REALLY Panicking about new blue kitchen

[ElBelle]

Hi All, we are at the end of a pretty extensive build project. I have spent a year researching and organising my dream kitchen. I’m not usually very bold but wanted to try and be braver than my usual grey so opted for the vision a dark blue and white kitchen.
Was feeling really excited it all, even when it turned up..... but now they have started to install it really isn’t the colour I thought it would be and think it looks way too blue and overall a bit of a design disaster! We have literally spent a fortune on the house and have nothing left to improve anything else. My husband says he likes it (but he says that about everything) and now I’m in proper panic mode!!!
Anyone have any thoughts on whether I am over reacting or if I have made a terrible judgement, what I could do put it right??? Help! I’m really panicking and now feel gutted that rather than feel excited about showing off our new home, I am embarrassed about my design fail! 😫😩🙈

There are articles in loads of press atm about blue being the colour of the moment so you’re on trend. It’s a beautiful colour.

And most workmen aren’t renowned for their interior design prowess!

Hi ElBelle! I thought I recognised the colour, it's the same as mine!

Sorry for poor pic it's still to finish 6 months on! Have gone for ebonised knobs
and pine worktops as couldn't afford white marble (saving for them, maybe in 10 years?)
Dark beige walls, didn't want white on trend look, proper old fashioned me!
Having pale aged oak style flooring, would have loved oak style ceramic tiles but quickly
ran out of money!

And I had a wobble about the colour as it's my forever kitchen. And the layout and everything really.

Note to self... add photo...

That looks lovely!

wish I’d put this post up before buying the kitchen to help me actually design it!

I think you’ll come to like the way the colours change in the sunlight, responding to the environment....

The blue works very well against the warm tones of the wood.

It’s gorgoeus!

I love it ElBelle - really looking forward to finished piccies!

Wow, it's fab, don't know what you are worried about. Once you have all the finishing touches in place I am sure you will like it too. Just give yourself time, as you have gone for a bold colour and therefore it might take some getting used to, but that doesn't make it a bad choice. Just for the record, my husband loves it too!

I like the pale work top on this one.

Oh shut up it's lovely and I'm

@greatduckcookery yes that is gorgeous! I want to try and find a mild veined quartz. Lots of them have prominent lines which I don’t like..... trying to keep the rest a bit subtle to break up some of the blue.
Wish I had kept the wall units neutral as in this picture and just the island as a statement. Think it is the sheer amount of blue that is overwhelming me a little. Sooo hard to visualise until it’s in though!

We have a dark navy blue Island actually called charcoal ...we love it and everyone says how nice it is against the porcelain ( very pale ivory) we have Bianca Carrera quartz ..very feint (?) lines going through though might be too feint for you

I found this in the doctors today! I think it looks grand!

I love, love, love my blue kitchen, and it still looks fresh and contemporary 15 years later. If I can summon the energy to give It a tidy after tea, I’ll attempt some photos!

Photo

Another love it over here!

Oh wow I think it’s gorgeous too and really like all the styling suggestions other posters have made. I’d also go with a light coloured counter top with grey veining and some copper accessories.

I totally understand how you feel. It’s like a much worse version of being adventurous in a restaurant and then wishing you’d ordered the dish you always have and know you like.

At the beginning of building work I always feel like the world is my oyster. I always feel like I can browse Pinterest and could potentially go with any look. But then once you start buying things and decide on a look you start worrying about whether you’ve done the right thing and pining for the styles you rejected. We did two bathrooms last year and as they developed I got more disappointed and worried but once they were done I loved them both.

I also get what I call ‘decision paralysis’ after a point where I just can’t make anymore decisions. My DH isn’t remotely interested in the aesthetics so I just go round and round in circles on my own. I had a bit of a lightbulb moment when I had around 7 very similar tiles from different places that I just could not decide between for the bathroom floor. My BIL has to gently explain to me that it really didn’t matter which one I went for as they were all similar, would achieve the same look and none would be a disaster. I’ve tried to remember that!

But then sometimes you get so sick of making all the decisions and pick something and you don’t know if it was a whim or following gut instinct which is probably what’s happened to you. It is exhausting researching and making endless decisions about building work and then feeling the responsibility for it all.

If it’s any consolation my friend recently moved and can’t afford to replace their kitchen at the mo. They looked into having it sprayed but she actually didn’t like the super smooth finish. So they got their decorator to hand paint it. It’s a large kitchen and think it was around £600. The different is incredible and the finish is great. So if you live with it for 6 months/a year it really wouldn’t be a big deal to get it repainted. SO DONT WORRY!!

Good luck, enjoy your new home and I hope you’re really happy with it all.

@ElBelle will you post a pic when it’s finished please? Your room is about three times the size of ours but I love what you’ve chosen.

I also meant to say that I think the herringbone floor will look amazing and complement the kitchen units.

@SunnyUpNorth thank you SO much for your message!!! I cannot believe how accurately you have just summarised the last 6 months in our house! You have managed to make me chuckle and feel calmer at the same time! Thank you!

I too had 11 shades of light green/pistachio/ duck egg metro tile for the bathroom..... finally decided on the very first one I chose and then worried the grout was too light on the floor......😫 my husband (as lovely as he is) thinks absolutely everything looks fine.....! A nice quality sometimes but as you say I feel the weight of the decision responsibility.... Decision making is not really a forte of mine and I am not so good at letting things go if they haven’t gone entirely to plan..... Tricky combo!

Decision and options paralysis are big issues.....Love that you use that term too! Pinterest used to excite me but now it just confuses me with a million options of almost exactly the same thing!

I am working with the colour (still secretly hoping it will somehow turn more navy overnight 😀) but taking definite comfort in that in time it could be painted..... just knowing it doesn’t ‘have’ to be permanent somehow helps. Remind me never to get a tattoo!

I realise it is just a kitchen..... in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t actually matter....... once I am in and making memories with my family there I’m sure I won’t care at all (and if I do I’ll invest in good paintbrushes and a professional!)

I just didn’t expect to feel this overwhelmed by paint and decor. We have literally blitzed the whole house and think I’m just at a road block of anymore decisions for a while!

I currently have pewter light fittings but think they might be too dark now?..... more research ahead possibly..... 🙈

I’ll post pictures 👍🏻 Just hope it all comes together in the end!

Thanks so much mumsnetters..... you really have helped! 😘

OP, have a look at Caesarstone Rugged Concrete for your worktops. I've got it with a dark blue kitchen and it looks fabulous.

Your kitchen looks lovely.

@ElBelle I think we might be the same person! I must have got 20-30 metro tile samples when we did the bathrooms. I eventually also went for the very first one I liked. I’ve sort of recognised now that I not only have to go through the process of picking the item but also feeling sure I have confidently rejected the alternatives. Very time consuming.

In contrast we are doing a large job on our cellar at the moment. I want it done but the reality is that I probably won’t use it much as it will be a snug/playroom for the kids, a gym room for my husband and guest quarters. The only bit I’m excited about is the understairs storage! But because I’m just not that fussed I’m being really whimsical with the decision making and it’s amazing! I did get slightly hung up on which doors to get, then went with the impulse choice and instantly regretted it but then can remind myself it’s ‘just the cellar’. I recommend a project in a year or two that you’re not too fussed about.

Seriously though, it will be amazing. And just having your own space back, no builders around, no decisions about obscure things to make will be such a relief.

We def need an after pic!!

(Ps you should have put this in the property section!!)

Bit of a long shot - does anyone know where the roman blind is from in John Barclay's kitchen that @jojo2232 linked to further up the thread?

I'm not on social media otherwise I'd ask