Thursday, February 09, 2012

Cabinet Makeover - What Color?

Yesterday I bought this cabinet for $20 off of Craigslist.  I was looking for a cabinet that could double as a bench, but also allow for storage.  I wanted to put it against a wall in our new kitchen.

It looked pretty good in the picture, but it was kind of dirty and the finish turned out to be white (that was yellowing) laminate.

I got it home and took off all the laminate.  It took a couple of hours, the use of a hairdryer and the help of my husband.  But I was so grateful to find that it was made (in someone's shop, most likely) with good quality hardwood plywood.  There's a grain in the wood that shows through.

So what color should I paint it?  I was imagining putting on some short feet on the bottom, painting the whole thing, and adding new handles.  My default is always safe, so I was thinking white.  But I would like something a bit more fun, but also a bold color that won't show if it gets a bit dirty.

Here's a picture of the kitchen I'll be putting it in.  It'll go against that long wall there, but will have to share it with a small, child-sized pine armoire.  I also think I'll run two, white 4 ft floating shelves above the armoire and bench.

A dark vintage blue cabinet











 
A brighter blue, somewhere between baby blue and turquoise













A very bright Kelly Green cabinet



Ah, and here is the 47" tall pine armoire going in the kitchen, on the same wall.













Do you have a vote?  Or a different idea?

7 comments:

Kelly said...

I like that dark blue and it should look good next the armoire.

My whole house is shades of white/cream/yellow/brown plus blues and a little black and green, so when I want to do something bold I use red. I was going to suggest that, but I'm not sure red would go well with the armoire.

Kelly said...

Thanks, Kelly!

I was thinking red too, but just didn't like the mental image.

I'm leaning toward the dark blue as well. I can always pop with bright green (plants) and yellow and red. :)

Unknown said...

Dark vintage. Easy to clean and won't show much dirtyness. You have KIDS!

Add a few painted stencil accents. Or betal circles for an asian look.

Or, let your kids put their handprints in paint all over it!

Kate said...

I kind of like the bright colors for your kitchen since it otherwise looks kind of dark. What about yellow? That would be a definite switch from making everything white. :) You would have to pick one with some brown undertones to coordinate with the wood armoire.

Kelly said...

I like the dark as well. But a mustard yellow is oh so tempting! I bought mustard colored shoes last month and am itching for more yellow. :)

Jenny said...

Would the yellow go well with the armoire, though? I agree with the dark blue. :-)

Kelly said...

It might be safer to go dark blue with yellow in the mix somewhere (pillows or something)...