white. Donald Kaufman makes the most beautiful whites -- check them out. They change along with the lighting conditions. The kitchen, in any case, needs to be white with those cabinets.

http://www.donaldkaufmancolor.com/

Then, I would paint an accent wall in a truly bold colour -- perhaps Yves Klein Blue. Or check out the Corbusier fan decks at kt Color -- fabulous accent wall colours (relax, there are US stores, but this Aussie website shows the fandecks):

http://www.aaltocolour.com/colour/lecorbusier.asp

http://www.ktcolorusa.com/

Some posters bring up a good point: do you really need the pass-through? While it does bring natural light into the kitchen, could you use that wall space in the kitchen for a couple of nice open shelves, or in the dining room for art work or a nice sideboard (perhaps a quirky refinished vintage pieces, so that all the furniture is not too similar)?

The pass-through is not a very elegant shape; perhaps, if the goal is simply to get light into the kitchen (it is not much use as a pass-through since the doorway is so convenient), you could turn it into an interesting design element, with wall cut-outs. We did it in our own dining room with 3 little squares cut out of the wall about 1 foot down from the ceiling, but check out this much more creative version of wall cut outs:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/house-tours/inside-out-sarah-and-jims-architecturally-infused-nest-037041

Good luck, and get rid of the beige (and greige, and grey, and dull blue!!!)

I like the warmth of the third chip from the top. Also, consider painting the interior of the pass-through a lighter shade of the color you pick to paint the pass-through wall.

I actually don't mind the beige. I think it's the lack of any color in the living room dining room that throws everything off. Before you paint try getting your space accessorized first vases, artwork...etc. Then you can make a choice. You don't want to paint a color that is not going to show off the other items that you already have.

Painting is cheap and not difficult but it is not easy either and it is time consuming to do a good job. Definitely get samples and paint a foam core board 6x6 and hang it up. The size of the color swatch will give you a truer idea of the look after the paint job. The small 1" color swatches really don't help.

I agree with the rest about the pass through. It doesnt look finished. There is no shelf to rest anything on or molding to give it a finish. If you want to keep it think about opening it up more to create a breakfast bar. Maybe opening the wall up and making an open space plan.

adding a vote for a medium grey-blue - one of the bottom three you have taped up would be nice.

Another vote for "white." I like snowy, cool tone whites.

Those red cabinets, walnut floor and white walls. Fanastic.

S/B Fantastic. Ugh.

the problem with boarding one of these up is that you lose the light. I love my pass through because of the light I get from one room to another.

Wow, thank you everybody for all the thoughtful and constructive comments! I am leaning toward a gray or gray/blue and will likely paint the kitchen walls slate gray also. I want to address the questions and comments about the passthrough, so many of you rightfully noticed was a little awkward and unadorned.

Lisa (from Montreal)-- you are spot on-- the pass through is much higher than standard for two reasons-- the stove in the kitchen has a "backplash" (whatever you call them for stoves) that is 47" high. But more importantly, I am very tall at 6 feet 6 inches (2 meters, I think??). The passthru height was pure indulgance to fit me. :-)

I am building a bar/counter (also higher than standard) for under the passthrough that will accommodate lots of bottles, a rack for stemware, as well as 2 counter seats/stools. The blank wall space to the left of the passthrough will host art of some kind. And a longer term goal is to frame out the passthrough with some trim.

I will of course get back to AT with the after shots. Thanks again!!

Jeff

ooops... "backsplash" Sheesh. :)

I have to agree with the majority of above comments too, a really dark slate gray would look choice. Also, with those beautiful floors, I think the gray paint would be a nice accent. And since gray is netural, you won't have to match anything else you put in the room. You could pick up some really cool modern living room furniture in whatever color you wanted. And the gray already matches your dining set.