In Need of Kitchen Reno Help

Since there are no windows, you really want to keep everything light. Also blue and green have a tendency to absorb light, so it would make it darker. Pine is great, because it is so neutral it will go with anything. A nice pale yellow would be nice, but do not paint the wood. Once you paint wood, that's it and you are stuck with it and have to keep it up by repainting every few years. White is one of the worst colors for the kitchen and shows the dirt, since there's a lot of steam and grease. Metal/cooper back splashes are really cool. You can even look into wall paper, which is very easy to clean or z-brick.

I am not sure why so many men are against painting natural wood but in my opinion the pine cabinets need to be painted! I would paint them white (just not a stark white). Then you can paint the walls whatever color you like. I like beige / brownish walls with red accents in the accessories but any color would go with that color scheme. Have fun!

I'd try something in the light green family. sine the pine has a "yellow" hue to it, you may want to look at colors or pallets that have yellow as a base.
pine is tough.
In lieu of painting backsplash, any way you can use liquid nails and put up a fun tile backsplash?? Maybe white with a few accent tiles?
Best of luck!

When we remodeled our kitchen, i got light oak cabinets with the white knobs. We dont get a lot of light in the windows so i used a nice wallpaper with fruits and vines. The countertops are blue marble formica with the shiny finish. The woodwork is a burgundy color that compliments the burgundy apples in the wallpaper. For the floor, i chose a white and blue linoleum with a squares pattern that looks like tiles. The whole room was really brightened up with the white floor! If i had those pine cupboards, i would use a real light pastel blue on the walls to give the room a cool fresh look. Blue and wood go so beautifully together. I would not paint the cupboards if the wood is in good shape and not all scratched up. The cupboards can be cleaned with Murphys oil soap and that will help brighten up the color too. For a backspash, i would use those mirror tiles that are self sticking to give the room a larger look and to reflect any light that may come in from other rooms nearby. I would also use some under the cupboard light strips to light up my countertops to make the room brighter at night. I would stay away from any dark colors as that will only make the room smaller and hotter and darker. Stay with the pastel colors. You could also use a wallpaper border along the top of the wall to add some color and brighten up the room.

I recently did smome quick and easy reno on my kitchen, I painted my cabinets black and changed the knobs which gave my kitch a whole new look. I havereceived many compliments on it. For the back splash we added copper ceiling decoratiove tile that was pretty inexpensive but gave the kitchen a rich look. I went with a really light green for contrast with the black and the copper.

You haven't really given enough information about your style and what you like to really give you a great suggestion on what to do with your outdated kitchen but this is what you may consider.

Instead of painting the backsplash, you may consider trying some kind of tin or metal plating application to the backsplash instead. They come in different colors and textures and would really lend some great pop to that area.

While you don't have any natural light, it doesn't necessarily equal a dark kitchen. How much lighting do you have in your kitchen? Since your husband is against painting the cabinets perhaps he would be willing to sand and restain them (remember no matter what you do to get new hardware (hinges and knobs) for the cabinets). If you are going to keep that color cabinet, you need to determine if you want them to stand out or blend in. Some colors that would work well with those cabinets their pine color would be yellows, oranges, or greens. If you wanted them to pop, blues or whites or browns would be able to do that for you.

I personally would love to see some kind of bright orange (like a tomato) or yellow (like a yellow pepper or lemon) or even a touch of green (like grass or peas) in there for a dramatic difference. If you wouldn't want the drama, go for a lighter version of these colors.

The metal or metal looking wall tiles I'm talking about come in 18"x18" or 24"x24" squares and fasten to the wall easily. You can find them at Lowes or HomeDepot. and they are very easy to measure and cut even with the pattern.

I would also suggest putting some tap lights under the cabinets to light the countertop. This adds a very nice feel to the kitchen work area. Don't be afraid to think and go outside the box. Paint is cheap and can be painted over. I tend to stay away from oil based paints because I don't like working with the oil based paint's paint removers.

Can you sand and re-stain the cabinets? Then you could select a wood tone you like better and the current cabinet color would not be driving your paint selection.

I'd start working on my husband and getting him behind painting your cabinets. That color tone and wood is not your friend!! Since you don't have a window, I'd definitely nix any dark colors on the wall otherwise you'll make the room look like a cave. You need to create the illusion of lightness in there and a light colored paint will definitely help. I'd choose a creamy white for the cabinets and get some knew cabinet knobs/pulls to update, too. We recently painted our kitchen walls with a very, very light cool-toned creamy green (literally just a hint of green; looks awesome w/ our cream-painted cabinets). It looks fresh, clean and light. I like the tin tile suggestion for your backsplash; I've seen this done many times quite successfully on HGTV shows. There are also peel an stick gel composite tiles that look like the really pretty glass mini tiles and are super easy to install -- just peel and stick (just saw this on HGTV's Bathtastic shows) -- pre-"grouted" and everything.

But again, you've got to get rid of that dated pine wood. I think that alone will help tremendously. Good luck! I love, love, love redecorating!!

How do feel about a dark plum? Maybe even on just an accent wall or the walls that the cabinets are on? Purple is a natural compliment color to yellow and orange. I also light it with sky blue - kinda like the blue at the top of this page or like the blue that is on that link right next to the ICI pine. Then switch out the hardware for something really modern and a really modern light.

I have the same color cabinets from the same era. They are driving me crazy! My husband also doesn't like to paint wood but since he knows I decorate better than him I am painting ours starting next week. I am painting the cabinets a creamy warm yellow.

Since there is no window in your kitchen you should stay with lighter colors otherwise a dark color may make the kitchen look like a cave. For the backsplash I would put up those glass squares. Very popular right now and easy to install. I would also stick to colors in the yellow or green family with your wood color.

Good luck! Choosing color is so hard.

When you paint, just make sure you sand every surface first, and use an oil-based paint for durability, wipeability, and adherence to the previous finish. Also, take all the doors off, and remove the hinges completely. You can then sand and paint the cabinet casing, then each door separately. Remember, prep is the most important part of the project!!! If possible, you want to avoid painting the parts of the door and casing that will rub together when the cabinets close, because even the best paint job will start to chip right away in those areas. Because these edges will remain the pine color, I would choose a color that does not contrast too starkly with the pine (i.e. not a super-dark color).

Doing it right will take some time - I would expect your cabinets to be door-less for a week or two, depending on how much time you have for the project.

As for the backsplash - there are lots of interesting sheet finishes that you can find at the hardware store. I'd just use liquid nails and glue something up there that's interesting, and not too hard to clean. I saw one kitchen that had a gorgeous stainless steel backsplash that had been scratched up with an angle grinder. It looked awesome.

i did my kitchen a few years back and to brighten it up we went with soft yellow on the walls and my canisters and such are in tones of blue and my cabinets are a very light wood my backsplash is in a state of direpair we went with linolem on the backslpash and although it worked for a friend of mine it didnt for me

My parents had cabinets that color in the 80's. The looked pretty good with light yellow and then they repainted in "china white" (very pale gray that looked almost white) and sponge painted over it in colbalt blue. My mom and I did most of the painting and we liked it a lot-- but it wouldn't be right for everyone. Light green might be good. My aunt also just redid her kitchen in a coral/peach kind of color with Asian accents. It looks nice but not my taste. It might work with the pine though. I would agree with the suggestion to change the handles for a diffrent look.