A Kitchen Renovation: Loft Inspiration.

I’ve gone back and forth so many times trying not to go too taste specific. Then I realized I wouldn’t be happy with something that I didn’t love for the remainder of time we spend here. I just didn’t want to spend so much time and money and know that we’ll only enjoy it 3 years, and have it ripped out by the next owner. 3 years SOUNDS like a long time, since we use that kitchen every day. But I look back at the last 3 years, and it’s gone in the blink of an eye!

Of all people, I know paint is an easy fix. I love changing paint like I change my clothes. For $30 you can basically make an entirely new room.

(Pink/Black then Blue/White Master Bedroom wall, Beige Hallway, Brown Bathroom)

(Red/Black/White Living Room, Blue Hallway, Beige Bathroom)

However, I do NOT want to paint around cabinets. So I want to make for darn sure this paint color is going to stay for the remainder of time we’re here. Period. My problem? I want to go light, but I really want a cozy space too. It’s a battle people. With myself. Constantly.

So my #1 fave thing to do is photoshop. Like a mad woman. I know the lighting and furniture will make the color change from what’s on my screen, but it’s a starting point for my in-store and paint sampling search just a little easier, because I’m a super visual person. But this opens up the potential to pick any color under the rainbow, and makes the options harder to weed out. Example?

I loved the Ralph Lauren Stone I have in my living room carried over to the kitchen:

But after staring at it so long, it’s become a little… cold. So when we visited The Wine Loft in Short Pump, I was studying the muddy greige walls with the dark cabinets, mirrors behind the glasses, and warm amber light the lampshades gave off. It was comfortable, homey, and I wanted to stay there forever… or just take all the ideas home with me. I don’t think they’d let me live there, so I was stuck with option 2.

When we moved in, I went to town picking out all kinds of colors to paint all the rooms. The kitchen became gray, but it is such a saturated straight up gray, it sucks the life out of the room, and all the sunlight with it.

The muddy greige at The Wine Loft was more brown, and gave off a soft glow mixed with the amber lamp shades. So I tried to pick the shade out of a thousand online squares from the memory I have of the wall color I sat and studied while I sipped my Riesling. This is the closest I got to it:

I picked a beige shade (yes, the lighting changed again. Why? OVERSTOCK DOESNT HAVE IT ANYMORE!!!) that I used in an old roomboard I made to give the amber glow, the dark cabinets and floors, and I wanted to bring in a little happiness with the lime green curtains. Which you KNOW will change.

Well, earlier today I showed Hussy a picture of a kitchen I love love loved with white counters, dark cabinets, and greige walls:

The irony? I saved this picture on my desktop on March 21. A MONTH ago, I saved this picture while I was getting my initial inspirations together for light counters and dark cabinets, and didn’t even remember it! It even has shelves like mine and the drum shade I want! It’s easier to visualize it in here than photoshop, but it’s hard to believe in my subconscious I liked one look for a month now. You’d think I’d stick with this look now, right? I hope so. The color I used is Urban Living in Ralph Lauren’s Urban Loft Paint line.