Contrast in the Kitchen

Yeah, we’re at it again. We are young, in love and painting again (and again and again).

That’s right! I am an interior designer…. Would you expect any less?

The Project: Our Kitchen

A few weeks ago we had the bright idea of painting the back wall and bar area in our kitchen the same color as the striped wall in our living room. We thought it would give our kitchen a little bit of contrast from the white walls that surround it. It turns out, we didn’t love it. Not nearly enough contrast!

What to do, what to do? No problemo! The nice folks over at Dutch Boy Paints sent us 4 full gallons of free paint… colors our choice! Love them! It actually took me a few weeks to narrow down the final choices because they had so many good ones…

The decision was finally made…

2 Gallons of Family Tree (B13-2)

1 Gallon of Colonial Cobblestone (B13-3)

1 Gallon of Bull Frog (E10-2)

Not all for the same room of course!

Last night we spent the evening painting! First we tested out which shade would work best between Family Ties and Colonial Cobblestone. (You can also see the Raffia Cream we painted awhile back from left overs from the living room).

Although we love Colonial Cobblestone, it just didn’t feel quite right for our kitchen. Family Tree it is! We had never used Dutch Boy paints so we were thrilled to do a little review of their product! It is always nice for me to evaluate other products and brands so I can inform my readers and clients alike!

Here’s our Review Breakdown: Satin Interior Paint

– Very light and thin paint

– Durable & Low Sheen

– Seems to be pretty good for High Traffic areas (like our kitchen)

– Fabulous for the fact they have no VOC’s… their label is very true!

At first we were a bit nervous having to use two coats and we left it over night to dry so we could assess the “job”. This morning we were pleasantly surprised! We found the walls to look quite consistent and very polished looking. The coverage did just the job!

The only other things we needed to come to grips with was the color we chose. It is indeed a more mocha-gray shade. We made the decision a long time ago that paint is just paint and we can always cover any color up with a new shade. We always like to keep something for awhile because not everything is love at first sight.

This happens to be totally true for this color! We went to bed last night feeling a little unsure of our selection. However, we woke up this morning refreshed with a new perspective! We dashed downstairs to check on our kitchen… and there it was with all its contrasting beauty!

We pretty much are almost at the in love stage with it. I think adding a few accessories and rearranging will do it some good! (Which we will show you along the way). We did add a rug (a twin to the one in our pantry). The jury is still out on the rug… but like everything we will give it a fair shot before we nix it. I love a kitchen rug you can wash… which means it has to be made of cotton or something similar. Natural materials like jute, sisal and sea grass rugs are not the best for “wet zones” like kitchens or bathrooms.

Do you like it with the rug?

So, what do you think? Loving it? Have you recently started preferring darker hues? Maybe it‘s the time of year? What paint brands do you prefer? Do tell!