Dh says it makes him feel like he lives with a serial killer!

[Pippyls67]

I want to paint my kitchen red. Tried a tester pot and Dh says it looks like I’ve committed mass murder and not cleaned up after me. I think it’s jolly. Very old house, quite dark though with low ceilings and exposed beams, stone walls etc. Maybe it could he construed as ‘spooky’. Depends on your take on it I guess. I really want a deep rich colour feature wall. What colour would you go? Should I stick to my guns (excuse the pun) and stay with the red? Edited to say yes to first couple of replies- you’re right, I must consider him too. He’s not prepared to suggest a colour tho as he got free reign on his own study. Just comments unhelpfully. He’s very old tho so he says he’s fully entitled to be curmudgeonly from time to time. So up to me. Maybe on reflection this is why I want a jolly colour. Or Oh my God, stream of consciousness thinking now, am I trying to bait him for mild entertainment???? No - I’m old too - but I’m not that cantankerous. Ahh the fun of being a pair of retirees.

@EvelynBeatrice I love Natural Hessian it’s so versatile. Had a little cottage with all rooms painted with it. My suggestion for OP is Farrow and Ball Cord it’s a darkish sort of ochre great in dark rooms. We have just painted a North facing ground floor room that doesn’t get much light into it. I have used it a few times never disappointed with it.

One positive is that if you do end up having to kill him, it probably won’t show much.

Compromise with mustard - a dark yellow/orange.

I am all for painting rooms dark colours but don't think red is practical nor gives the right feeling for a kitchen nor for the style of house you are describing. my living room is covered floor to ceiling in a dark navy velvet wallpaper it's dark but makes it feel cosy and inviting. my loo downstairs is all black door skirting etc with a black print wallpaper. my bathroom upstairs is tiled copper and black. all dark but work. my own kitchen has floor to ceiling pitch black cabinets but walls are painted a gray to make it stand out. it's an easy kitchen to keep clean gets lots of light aswell. heritage colors are fab they don't have to be neutral but need to compliment the house. more importantly both of you live there and must like it. I wouldn't decorate anything my husband wouldn't like

I also love Natural Hessian but I prefer neutral walls and adding colour with textiles, pictures and accessories. You could add some red to your kitchen with items like red enamel coffee/tea pots, or colanders, things like that. It can look very cheerful in splashes but entire walls can be very overwhelming and oppressive. I do think you both need to agree on the colour or range of colours, I'd be very unhappy if I got home and found DH had painted a wall a bright/deep colour without any discussion.

What brand/colour is the tester @Pippyls67?

I love red walls and think it’d look great as a feature wall with beams and stone.

But if the room’s already quite dark and low-ceilinged, a deep red would make it seem even darker and you might need the lights on more. Maybe better for a snug than a kitchen.

In a previous home, our living room was painted deep red on every wall (below the picture rail) and it looked great with the original wood floor and fireplace. But that was a Victorian house with high ceilings, a big bay window and slightly upper ground level, so there was tons of light.

I work for an organisation strongly associated with the colour red and our kitchens at work have bright red worktops walls and splash backs. I’ll be honest, it’s A LOT. And that’s not in my home.

I like boLd and I like dark. But red or burgundy walls will clash very badly with your unit and work top colours. And make the beautiful colours of your tableware looked washed out.

Id start with the Port Meiriom Botanic garden - find a colour that you like in that , match it to a paint colour and get a sample pot to paint on a 1 m square sheet of lining paper.

It sounds like the wood / granite in your kitchen is warm based ie yellow tones - whatever colour you choose I think it would be better if you choose something with a warm yellow toned base. If you choose something with a cool (ie blue) base than it might clash with what you have.

If you're fixed on a red colour, Roasted Red by Dulux worked beautifully in a friend's house: no hint of a serial killer event about it.

When we moved in here we couldn't really afford to waste money on anything that was 'just cosmetic', as there was so much needing done, so I thought I could live with the red worktops in the kitchen.

Turned out I couldn't, so we scraped together enough to replace it. It took just one week to come to that decision. One week to find that living with a large expanse of red in a kitchen cannot be done. One week.

Is there much wall to paint, or is it just in between wall units?

How much time does he spend in there?
If it's just to make a cuppa twice a day, I'd ignore him.

Sorry this is not paint - but of you search under either Autumn or spring colours these are the yellow toned and should go with your cupboards / granite - you could go for a plum colour etc

www.kettlewellcolours.co.uk/colours?sf-5000=4

Emerald green

The last link was yellow toned summer colours this is yellow toned spring colours
www.kettlewellcolours.co.uk/colours?sf-5000=2

Me too! Ours is white walls/ceiling/units, black sparkle worktop and fire engine red tiled splashback following all the worktops. Installers were giving us definite side eye when the tiles arrived, but I love it 😀

My MIL's kitchen is red, it doesn't look serial killer-y but it does look cheap and tacky despite costing a fortune. Maybe it's the combo with the black quartz worktops though.

Also depends on the other decor. I love red walls but the photo on the left looks awful to me. I find red goes well with natural materials: wood, stone, wicker, jute etc. Or looks good with ultra modern units as a feature wall.

I agree with using your ceramics as inspiration for colour choices. What about a deep pink, colour matched to the deeper colour dahlia:

www.portmeirion.co.uk/botanic-garden-4-piece-mixed-motif-set

so I love red so would love it BUT if he hates it then no?! I absolutely hate orange and would be miserable if my partner decided to paint any room that colour!

My friends went with a lovely rich deep green in their living room and it was really classy looking. Very country house vibes even though it's a 2 bed terrace. I think you def have to factor your husbands opinion as he has to live with it.

My husband heard me that I wanted the living room orange. I was thinking a nice rusty orange feature wall. Came back from a weekend at my parents to a bright red orange. But I admired his effort 😆

I have a bright red living room and a lime green kitchen. He wouldn't like my house. lol just paint it the way you want. He will get used to it. Men don't usually notice stuff like that anyway.

Reply #2: We did our kitchen a beautiful dusky pink. It's gorgeous I have to say. We have high ceilings and did the top part of the wall and ceiling a lovely bright white.

I would go navy. I like dark and cosy.

Teen ds wanted red walls with black woodwork and it looks great. A sort of deep red, not garish.

I painted one wall of my lounge a raspberry red. It has really added warmth. It’s a small room with low ceilings and quite dark … maybe your DH could live with just one wall.