this table looks great as-is....i might just add some painted chairs if you want a pop of color

#1: light stain varnish rather than paint, #2: white, #3: black.

We have a similar table (from Ikea) in what has morphed into a pretty traditional space. I would love to paint it but am looking for some direction. Should I sand? Will paint chip right away? Can it be stained? ...And so forth. Would love to hear comments from anyone with experience. I apologize for not answering the question on paint color. Pauline, you are lucky to have a Paris Apt. no matter what color your table becomes. Good luck!

I think white would lighten things up and add space, but it really depends on the rest of the apartment... a light stain might be perfect as well.

Turquoise blue! There was a post on AT a few months back that had the nicest looking blue table in the kitchen. It MADE the entire kitchen in my opinion.
I'll try to find the photo.

You could paint it ANY color -- the grey green in the kitchen is quite neutral. What's your favorite color? If you want it to "match" I'd go for white. But you could do a gorgeous deep navy, or a watermelon pink or burnt orange or a glossy chocolate brown... and get a good upholstery weight fabric for the curtain/drape in a pattern that includes the kitchen table color. I am a little concerned about the curtain getting greasy and dirty from all the cooking, so make sure you get a fabric that can be washed easily, or look for an outdoor fabric.
You could start your color hunt with a rug though -- find one you love, then choose paint and a curtain to play off that. good luck!

If you enjoy cooking, however, I'd leave that area curtain free -- it will get in the way if you are back there a lot.
good luck!
pam h
howtorunyourlife.blogspot.com

I vote for china red. That would just pop against the green wall!

Navy blue! It would complement the kitchen and be SOOO different!!!

I agree with both comments above, I like the table as is or maybe with a stain (I think espresso would look really nice with the blue/grey) or if you really want to paint it white would be my second choice.

You have a nice neutral base. What about painting it a solid color and then using a bold, graphic stencil (you can make your own) to add some pop to the surface? Maybe an off-center silhouette that bleeds off the sides.You can make it very personal, like the outline of your home province or state.

Or if you want a crisp look, perhaps just a clean border about 8 cm in from the edges.

As for colors, if the proposed carpet is on the darker side, a creamy ivory with a black stencil could look chic.

Shiny white!

It's screaming to be painted yellow.

I have a very hard time painting wood. But I've seen loads of bases painted white with the top left as is. Is that too cliche? Or paint the base another color. Personally, I think it looks great as is.

A Crisp White would look fabulous to be sure.

One vote for classic WHITE! A white table blends in elegantly wherever you place it.

what about a really pale lilac?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2jtojahupHs/SKK4mrXOvJI/AAAAAAAACTI/fw6FCb1JrT4/s400/Brigid+mini+close.jpg

I like it as is. I'd leave it as is and accessorize depending on your mood, or the season. If you really want to paint it, why not just do part, like the legs only, or top only. Or what if you painted half of it and left the other half wood? Have some fun with it.

I think a creamy white would be nice. You can add some character and/or color with your chairs.

Another vote for white. Skip the curtain and turn the table so the shorter side is against the wall. That will either help separate the space and/or feel more like an eat in kitchen.

Overall I'm just jealous that you're living in Paris. :)

patfm--to get really good results lightly sand and use a good primer before you paint. let each coat of paint thoroughly dry and lightly sand between coats. then don't put anything on it for a long, long time (a week or so). it will look great.

I second the China Red idea, but I would be tempted - given the limited space, to halve or three-quarter the table and use brackets to fasten it to the wall. Yep.

I like the table as is. I'd pair it with white chairs - Ikea has some cute ones - or white-painted old wooden chairs. Good luck! Please show us what you end up doing!

I would go for a bright color, there is such a thing as too many neutrals.

I love the pop of color that your little figurine gives with the white and grey walls. I say use that color combo as inspiration and go for china red.

If you have the space, turn the table 90º and use it to divide the space rather than a curtain. I think you'll get more use out of the entire table surface that way. Maybe put some shelving on the wall above the table.

RED! a shiny bright little wagon red.

Red - and skip the curtain.

It depends on what you want to do with the rest of your apartment. Is it mostly neutrals and muted colors already or headed in that direction? Then I'd either stain the table or paint it white or cream. A bright red or yellow table in a mostly low-key apartment will draw a lot of attention. If your apartment is small, it might overwhelm the space.

If the rest of your place is more colorful, then I'd go with a bold color. Cherry red, sunny yellow, or violet would all work with the wall color.

What great suggestions! If you like the idea of still having some bare wood, try taping off a pattern and painting some of the table. I did that with an occasional table that also has a very rectangular, simple silhouette. It now has a zigzag pattern of white and bare wood on the surface, but the rest is painted white.
See pics if you're interested here:

http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.com/2010/12/diy-painted-useless-table.html

Good luck!

I'd paint the legs white, and sand the top so you could use it like a butcher's block. If you wanted to you could pick out some details with a second colour. Second the vote for turning it round so the short edge is against the wall. This with some seats round it should be enough separation.

Good luc!

Hello everyone!
Thank you so much for your comments, I feel so lucky, this website is so fast it's amazing.
I'm tempted by the creamy white and the navy blue options... The navy blue would really be original but the white cream would give more space to the room that is really really small.

Thank you for your painting tips, yes this is an IKEA table and I had this concern too!

As for starting with buying the carpet this is clever, anyone has an design idea for the carpet as I would like to have it done via www.carpetzz.com?

Thank you so much for your kindness!

I'd go with no curtain (I think instead of cozy you will get "confining") and leave the table alone with colorful chairs instead. If you really want to paint the table, I'd go with white -- a white about the same tone as any nearby appliances. I think this will make things feel brighter.

You can always add table color with flowers and/or table linens, so a plain color isn't the whole story.

The brighter colors might also be fun, but I'd want to see the whole space before suggesting anything that might make it feel tiny.

Yes the red would have been great if I had a bigger space, I put some red decorations like mugs, big spoons on the shelves of the kitchen but then I had to take most down because I felt oppressed in such a small space.
I love the idea of painting only the legs white (there was a picture like that in a post this summer but I can't find it), and I will definitely turn the table.
Please don't hesitate to give me more ideas I love them!

I like it as-is.

If you're dying to paint it though, the neutral room allows you to paint it any color you want.

I'm going to agree with some of the previous commenters, and go with a bold color like turquoise or yellow to make it a real statement piece.

Black might be a nice way to go also... it would stand out without being too crazy.

Bright orange would look great against those gray walls! It's one of my favorite color combinations.

Another for red -
http://www.dickblick.com/items/00667-3103/

or a deep bright olive green

http://www.dickblick.com/items/00667-7213/

I'm going with the 'paint it red' brigade, a nice deep red and skip the curtain. I think like mentioned before grease and dust so close to food would be yucky. Good luck and send pic's when done.

There was a recent post on AT of a kitchen that had sky blue walls and olive green cabinets with a dark counter:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/kitchen/color-combo-olive-green-and-sky-blue-133330

You could paint the base and legs of the table olive green and stain the top a darker color.

Also rather a curtain maybe put some non-kitchen items on your counter/your kitchen Artwork, a small collection on a shelf, etc..

As far as the rug goes. My vote is for carpet tiles.
I like this pattern:

http://www.flor.com/more-rockin-pattern-slate.html

or I've seen some pretty awesome examples
of diy ones where they've cut up the tiles and assembled them into colorful and geometric design.

TRIFF has some nice stuff:
http://www.triff.com

or try Habitat there are a few locations around Paris.
http://www.habitat.net

An advantage of black is that it can be touched up discreetly and easily using a permanent marker.

Navy would look great with the color of your walls!

I'd paint the legs white and leave the top in wood. Red seems to go nicely with the greyish green, but i'd keep it as an accent colour and not use it too much :)

The natural color is most beautiful. Tablecloths would make sense to me. Also, you should use food-grade paint for eating areas. Besides, you will move in the future. Wishing I had this dilemma:) Paris.

I wouldn't paint it- I would stain it a dark walnut color. and then add some fun chairs!

DON'T!!!

I'd go red, shiny firetruck red. Pair it with white chairs.

I wouldn't paint it, just add a table runner and a nice vase with flowers and hang a picture above, with two colorful chairs next to it, this corner would look great. I like the wood color of the table next to the color of that wall.
Some comments suggested painting only the legs, so this could be a good idea- you could paint the legs black or bright red to add some color and leave the top neutral.
Also, this table looks a bit too big for the space.
Don't hang curtains.

Not related to color, but can you turn the table 90 degrees? It would demarcate the kitchen area better, plus give you some extra prep space.

I have this table too! I painted it cream and it looks excellent against my grey-green walls.

@patfm:

It's really easy to pain wood furniture! You will definitely want to sand it. I recommend buying a power sander. (You can get one for about $30 at home depot. It'll be much easier with a sander, but will take a long time if you do it by hand, imo.)

For my projects I prime (1 coat), paint (2 coats), and then polyurethane (1 coat, 2 on table surfaces). (Make sure you get a polyurethane that is made to go over paint.) If you don't poly, then whatever you put on the table will likely stick, especially in humidity.

If this sounds like a lot of work, it's not! You could easily do a kitchen table over the weekend!

I agree, leave it as is. The wood adds warmth. Turning it and putting chairs on either side is often done in Paris due to space constraints. Lived there for a while myself.

I would vote red; You could even keep the legs neutral, or vice versa - paint the legs and keep the top neutral.

Whatever you chose I'm eager to see the results!

Hello!

Just a quick note to let you know that I decided to varnish it a little bit darker. Which turned out to be very very difficult on this ikea table as the surface if too smooth. I'm going to redo it maybe after putting a primer first.
Anyway i'll send an after picture asap!
Thank you so much!!

Whatever you do, do not use Sears for your kitchen renovation. We have endured 5 months of stress, mess and lack of focus from Sears and our NYC kitchen is still not completed. We thought we had done our due diligence and yet we have fallen victim to Sears' total neglect of details, no project management and inept measuring which resulted in cabinets which were too big, replaced by cabinets which had doors and drawers which could not open without scraping against adjoining cabinet doors and drawers. What a nightmare. Run, run while you can! We thought we did our due diligence and we trusted Sears would give us a basic and good kitchen. Instead it has been the total opposite experience. It has been a nightmare - FIVE months and it still has not been completed. I've posted the details on www.mysears.com
I hope this helps you and everyone you share this story with.