If you like your cabinet finishes but want to change wall colors with paint, how do you choose a color? White always looks clean and fresh, but a bewildering number of other color options are on the market. It does not have to be difficult to choose an individualized, personalized color that will coordinate with existing cabinets.
Instructions
1. Take stock of all the room's colors. This includes not only the cabinet finishes, but other fixed colors in the room, like flooring, countertops and appliances. Many decorators use colors in the proportions of 60-30-10. In a kitchen the cabinets probably represent the dominant color, with the flooring color following. Your goal is to choose a third color for the walls.
2. Consider whether you are seeking a high or low color contrast to existing cabinets and flooring. If the floors are dark and the cabinets light, or vice versa, there is already contrast in the room. If they are of a similar color value, a contrasting color will liven up the space. If cabinets are heavy and dark, however, don't opt for very light colors. That provides too much contrast. Low contrast spaces are soothing but can look boring. If you choose this route, use bright accessories for color punch.
3. Decide whether a warm or cool color is the most appropriate for your room. In spaces with few windows or low light, warm colors like yellow, orange, or red will make it feel sunnier though they may overwhelm bright rooms. Cool colors like blues or blue-greens make a space feel larger, especially when they are very light shades. Cool colors are best in well-lit spaces.
4. Narrow the choices based on your survey thus far. You should be thinking along the lines of "My cabinets are light birch and my flooring is beige tile, so a contrasting color would add some punch. Since I have skylights and good lighting, a strong yellow or orange shade would be too much. I want a darker shade for the walls, and I like green."
5. Visit your local paint store, and take home color chips for the color possibilities you have identified. This is where your own eye is important. Sometimes an unlikely choice looks better in the room than one might expect, so don't limit yourself when gathering chips.
6. Look at the chips in your space one by one, putting them next to the cabinets and flooring. Whittle down the selections to only those that look pleasing with the existing colors. No matter how many chips you took home, there will probably be only a few left.
7. Live with the most pleasing chips on the wall for a few days, studying them in varying light conditions. You should be able to pick a favorite. Test it by painting only a small area until you are sure the color is going to work out. Sometimes what looks good on a tiny chip may need some adjusting when it covers larger surfaces.
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