Dragon V's Ramblings

"Anyways, prepare to be stunned, I actualy got around to doing pictures today"

Very cool!

Now what color are you painting it?

Thanks! :)

Suddenly I feel very sheepish admitting that I had planned on painting the walls white ;).

I need to find a good book on color that doesn't spend most of it's time discussing different shades of khaki and light pastels. So far all the books I've been able to get a hold of devote (at most) all of 10 pages to darker color palettes.

"Suddenly I feel very sheepish admitting that I had planned on painting the walls white ;)."

I don't think white would be bad, actually. If you're planning on keeping that chilli pepper light (which rocks, totally) perhaps white walls but with red stuff/decorations for more color would work. I'm pretty partial to the 50's/retro kitchen design (black, red and white) but my husband hates it (hence, why ours won't look like that) :)

I'm still debating exactly how retro I want to make the kitchen. If I had gone with a more traditional cabinet color I could definitely do it, but black tends to seems a bit less blatantly retro. I'm not sure exactly what "look" my kitchen should have, but I do want it to be somewhat coherent and nice (i.e. not slapped together).

One of the options that I've been playing around with for lighting is using chili pepper x-mas lights around the top edge of the kitchen connected to a switched receptacle (that's what got me thinking about putting the fan in there in the first place). The one really annoying thing about this kitchen is that the light switch is located at the back end of the kitchen so you have to go through it to turn on the lights. On occasion random obstructions have caused me to curse this particular arrangement.

Right now the plan I was most enamored with was to do a semi-industrial/retro kitchen (black, wood grain, stainless steel/chrome) with a few cheesy chilli type decorations for that splash of red/green color. The thought of using a non-white color for walls though makes me wonder if there is something out there that might work with that general theme in such a way as to make it look cooler than just white.

Why is it that doing the complicated nuts and bolts stuff is not daunting in the slightest but I end up paralyzed with indecision when it comes to color selections? :)

The shiny black cabinetry looks awesome! Definitely a good choice.

Re: paint color- if you've got enough lighting in the room go with something like blood red walls (pulls out the red in the chili fan) or maybe a deep bruised purple. That would look pretty impressive with the cabinetry.

After living with shiny black cabinets for three years, I just couldn't see myself living with dull, dirty, wood colored cabinets in my house. The fact that they're oak and pretty damn sturdy was a plus, but I love how the laquer came out. In the right light you can still see all the wood grain from the oak which makes me quite happy (especially since the paint job ended up being free)

I'm not sure what color I'm going to go with. Honestly I had thought about going with white walls since the cabinets were already black. Now that you mention it though I could probably do something much darker that would look good with the cabinets. The lighting is still a work in progress. During the day the room can be very bright, but at night I still need to come up with better lighting.

One thing that I found particularly spiffy in my old place was using task lighting (e.g. under cabinet halogen pucks) to light work areas. With those, I used to be able to work quite comfortably with the main kitchen light off.

Why is it that I suddenly see a lot of paint chips in my future? ;)

Do you cook with those playing cards? Use them to cut up spices like drug dealers with cocaine? *snicker*

in reguard to the room color, I'd go with the lightest of silver/grey that you could, almost white, but not so hospital contrasty... Of course, if your really bored/rich I think a pressed tin ceiling would look great with those cabnets too.. But, I'm just crazy like that, all the old mills around here have them and I'm a bit wanting for one.. :)

You notice the playing cards, but you missed the fuzzy dice hanging from the pot rack? :-p

I'm totally open to suggestions on the color. I had thought of going with white for the walls since black cabinets seemed like a major big colorful thing, but the more I think about it the more I'm leaning towards doing something more interesting with the color. Of course then I'd have to decide on the color for the trim and then I see a downard spiral ;)

There are inexpensive faux pressed tin ceiling options. Besides, it's a relatively small room so even actual tin wouldn't necessarilly break the bank. Of course there is the back room which I intend to turn into the kitchen annex in the near future.....

I saw the dice, I just couldn't think of something snappy to say about them... LOL. Because, they belong... they are black and white, they look good...

ok, here goes the lame comment-

Are you planning on driving the pot rack? What kind of MPG do you get?

*snort*

HA! My kitchen gets infinite MPG.

0 miles / 0 Gallons = really big number :-p

i'm casting my vote for not-white, too. i think something that isn't too bright or contrasty to the shiny black cabinets would be good. perhaps something cool colored to offset the warm brown floors and counter top? something of medium brightness, matte finish... it would also be a nice background for artwork that is on white. did you say it was bright during the day? some nice plants of course ;) i like cooking with my sink and stove light at night +/- a few candles. very peaceful and especially good with tea.