Now that the holiday frenzy is kinda sorta dying down, I’m getting back in the groove with features about reader homes. Did I say “groove”? Veronica — who is closing on her first house — a 1976 contemporary — today, is already chomping at the bit to get her retro nesting under way. And, she wants our help with paint colors for this 1976 kitchen. Interestingly, this is really typical of how readers find my site: They make an offer on a new/old house… immediately begin online research on how to renovate and update it … and land right here among us, sucked into our “back-dating” retro vortex. Veronica writes:
I have recently bought my first home- a 1976 contemporary. I want my first project to be the kitchen, but on a tight budget my only option is to paint… I am having a hard time picking out paint colors. They are currently black and white but it feels too stark and cold. I want to keep a mid century mod motif- I was thinking grays and browns to match the brick red colored tiles on the floor, but I would love some ideas.
My husband and I are first time home buyers in the Albany, NY area. Relatively speaking, it did not take us too long to find our dream house- a 1970′s contemporary. I knew before we even began looking for a house that I would not buy a “cookie cutter” house. When we walked in to this house, we fell in love with the spiral staircase and the retro feel of the house.
The layout is a bit awkward- the main living space (kitchen, dining, and family room) are in the walkout “basement”. The main floor is a wide open living room- the third floor holds the bedrooms and there is even a fourth floor loft area (accessible via ladder). I am very excited to add even more midcentury mod touches to this house!
We are closing on the house Wednesday and will begin our renovations this weekend.
thanks pam!~Veronica
Sexy paint colors for Veronica’s 1976 black and white kitchen 
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Veronica -
Congratulations!
Sticking with the color palette of the era, I would say go with a bold and warm orange. It will make a great contrast with the existing b&w scheme.
Whatever color you choose, be sure to err a little grayer with cool colors and a little browner with warm colors.
Good luck!
Nicole
I have to echo Nicole’s suggestion of orange — it was very, very ’70s (often combined with a royal blue, particularly in Scandinavian schemes) and seems like it would be wonderful in your kitchen.
Plus — LOVE the hardware pulls on your kitchen cabinets!
I love that tile and the hardware on the cabinets. The tile can be difficult to coordinate with colors. The 70s look does holler out for warm orangey colors. Are you stuck with the white countertop? I think I would go with a lighter range of colors so the white won’t look too stark.
If someone here had PhotoShop skills, it wouldn’t be hard to “color” in the walls — sure would help in deciding what to do.
Veronica, Have fun with this kitchen, but ask yourself a few questions about YOU rather than the era. When I look at your kitchen I see dots (lights, hardware, cupboards) splotches and chaos in the current color scheme. But changing it to bright orange would also drive me crazy. What makes YOU feel good in a kitchen?
You already have a lot of black in the appliances; you could make these the focus points and let the rest play a supporting role. How about a black backsplash behind the stove? You mentioned gray…it’s tricky but a few drops of magenta in the mix helps liven it up. Then the gray color reads fresh rather than dreary. Or, maybe you could look at a soft coral for walls. Whatever you choose, remember you will see it from the dining area. I like the white counter for now.
You don’t need photoshop to play with room color: print off a black & white picture and color it in with watercolors or colored pencil. And finally…get rid of the off center lights under cupboards. Good luck. I hope we see what you decide to do.
A light or minty blue/green might look good. Then you could have orange as a beautiful complimentary accent color. A bowl of oranges in front of a blue is smashing!
Veronica, I advise you to live in your home for awhile and continue your research. Figure out what does and does NOT work for you in that house (floor plan, traffic pattern, cabinets need too much work?….) Figure out what you really LOVE and want to keep, and also what you’d like to change. Continue to peruse websites and photos of other retro homes to help you gain a clear picture of what speaks to you and what you’d ultimately like to live with. Just because something would look retro cool doesn’t mean it would be comfortable for you to live with — we’re all different, afterall.
Many of us have hastily torn stuff out in our zeal to remodel or update our homes, only to later regret it when we learned more about the era and styles of past times.
Congrats on your home purchase — very exciting time for you!!! (And I LOVE those unique knobs in your kitchen!)
I actually think the ktchen is pretty cool as is. Could the cold feeling just be because it is emply? Just put some color on the back splash – red or turquoise would work well. Or maybe a brick back splash (or subway tiles in a color to match the floor).
You could try the scheme first just by adding some colorful accessories on the counters to see if you like the colors. If you want to change the counters, try painting them black. I recently used Rustoleum’s counter paint and am happy with the result.
If you can change the appliances to black (paint) or stainless steel (try the contact paper- it works, but is pricey), then maybe you could change the cabinets doors with paint. You’d have many options then. Given the current black and white mix on them, I’d be more hesitant
Burnt orange for the walls, leave the cabinets white.
For cabinet door color, give a modern version of guacamole green a try.
Those strange, somewhat off colors of the 70′s somehow worked and there are some good modern updates to these mid-tone colors.
If going for lighter….robin’s egg blue is a good one too.
And if super 70′s is calling you’re name, try Ochre. It’s been all over the place this year and has a real curry-spicy look that is warm and inviting. That tile color on the floor is already paprika! Think about your accessories, and that may help you in your choice:)
A color combination that I really like is turquoise & red with black & white. Since you already the black & white thing happening, I would paint the walls turquoise & bring in red accents with a clock, towels, etc.
Take a look at the Benjamin Moore Affinity fan. TONS of colors in there that would work with the era…without seeming slavish to the era.AF-230 (Buttered Yam) might be too dark for your space…but it might be perfect!
If you want to go green without it being to “avocado” try AF-430 “wasabi”.
Seriously…the whole fan deck is awesome. Additional bonus? The colors are great–but limited. Won’t put you into analysis paralysis.
My first instinct was orange, but then I started to wonder if I could live with bright bright orange. Perhaps, a glass back splash with hints of grey, agua and orange. Then, on larger walls, a pale orange (the palest color of an orange segment).
I love the hardware, so please leave it. I like the idea of stenciling or pale striping the cabinets.
Or, just go wild . . . old school Howard Johnson’s is still a fabulous color match – teal and orange.
Cannot wait to see it.
Okay, I love black and white plus one bright, sunny colour. If tangerine doesn’t thrill you, and I see orange has been mentioned a numer of times… why not yellow? A bright, clear yellow. Or even a chartruese.
What about the Sherwin Williams Suburban Modern chartruese? Or really any of those colours, pink would also be bright and warm without being too acid-y like some people who aren’t me find chartruese to be.
But I love the cabinets. I wouldn’t do them a bright colour, I would keep them white and let the bright colour be bold but not overwhelming.
sherwin-williams.com has a great paint tool online.. you can upload your own photo, highlight the area you want painted, and then fill it with any of their colors. It even shades and keeps textures so the effect is pretty real!
I think a sunny yellow would look great. Black and white and yellow look good together and yellow was a popular kitchen color in the 70s.