KITCHEN IDEAS-What colour to paint kitchen?

Fox Gibson

i am getting my kitchen painted. i would like a warm feeling to my kitchen, just got Grey type lino and German beech table & chairs with a soft Grey satin feeling to the fabric. i have a wall that i would like to be painted different to the rest. can u recommend what colour's would be nice, forest feeling in touch with earth feeling in my kitchen.thank u

Answer
how about a tone like one of these http://www.materials-world.com/paint-colors/sherwin_williams/color_options/sw_color_options_04.htm

Need HELP with coffee table and end table colors?

jkc1976

We have darker gray walls, charcoal cabinets and built-ins, brown hardwood, and white leather couches and chairs.

Need help with what color to buy for coffee table and end tables, also are unsure about drapery color.

We also have a white/light grey marble kitchen table with black leather dining chairs.

Please help
Would a light beech or bamboo color work for coffee and end tables?

Answer
Your color pallet is neutral. Because your walls sound like they are on the darker side, may I suggest that you use chrome tables with either tile or glass as the top surface? Adding furniture in black or brown sounds boring to me as there will not be much contrast against the walls or the floors. Think about that.

You may want to add pattern, color and texture in the way of a rug along with your draperies. I would shop for draperies or a small area rug to ground the coffee table seating area. Once you select the soft furnishings (rug, if wanted and the draperies), you will have a pallet to work with so you can incorporate your accessory colors with the soft furnishing colors and design.

So, maybe walk through a fabric store's Home Decorating department to see the current selections of fabrics to see what is in fashion today or go to a department store and check out ready made draperies that may appeal to you. Shopping on line for draperies is always risky because you really cannot feel the texture or get the true color or draping features through a computer monitor.

I am a seamstress and I never purchase anything fabric related on line anymore because I am always disappointed.

So, go shopping. Take your credit card and buy several sets of different style/color curtains. Take them home and use a spring tension rod to hold them up for a day or two. Keep what you like and then return the rest. If you do go with chrome tables, use brush nickle curtain hardware to make it all cohesive.

Also, you may want to get some color inspiration by shopping for decorative pillows. Often a simple object such as a pillow can have lovely colors you can use throughout the space. So, a shopping trip is in order. I usually buy lots of pillows, take them home, keep a couple and return the rest. It is really an easy way to shop and see for yourself what looks good in your home. You should try it.

TO YOUR EDIT: yes, a light beech wood would work because it will be a contrast to the darker gray walls.

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How do I refinish an old dining room table? It has a very dark stain and some major scratches in the surface.?

workmaniac

I have inherited an old kitchen table and chair set. It's probably pre-1950.

It has a very dark stain but no poly-urathane. I have been using an orbital sander to take out some of the scatches but these are more like gouges so I'm not too hopeful about those. There is also a circuar water mark. I'm mindful of the fact that I may not have an even colour if I sand too much in one spot.

I would like to stain the table a beech colour to match my furniture but the current colour is very dark.

How do I do it?

Answer
I would go to Lowe's. etc. and buy a good quality stripper first, and use that, and THEN sand. (I HATE to sand:)..but if you want a fresh, smooth surface, I don't think you are going to get around it. Try not to just concentrate on one spot, do it all over, so that you don't leave "dips" in the table top...take it all down to one level. As long as it's a solid piece of wood, you shouldn't have any problems. Once you get it down far enough, and get all of the gouges out, you should be able to re-stain any color you want, and then be sure and poly, so you won't have to worry about the water marks again. When you start your sanding, start with a larger grit sandpaper, like an 80 then work your way up to a finer grit~220 or more for the final step. I wouldn't use an orbital sander though...try a finishing sander, so you can cover more area - more evenly:)
Good Luck!!!

I have a pine table (from Ikea) that I want to make darker. Can I just buy wood varnish and paint it?

Or do I have to go through several other steps first? Or should I not be using varnish at all, but instead a different product? I'm not a handyman type of person, lol, so I'm trying to figure out how to do this in the simplest way possible.

Answer
I have several pieces from IKEA that I have stained to match my medium dark kitchen cabinets. I am not wild about Minwax stains but unfortunately they are the most commonly available and they will do. Watco and Cabot are better products that cover more evenly if you can find them. I would NOT use varnish stain. Stick with regular oil based stains for pine. Pine is porous and tends to have an uneven finish when you use the varnish type. Varnish works best on tight grained hardwoods like mahogany, cherry and beech.

Just be sure that you stir the stain up well using an old spoon or a popsicle stick -- the stain tends to separate from the solvent and settle out like a sludge at the bottom of the can and you have to mix it well. Just shaking it won't do it. Wear disposable gloves and use old cotton rags (teeshirts or underwear) to apply the stain. Use a little at a time and wipe it evenly. You can always add more to darken it later but it is hard to lighten if you lay it on too thick. Wear old clothes and put a drop cloth or newspapers under the item to stain because the stuff won't wash off when you spill or smudge it on anything.

Note this only works if you have the real raw pine furniture and not the laminate type. But it sounds from your description that you have the kind that will take stain. Just be warned thet some of the pine pieces will take stain unevenly so be prepared to make it darker if it looks blotchy. Some IKEA furntiture I have stained looks great and some (like the kitchen carts that seem to be softer pine) look a little uneven and required a lot of touchup.

IKEA sells a nice oil finish you can put on after the staining to improve the shine and protect against water spotting. You can also use Howards Feed n Wax, which is a great final sealing finish for butcher block and wood surfaces. I think they still sell it at Home Depot and Lowes.

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Interior design - can I use light wood and dark wood together?

Jeremy

I live in a fairly new flat. Most of the furnishings are light wood (light beech) including all doors, kitchen cabinets, hallway flooring. I've recently bought dark wood (chocolate) blinds for the living room and tv cabinet. Can I mix the two colours in the living room? I don't want to overwhelm the living room with too many dark furniture pieces and I also want to try and tie it into the rest of the flat.

Is light wood mixed with dark wood a big no, no - or can I pull this off somehow? I was thinking of perhaps getting a beech coloured coffee table and a few beech shelves?

Advice appreciated!!

Answer
Yes, you can definitely mix both colors of wood. We often use both dark and light color wood combinations in custom flooring. They have to blend well or "match" each other, but other than that, have fun and let your creativity loose!

Please help me design my house?

Kiara

I want to make my house pretty :) on a tight budget :(
I will outline what furniture is in each of the rooms, and can you help me come up with a colour scheme, what to buy, picss etc?

Lounge: cream lounges, cream walls, cream carpet, cream blinds, blue shaggy rug, brown timber coffee table, brown timber wine rack, black TV cabinet, black frames on walls, blue lamp.

Dining room: white table, grey & white chairs, lace tablecloth, cream carpet, cream walls, house plant on table.

Master bedroom: black, blue & pink doona, dark brown timber furniture (bed, tallboy, bedside tables, dutchess).

Spare room: mattresss, heap of egyptian statues and frames on walls, white bedside table, and a lounge I need to recover. I need to buy a bed frame, doona, and recover a lounge. We were thinking gold and black to make an egyptian themed room?

Study: beech and charcoal office furniture (hutch, desk, side desk, filing cabinets, book case), black office chair, a lounge to recover, degree in a timber frame. Was thinking beech, charcoal, and aqua?

Then theres also the kitchen and just sort of an "area" where theres two couches to be recovered. I don't know what to recover them with....

Answer
Better to approach an interior designer to help your for that matter..

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I have a pine table (from Ikea) that I want to make darker. Can I just buy wood varnish and paint it?

beech kitchen tables image

TexasGirl

Or do I have to go through several other steps first? Or should I not be using varnish at all, but instead a different product? I'm not a handyman type of person, lol, so I'm trying to figure out how to do this in the simplest way possible.

Answer
I have several pieces from IKEA that I have stained to match my medium dark kitchen cabinets. I am not wild about Minwax stains but unfortunately they are the most commonly available and they will do. Watco and Cabot are better products that cover more evenly if you can find them. I would NOT use varnish stain. Stick with regular oil based stains for pine. Pine is porous and tends to have an uneven finish when you use the varnish type. Varnish works best on tight grained hardwoods like mahogany, cherry and beech.

Just be sure that you stir the stain up well using an old spoon or a popsicle stick -- the stain tends to separate from the solvent and settle out like a sludge at the bottom of the can and you have to mix it well. Just shaking it won't do it. Wear disposable gloves and use old cotton rags (teeshirts or underwear) to apply the stain. Use a little at a time and wipe it evenly. You can always add more to darken it later but it is hard to lighten if you lay it on too thick. Wear old clothes and put a drop cloth or newspapers under the item to stain because the stuff won't wash off when you spill or smudge it on anything.

Note this only works if you have the real raw pine furniture and not the laminate type. But it sounds from your description that you have the kind that will take stain. Just be warned thet some of the pine pieces will take stain unevenly so be prepared to make it darker if it looks blotchy. Some IKEA furntiture I have stained looks great and some (like the kitchen carts that seem to be softer pine) look a little uneven and required a lot of touchup.

IKEA sells a nice oil finish you can put on after the staining to improve the shine and protect against water spotting. You can also use Howards Feed n Wax, which is a great final sealing finish for butcher block and wood surfaces. I think they still sell it at Home Depot and Lowes.

I am having a wedding in a church and then I want to have reception in Lock Haven PA, where should I have it?

rhilex1982

I am a little strapped for cash, somwhere thats nice but yet affordable. like between 1000 and 1500 for a rental> Help!!

Answer
here are a couple of ideas for you.

the beech creek fire department has a social hall for rent. it is not a fancy place, but it is decent and includes kitchen and tables and chairs. http://www.bcbfire.com/ click on social hall

also the lock haven elks club has a ballroom. they don't have a webpage, but you can contact them for information at 570 748 4550

the durrwachter building is available even for non-students. they have their own catering but will allow an outside catering company if they apply for approval. their catering prices start at 38 dollars per person for the buffet dinner, our you can go for hor d'oeuvres for less. there is an 80 guest minimum, which would be a total of 2940 dollars, but i don't think there is any fee for the use of the building if you use their catering. but i might be wrong. you will have to check. http://www.lhufoundation.org/Durrwachter/Index.htm

of course you can always use one of the park shelters in lock haven either at the river beach or other parks for free. you do not have to have a permit or make reservations. they are first come first served though so it is taking a chance to go that way, plus the general public will be around as well.

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