Paint colour experts - I'm almost too embarrassed to ask...

[amazonianwoman]

Now I realise that this is going to come across as a terrible first world problem and am cringing as I type, but we recently moved into a Victorian house with a cream Aga. The units are oak (orange oak), the floor is chestnut (I think, orange too) and the worktop is black sparkly granite (bloody pain to keep clean)

It's all too orange. We can't afford to replace the kitchen for a few years, the Aga costs a fortune to run but I am (embarrassingly) growing to like it - and removing/replacing it would cost too much too - so all I can do is paint the cupboards. They're solid wood and good quality. Except I can't find a paint colour I like which goes with a cream range cooker and black worktops. Pale/whitish colours look too stark against black granite and I have 2 dogs so they will be a nightmare to keep clean. Most greys don't work with cream (I don't think?). Fashionable dark blues look ok with the Aga but not the granite. Greeny colours look a bit too country (Victorian town house)

Any suggestions, oh wise colour experts?

No advice, other than for you to stop being embarrassed and apologetic!

I'd go for a pistachio kind of shade.

Good suggestion above. What about Farrow & Ball "Ball Green"? - fab colour and sounds like it would work with what you've got. 20 years ago we inherited a wooden kitchen that was nice enough but wooden doors too dark. A painter professionally painted/rolled them a F&B colour and it's still holding up!

What about a sort of oxblood colour - like this kitchen island

4.bp.blogspot.com/-il8-oRyDc-8/TwZF6KTvguI/AAAAAAAA4FY/f8pQn3fYoBo/s1600/36.jpg

Have a look on line at a paint called Frenchic.

It is a chalk paint but they have gorgeous colours and a new 'lazy range' you don't need to prime just a light sanding followed by a wash down and you are good to go.

This is their Alfresco range suitable for PVC doors and any outside furniture.

Sounds like you have a quite elegant home, I think grey and cream can work as attached, I also love the green but agree it’s slightly more country looking.

Thanks all.

Gooseberry and Ball Green both nice but still too green and country.

Oxblood island looks fab but I'm trying to tone down the orange/red floor and think this might accentuate it.

I love the colours in the two photos (and had already saved the first one) - but don't know what colours they are?!

Planning on priming with Zinsser or Owatrol and using eggshell for better durability (dogs!) - don't think chalk paint would be as hard-wearing.

Bloody Aga, why couldn't it be black or white or slate coloured??

Oh sorry, just seen you said not green! Could work though (wanders off to make cuppa in green townhouse kitchen )

I kind of think that with a cream aga (quite country) and wooden floor (quite country) and a wooden kitchen, you might be better off embracing the country-ness; green is easy going, doesn’t show the dirt and will work with the cream and the floor.

I guess the alternative would be a fairly toned down mid-blue maybe?

Pale blue? Or a darker grey? Colour match the cream from the aga?

A lilac toned pale blue will work with the cream and help tone down the floor.

Thanks again all.

Any actual paint suggestions wow or bookgirl? Please! Every colour I look at now is just morphing into a sludgy greeny brown grey Would prefer not to colour match the Aga, not keen on cream.

What about something really dark, like Green Smoke or Hague Blue, Stiffkey blue?
How much light does the room get? Which orientation is it?

Get testers, paint some pieces of A4 paper, right up to the edges, try in different places around the room as the same colour can look different in different light conditions. You need to get some colour cards and take it from there. Now if you wanted advice on beiges, I'm your woman as I spent forever finding the perfect shade of warm, milky coffee for our downstairs cloakroom and hall recently.

wowfudge I've dismantled my stack of Farrow & Ball paint cards and hung up about 10bof them near the Aga

SuzanneVageur they're all some of my favourite F&B colours - would like to paint a large freestanding pantry cupboard in the dining area in Stiffkey blue.

Unfortunately the black granite seems to sap all the light from the kitchen area even though it faces east and south and has a large glass side return extension, so fear all those colours are too dark.

Pinterest has some examples.

This is the kind of light blue I was thinking of.

The light blue is good. I'm all greyed out sorry and F&B type green is a bit drab for me.

The second picture in BettyBoo’s post looks like F&B Vert de Tere

*Terre

Mizzle

Sorry another one saying greeny grey of some kind (eg F&B Mizzle). It can be more grey than green but does need to have green undertones. I don't think bluey greys will go with the warm cream and orangey wood floor (blue will make the orange look more orange).

Look at Little Greene and Mylands for colours that are subtle but less sludgy (and therefore IMO less country) than F&B. Sanderson also good but the colour range is dauntingly huge.

Eg Little Green "Pearl Colour"
or Paint & Paper Library "Glass" or "Steel"

These all come in several levels of deepness so you can choose how dark you want to go, also makes it easier to see the undertones in the colour as they are more obvious in the darker versions.

They are not really obvious greens, more neutrals with a green base.