apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've always liked light blues and light greens with Chocolate but that might make your kitchen feel dark and claustrophobic. Perhaps you could paint the walls white and have chocolate window drapes/floor rugs.

Ohh how sweet and lovely. My first thought was yellow until I read you wanted a change.

I would still lean towards a slightly brighter buttery yellow. OR a fun pastel pink. This might not be a good forever color, but you said rental anyway.

It would be really fun to stick with the retro diner color theme. You could add candy striped towels, white curtains with pink rick-rack, an adorable anthropologie-esque apron, those heavy white dishes with pastel rims. . . I predict much fun, and some good flea market shopping in your future.

shades of grey all the way!

I kind of like a rich midnight blue (or a little lighter) on the walls, keeping the cabinets and trim bright white.

oooh! love the idea of a shade of grey...or a tinted white. nice and light!

I like a bright scheme for a retro kitchen, so I would try to add to cherry red. I'm personally afraid of committing too much wall space to such a bright colour, so maybe try doing the cabinets red and the walls a cool white, like a completely washed out version of the seafoam?

Check out this colour scheme generator.
http://www.colorhunter.com/palette/239177

and this photo that can inspire
http://www.finishedwork.biz/images/red%20kitchen.jpg

Actually, from a quick online search, I found that red walls really killed kitchen, but red cabinets made them pop.

hope that helps!

I can tell you - no ORANGE. I have the same counters, and my kitchen looks like a pumpkin.

I second the suggestion for a brighter, buttery yellow. Yellow always looks fantastic with that minty green, which is probably why it was painted that color in the first place. ;) You could definitely do a 'better' yellow, though.

a shade of a medium/dark grey would be great for balancing the retro with the modern.

Bright white. And paint the cabinets the same bright white. The sea foam/gray thing seems kind of outdated to me.

I immediately thought Barley by Benjamin Moore but you say you already have yellow.

I like the idea to mix chocolate windows with white walls and maybe add wide stripes of the minty plus another blue.

I agree with greenstacie! Navy or some type of dark blue and glossy white trim.

I say a very "latte-like" color would be nice.

I love grey against that color - my sofa is a soft aqua similar in value to your countertops, and the walls are BM Marilyn's Dress - the softest, palest grey. That color also looks really pretty against mushroomy/taupey shades (Martha would go that way).

P.S. - love your matching mixer!

Wister5's right: Pumpkin Orange is no good, but a really PALE orange--think the almost-not-orange of the inner pulp of an orange's skin --for your walls would not only be beautiful with your pale green counters, it would be totally period-authentic as well.

If you wanna get fancy, you could border the walls with a thin stripe of cadet blue over the orange set out from the white trim about an inch, and then add an occasional small accent of brighter color--say, 2 diagonally overlapping 1-inch squares in jade green & terra cotta at each corner where two blue lines meet, and also random corners of some of the doors of your upper cabinets. This color combination may not sound so great on paper, but here's the idea. If you don't do it, I may try it myself.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a286/MAGNAVERDE/DESK--1923GoldSealKitchen--EBAY.jpg

Magnaverde.

i'm posting another vote for yellow, but i was thinking less butter and more tuscan... so long as that suggestion doesn't turn your thoughts to any sort of sponging effect.

lots of blue votes, huh? is anyone else here averse to blue kitchens? i love me some robin's egg walls but there's something intrinsically unappetizing about sky-hued kitchens to me...

Red.

Lavender-blue is beautiful with seafoam.

grey or red (very retro) or pale blue

and post after photos

I vote for cream, or a pastel.

Concur with veto on bright orange and chocolate. Anything too saturated will jump forward way too much against the other colors there, I think.

You could go creative with a number of different subtle pastel shades, if you don't want a neutral like cream.

Think about warm/cool. Which do you want to be dominant? Right now, the wood floor is a pretty heavy warm element, the counter is a moderate cool tone, and the white cabinets are neutral. Not saying you need to match one or the other, just think about how the various elements play off each other.

Looking at it again, I think a cream with warm tones would work best. It would pull the floor color up into the rest of the room and unify everything. You might even want to take a sample of the floor, or a picture, and see if the paint store can put something similar into the cream.

I'm usually not a fan of white walls, but your counters are such a terrific color I say paint the walls white! That's it, just white. Or a light taupe, very light. I would also take the knives off the wall....it looks a little...menacing for such a sweet period kitchen.

http://www.coxpaint.com/store/cart.php?target=category&category_id=334

leaf 03 for the walls, above link. if you are painting the cabinets, i would keep them white or grain 01 or air 04 (same link above).

Pink!

How about the exact shade of your counter, or ashade or two lighter?

I vote for grey or a beige :)

Mi kitchen has tile thats seafoam like yours but a little darker, we decided ti have the walls a cream and add a lot of red accents. It looks great!

darkndark grey - almost charcoal. Would make it modern looking.

I'm all for a pale (pale!) earthy grey- nothing too cold...but really I think the white looks fantastic as is....perhaps just some bold turqoise accents?

You've GOT to go light, but a bit brighter yellow! So cute.... just like my kitchen :) If you want a change, then definitely pink! Definitely. These work soo well with your great mint you've got going on in there!

I think there's a number of ways you could go here. A light terra cotta or copper shade might look nice. Or even a pale peach. I also think pale yellow would work well but sounds like you're trying to move away from that.

Cherry red or navy blue would also be interesting if you want something bold.

I love that countertop!

Not seeing the dark blue's at all..I held up my 'summer colors' flipswatch book BM..and ..nothing..I'd vote for the superwhite or the soft taupe as well..accents: red or that dark coppery orange sound nice..blend with gorgeous floor/pops it out..love the counter color/mixer..and retro is always fun and easy..and should be inexpensive and scrumptious in the end..thanks for having this kitchen to paint..from all of us..notice how we all jumped all over it as nothing in the posts above it for comments to those..really ; )

yellow
or grey
or pink!

a classic pinky beige would be good.

http://www.colorcharts.org/ccorg/resources/results.aspx?find=5M4T-X5P6-23J5

Well heck, my first thought was yellow.

White could be really nice, or it could come off a little cold and hospitaly. Maybe a nice biscuit color?

If it were my kitchen, I'd paint it white. No doubt about it.

A VERY pale chocolate would be nice.

This picture shows your color working with a gold color and a red accent somewhere. http://cptnrin.smugmug.com/photos/295410534_GYLrU-L.jpg

Look through http://www.houseofturquoise.com/
lots of great ideas.

I like your kitchen the way it is.

Apricot or gray, definitely. And some touches of a celery green would be nice as accents.

This rug would look great as the accent color-
http://www.dashandalbert.com/product/view/RDB099

What a great kitchen! I would paint the walls bright white to match the cabinets and use accessories to bring a punchy accent color (red tea kettle, retro-inspired tea towels, stripey rug?).

With the rich floors and fun countertops, I think there's plenty of color already, but that's just me of course!

Could you paint the walls white, and the cabinets a contrasting color?

Cream, caramel, or buttscotch. It seems I'm hungry...

casey dukes..eerie.eerie..that's MY kitchen..right down to the red tea kettle!..ha! ..and my bright white walls..(superwhite by BM)..and many vintage tea towels..glad I didn't ditch them when I 'sleeked down'..I"m back to the look ..hope there are 'after pictures' too!

I'd be tempted to go with apricot, or a very light golden orange. Not safety orange.

Or I would look at the Sherwin Williams historic palettes for ideas. They have '20s, '30s or '50s.

If I were feeling brave I would look at some soft warm pinks.

I'd suggest a periwinkle...it will have a gray undertone that works well here in Portland, but also the lift that the yellow was trying to accomplish. And it will look great with the minty/seafoam countertops.

I think the color of my bedroom walls would look incredible in your kitchen. The color is "Chocolate Souffle" by Ralph Lauren.

Here is a photo of it in someone else's house. It's a gorgeous light brown with a tiny hint of grey and a pearlescent sheen. Even though it's brown, it's keeps the room looking light. I use it in my bedroom with similar colors to your kitchen and it looks incredible.

Coral! For sure!

White. There are all sorts of white tones, so you can go creamy or taupe-y or even one with a turquoise undertone, but I don't think I would use superwhite. If it were me, I'd go with something creamy, just shy of a pale, pale yellow.

I think the white cabinets and the countertops with matching mixer, the stainless accents and wood floor all look great together--very fitting for a bungalow.

Light milk chocolate accent wall with the mint counter tops with pink accents. I'm a sucker for food color themed rooms (neopolitan ice cream themed bedroom), but it would work well for food inspiration.

white -- pure and simple and wholesome, and a great foil for any interesting objects, cooking equipment or posters you may wish to put up.

very light tangerine ... just because I'd like it :)

Agree with others... a brown latte color.

My first thought was yellow, a very pale yellow. But what every you pick I would make it a light color.

I agree with Nina...soft soft yellow

I saw a photo of Gwen Stefani's kitchen, which has similar minty green wall tiles. She kept the walls a bright crisp white and then brought in accent colors with accessories. Perhaps a pale pink or yellow.

Nothing dark. Not a fan of yellow. Love the seafoam. Some options I saw above that I agree with, and others:

1. white
2. pale pink
3. bright salmon pink
4. cherry red
5. coral
6. terracotta-orangey

I think that you should look at the Sherwin-Williams Suburban Modern palettes - both interior and exterior for alternatives. You've got midcentury colors right now - at the SW colors are right-on the period and any number would match up nicely. In addition: Are you owners and if so: Wallpaper, baby! Would look fabulous beyond belief! 50s Pam -- http://retrorenovation.com

1. If you truly love that sea foam green as much as you do, why don't you paint the doors of the cupboards with the exact matching colour as the kitchen top? I don't think you should cover the entire surface of the cupboards and drawers, but leave the edging parts/surrounding parts white as they are. Eg top cupboard 'door' should be the greeny colour but leave the border/surround white. As an option go ahead and do the rest below in the same fashion. As far as wall colour - the current colour isn't so bad. You can go bleach white since you have very warm coloured floorboards (not the right shade I think for this kitchen - but I don't think your landlord will pay for changing them LOL). But the place really does need a rug to unify the kitchen colour scheme and the floor since they aren't in absoloute colour harmony. Not quite right at moment.
2. Forget the painting of cupboards and opt for a metallic silver for the wall that is applied in such a way so that it doesn't become like a shining piece of new steel so one has to wear sunglasses. The silver will not clash with the floor colour since silver is neutral but it has enough life in it to unify the old look with the new. If you do have silver walls, I would change the current cupboard knobs to a much shinier silver steel handle to match walls thus creating harmony. It is possible that after applying metallic silver paint to walls, that it will 'age' the look of your cupboards. This can be corrected by simply applying a white glossier paint to them and thus snazzing it up a bit (actually paint the top cupboard doors alone in the matching mint green you have on counter with the white glossy frame/edging!!). Actually, I like this idea better than my option no.1 above. The floor needs a nice rug that extends the length of the cupboards. Ikea has 'trasmattor' which may or may not match your tastes but either way a rug is a definite, giving more frame to the open plan kitchen. The reason why I don't like applying colour to the kitchen wall is simply cos the floorboards have warm tones and the kitchentop is cool coloured. Painting the walls with a warm tone to compensate would 'fight' with the cool colour and drown the effect you want.
Some rug suggestions (ie I am just looking at colour here and not the size which is wrong in these pictures):- http://www.ikea.com/se/sv/catalog/products/20153266
http://www.ikea.com/se/sv/catalog/products/70144458
Lower right hand corner for this link:- http://www.blocket.se/vi/17845779.htm?ca=12_s
Click on 3rd pic on right on this link to get to the green mat:-
http://www.blocket.se/vi/17411924.htm?ca=12_s
To be honest you could afford to introduce a new colour(s) that matches into the kitchen rug to give it a zing, or just go with the mint.
Good luck. You have us all curious now - please show us an updated photo once it is finished. =) Have fun even if none of our ideas appealed =)