Working With: A Dark Kitchen

I won’t act like I was working with the world’s ugliest kitchen.  Because I wasn’t.  I liked the kitchen when we moved in and didn’t have any thoughts of painting the cabinets or ripping anything out.  I just wanted to find some inexpensive ways to make it a little less traditional and a little more me. 

 

 

I’ve shared most of these ideas in other posts, but here are some of the changes I made (and easy ideas if you’re looking to give your darker kitchen a quick update).

 

 

White walls.  The previous wall color was actually a really pretty green-gray, but didn’t flow with the other gray in the attached family room.  I also felt like it dictated all of my other color choices and made the cabinets a little more “golden” than I wanted.  The white paint opened up the whole space and gave me more of a blank slate for adding other accent colors.  (Paint color is Shoji White by Sherwin Williams.)

 

 

 

Removing cabinet doors.  I’ll admit I wasn’t 100% sure about this at first, but it was a pretty low-commitment move if I didn’t like it.  We only removed two doors and it instantly made the kitchen feel less “heavy” to me.  I inevitably get asked about whether or not my plates get dusty.  And, I guess they would if they were sitting there long enough.  But, I use our open shelves for the dishes we use most and have also found it’s really convenient when I’m unloading the dishwasher (which feels like 17 times a day).

 

 

 

Painting for contrast. Just because you aren’t painting your cabinets doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate other paint colors in small doses.  I used a dark charcoal (Urbane Bronze by Sherwin Williams) to add contrast to the back of the open shelves and on our pantry doors.  You might even think about painting your kitchen island (an idea I tossed around for a while), a breakfast table and chairs, or even a small footstool.  Think of small places where you can bring in a paint color that you’ve always wanted to try.

 

 

Accessorizing with color.  Fun accessories are an affordable way to give your kitchen new life.  It could be as big as colorful curtains or chairs, or as small as a new tray or kitchen towels.  Sometimes it really is the little things that can give us a better outlook on our homes.

   

 

 

 

Changing out the lighting.  This was more of an investment than the other changes, but one that I think was totally worth it. (And, I was a good girl and waited for it to go on sale.)  I think lighting is one of the best changes you can usually make to update a room.  I also added a glass lamp on our countertop that makes the kitchen feel cozier.

 

 

 

 

What small changes have you made to update your darker kitchen?