apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Wow, those are dark colors!! I actually like the cabinets, the light wood. Maybe a pale, pale green for the kitchen?? Like the inside of a cucumber.

I would also go light with the dining room, esp if you have dark furniture. I have never liked the dark red/dark green dining room trend of about ten years ago. Maybe a nice peach, not too pink? Or just a simple cream?

Overall, I think a lot of colors would go well here, you just need to make sure they are light and sunny.

even though it has been around a couple of seasons, dark brown still looks modern to me... (would limit how many walls I painted with it -- e.g., just the kitchen, or the long wall, with a very light colour for contrast in the dining room)

check out ralph lauren's galvanized

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/colortherapy/colortherapy-galvanized-009655

If that does not appeal, try the Ralph Lauren Loft colors -- there is sure to be something:

http://www.ralphlaurenhome.com/rlhome/products/paint/items.asp?haid=120

While you can't change the cabinetry nor the countertops, you can change the knobs/pulls. Along with color (like a celery/cucumber color or a light seafoam green) these could help to modernize it a bit. I would go with bar pulls, such as these below...

http://www.coolknobsandpulls.com/cabinethardware.cfm/category/drawer-bar-pulls.html

I would paint the kitchen and dining area walls the same color, as the separation looks a little arbitrary (esp. the division to the left of the bathroom in the last pic). Susmita has a good point about going light... an airy feel will help modernize the space. Pale green or blue would be great, but I also think a light grey would be beautiful with both the oak cabinets and your ebony furniture. If you want a little more drama in the dining area, you can paint the dining-room side of the cutout wall in a darker version of your wall color. I'm sure your landlord would appreciate a somewhat neutral approach, as it will help rent the place in the future.

Two of my favorite greys from Benjamin Moore are very different, but could each look great for different reasons:

Bunny Grey (very airy, and very cool...almost grey-blue)

Revere Pewter (We use this in the furniture store I work ing. It's warm & a little deeper that you might originally think would work, but it looks gorgeous with all wood tones and bright white trim... which it looks like you have)

I would also recommend a light gray, this would lighten the room. Otherwise white, with the light wood it would be kind of Scandinavian.
I like the idea of some open storage.

I'd concur with white/pale-cream colors for a scandinavian look as suggested by NINA79.

When I think of modern oak...I think of ATLANTICO furniture or DE LA ESPADA furniture. You might take a look at their website(s) and get ideas for color combinations - but right off the bat I was thinking a palette of white/cream/linen/twine with stone (grey slate) accents.

Good luck!

Somehow green comes to my mind as well. Benjamin Moore's Providence Olive is a beautiful subtle shade that would work very well with the tone of the wood cabinetry. Use the same color throughout the kitchen and dining room so you don't have to worry about where to stop one color and start the next.

I love the cabinet hardware that designerny suggested, however in looking at your photographs, I see that you'd have to fill the holes from the existing hardware and drill new ones (for the drawers at least). Not a huge issue, but it may be difficult to camouflage the filled holes. Perhaps for the drawers you could use the smaller t-bar knobs from the same collection.

During a recent discussion of this sort here on AT, someone mentioned that it is going to be a LOT of work to cover a deep red. Just so you are ready going into this that you may need many coats of primer before you start putting on the paint of your choice.

We just repainted a red kitchen. Two coats of primer followed by two coats of paint.... don't know what we were thinking with the red.

Benjamin Moore's "Avocado". I have never received so many compliments on a paint color, especially in the kitchen (and I have cabinets very similar to yours.) Good luck!

I think I need to explain (err, sell) my idea a bit since it is contrary to that of just about everyone else...

I suggested RL Galvanized because, if you look at the colourtherapy post on it, it makes golden hues look fabulous-- they recall glowing candlelight. The idea is that iff you can't get rid of the yellowish cabinets, do something that actually makes them into an asset. Plus, although dark brown has been around for a couple of years, and is being used more and more (in the most surprising places, such as nurseries!), it hasn't been overused in kitchens. However, dark walls and dark accent walls in kitchens are popping up more and more -- just check out these two featured in the past week or so on AT:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/blogging/small-space-solutions-from-an-architects-tiny-loft-marie-claire-maison-047407

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/small-cool-2008-east/east-10-yimings-mahattan-prewar-studio-047398

They are fresh, dynamic and dramatic.

In order to avoid making your space *too* cozy, you should probably limit the galvanized to the wall with the windows and upper cabinets, running it through both the kitchen and dining room. That wall is actually full of "holes" so the colour will not overwhelm the space or feel too heavy. The other walls should be a slightly tinted white -- maybe Studio White or Washed Down White from the RL line, or another white entirely (BM cloud white?).

Definitely remove the brass cabinet hardware and replace with brushed stainless -- if making another hole for a bar is too much, then just use perfectly round knobs from the hardware store (globes).

Other ideas to update the space: simple white globe lights wherever possible, and good quality translucent off-white roman shades for the windows.

hmm... i think that something really bold -- like painting the walls an oak color with some bronze to it (like Prince in the RL collection) and the baseboards and trim in a color with black,brown, and slate tones -- could modernize this area by giving the cabinets and countertops more architectural importance/ symmetry.

if you hate brown walls, another idea is to photoshop your kitchen and just play around with colors until you find something that excites you