Our Navy and White Painted Kitchen Cabinets
When we were looking at houses, hands down the one we are in now was our favorite. The only thing we really, really didn’t like was the kitchen. It’s tiny, narrow and dark. Eventually we plan on remodeling the entire thing, but that’s down the road. Since this kitchen is temporary-ish for us, we decided to do something really fun. I’ve loved the two-tone kitchen trend with navy and white kitchen cabinets, so we decided to give it a try!
Picking a cabinet paint color was actually one of the first things I did when we got our keys. I picked out about 12 sample paint colors and got a large piece of plywood cut down at Home Depot into cabinet-sized pieces (2′ x 4′).Luckily the painters had already prepped our floor since I ended up spilling a whole can of sample paint as soon as I got home! Hah. And NO that one wasn’t the winner. 😛
I then painted every single one a different color and held them up one by one. I was fortunate enough to have my friend Sang come over and help me—she’s a fab graphic designer (and missionary!) and has a great eye. It helped so much to hold the painted wood pieces up to the countertop and make sure it worked with the granite. Once we had it narrowed it down to our favorite two blue colors and white colors, I let Scott make the final call…and all three of us picked the same white and blue as the winner, yay!
We hired the painting out. They used a spray paint gun and primed, then painted. We’ve had them for a few months now—they’ve held up pretty well, but there are a few spots where wear is starting to show on the bottom cabinets. Since it’s only going to be around for a year or two, I’m okay with that for now.
The two toned look really helped our kitchen to feel a bit bigger. The white cabinets make the kitchen seem taller, and the blue draws the eye down and away from the HORRIBLE granite countertops and backsplash, YUCK. LOL. In case you can’t tell, I am not a fan of the orange-y tile, tan grout and brown blah countertops. For now, I ignore them as much as I can and try to just look at the pretty cabinets. 🙂
Other future kitchen plans include updating appliances (we did get a new dishwasher, yay!). I think that brick structure with the double ovens in it will have to come down eventually since the ovens are so tiny! Seriously you guys, we had to buy all new baking sheets and glass dishes because our last ones don’t fit!! Also, maybe taking down a wall? Maybe two? Eeek!!! We’ll see!
Here’s a couple before and after shots:
So what do you all think? Are you fans of the two-toned look?
Tania Griffis is an accomplished writer, blogger, and interior designer with a Journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. She started her popular blog, Run to Radiance, in 2011, demonstrating her design expertise through the personal remodeling of six houses to millions of readers across the globe.
Tania also owns The Creative Wheelhouse, a respected ghostwriting agency for bloggers, further showcasing her talent for creating engaging and informative content.
It looks great!! I would have never thought to to do a two tone look but I like it! I don’t think the counter-tops are horrible, I actually like them, although the back splash isnt my favorite with it.
I am loving the two tone look! You kitchen seems SO much brighter. And I think the counter tops even look great with it. What a transformation!
Great makeover, seriously loving the two toned look! I have been wanting to do this in my own kitchen, but still a bit hesitant. Thinking I will start small and paint my island base a different color for starters. Love how you are bringing this home together in your own style!
I love how much white lightens up a room & makes it look larger
they look amazing! i would never think to do navy, let alone white and navy but it seriously looks fabulous.
I love two toned kitchens!!!! They are always so pretty and unique. I absolutely LOVE the brick around your oven. OMG!!!
i love them!! but i might be a little biased…;P
Love it! That brick + oven combo is so adorable, but I totally understand about the ovens being teeny! The brick looks so good with the blue and white though, perhaps you could incorporate it later in another way.
I love the two-tone look. I had white uppers and pale grey lowers in my old kitchen. It’s amazing what some paint can do to refresh an outdated kitchen. I actually love the moulding on the cabinets, too! I wish our kitchen cabinet doors had good bones, but they are so ugly we can’t even repaint them.
I would recommend painting the grout on the backsplash either a medium grey, or a dark navy to match the cabinets. The bolder option would be the darker one, but I think it would help make the backsplash look more purposeful and accent the dark spots on the granite versus the yellow/tan hues.
http://imgur.com/a/gClRY
I dig it. The colors look great together. I do like some of the other colors you had too.
I have a link up going on over at my blog, if you would like to link up there too. Have a great week.
http://atmycounter.blogspot.com/2015/10/october-note-on-counter.html
I did this in our last home – ( deep grey on the bottom though ) yours turned out just beautiful !!!
I really love this color combination. I haven’t yet tackled painting my cabinets, but it is on my “To Do” list. You are giving me great inspiration!
I painted our cabinets all black, the rest of the room is very light grey and white. It looks great. We want to put frosted glass in the top cabinets, and I think I want to repaint the top ones white. I love the black on the bottom, and although the room is big I think it would look more open. I love the colors you chose, it looks fantastic. And the wood floors are gorgeous! Great job.
This is such an amazing idea! Thanks for sharing it. I’m Anita visiting from Creative Ways Link Party.
This is really pretty- I won’t do it in my kitchen, but I would love it in my bathroom- love how it brightened the space so much!
Love the two toned look! And when it’s navy or gray … I fall hard! Nicely done 🙂
They say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder so I must say I love the granite counter tops. So sad that what one person covets another dislikes.
I love the new look! The navy is amazing!!! Thanks for sharing. Feel free to share this at my Make it Pretty party which is currently live. Here is the link to this week’s party if you want to check it out. http://www.thededicatedhouse.com/2015/10/make-it-pretty-monday-week-153.html Hope to see you at the bash! Have a great week! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
I love the navy!