Name: BethE
Location: Sacramento
Type: 1006 square foot, 2 bedroom Spanish bungalow - owned.
Why I use color:
I'm a girl on a budget, and while I would love to remodel my kitchen (the cabinets are horrible - crooked, uneven, and only one drawer - whose brilliant idea was that?!), I am currently saving my pennies for central heat and air (a necessity where it regularly exceeds 100 degrees in the summer). So, I've attempted to mitigate the wretchedness of the kitchen through the use of color. Plus, color makes me happy. I can aesthetically appreciate all white or beige rooms, but they make me restless. Contradictory as it may seem, color calms me, yet engages me at the same time.
2 good color tips:
1. Keep an open mind - don't write off any color. A few years ago I would have sworn to anyone who asked that I HATED aqua (as would any woman who had been forced to wear bridesmaid dresses in the early 90's - see also, peach, dusty rose, lavender and mint green), I have found it to be the perfect complement to my favorite color, orange. It may not read in the picture, but the chairs are the palest shade of aqua, not white. The ceiling is a slightly darker shade of the same color.
2. Be fearless with paint - it's relatively inexpensive and the easiest thing to change - and don't judge too quickly. I had a small stroke when I painted the walls and the kitchen cabinets orange, but when the furniture was loaded back into the room, the color was much more mellow. (Plus, I decided to add the tone on tone diamonds on the wall - they are my absolute favorite thing in the house - and so subtle, that in some lights you can't see them at all.)
2 good color resources:
1. Nature - so many of my friends love to be out in nature, but they are afraid to incorporate any color into their homes. One of the most inspiring things about nature are the breathtaking combinations of color - why not bring those colors home?
2. Fashion. Take a look at what is hanging in your closet - those are the colors to which you naturally gravitate - use those same colors in your home.
I love your kitchen. I love the idea of working with what you have, accepting it for what it is, and then making it functional and beautiful.
I think the only thing I would change is to add color to the white cabinets--I think it would help to make your FANTASTIC range stand out even more.
(those little pops of green? gorgeous!)
oh i really like what you've done. i recently did a 'freshen up' of my kitchen in philadelphia and it really makes such a difference. i love your subtle use of colors that play off the sophisticated shades of orange you've chosen. also love your kitchen light alot; did you add that or is it original to the house. if you added it may i ask where you purchased it. i have friends in sacramento and wonder if your bungalow is located in east sac.
That is so cute! And the orange must be wonderfully cheering during the dreary, gray Sacramento winters.
Love the orange cabinets, but the textured wall color above them ruins it for me. And although I like the drapes on their own, I'm not wild about them against the orange harlequin walls.
I'm personally not completely sold on the burnt orange but I love the diamond effect on the wall and the black and white toile. I like the orange cabinets but not the yellow walls -- why not pale aqua again?
Nice technique on the wall where you switched between a gloss and matte finish to get the diamond pattern... It's a nice subtle surprise, but really hard to photograph.
It's not the budget that is lacking, it's taste. This is a train wreck of design. There's really no where to start... start over, maybe. But what do I know? If you like it, that's what counts.
I love the diamonds.. I'm guessing you used high-gloss & matte paint in the same shade (kinda hard to tell in the photo). You must have a lot of patience to make such perfect diamond shapes!
Also, the kitchen is absolutely charming. Love the old oven.
Liking those fresh white chairs!
I'm not a big fan of orange but something about that shade with the wood floors and black/white curtains really works. I really like the diamond technique and how you made the best of a bad situation with the kitchen.
I'd love to hear more about how you got the diamond effect...I really like it. I also like the drapes with them. I'm not into the textured yellow tho, I agree with the person above who suggested more of the pale aqua. THAT would be beautiful.
i think the harlequin wall pattern is terrific, thank you for a good entry.
I like the black and white print fabric, but not in this space.