Reader Paige needs our help — she and her husband Dustin recently bought a 1960 ranch house, and they are struggling to decide what paint color would help liven up the brown, brown and more brown found throughout the kitchen and connected dining room. She isn’t a fan of the brown backsplash, flooring and countertops, but they will have to stay for now. Can we give Paige a few paint and decorating ideas to help add some color her kitchen?
Paige writes:
I’ve been a follower of Retro Renovation for a long time and have seen you help fellow readers with paint! My husband and I just bought a 1960 ranch, and I am really struggling with what color to paint the kitchen/dining room.
Our kitchen is open to the dining room, and unfortunately the brown back splash and brown floor will have to stay for a while.
That, paired with the blonde woodwork and a wheat Heywood Wakefield table and chairs are really giving me some issues! I’m not attached to the upholstery on the chairs so that can be changed if need be! I definitely want to go with color in the kitchen but everything I pick seems to clash with the floor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
So, what can we do to help liven up all of that brown? We think there are a few key changes that can make a huge difference and up the happy factor in Paige’s kitchen:
- Light: Adding additional sources of bright light — like new, brighter ceiling lights — will help the space feel more cheery right away.
- Color: Between the brown wood cabinets and trim, brown tile floor, brown tile backsplash, brown countertop and beige walls, there is sure a lot of brown in Paige’s kitchen. The quick, easy and inexpensive way to fix this problem is to choose a cheery paint color for the walls, or maybe even a wallpaper accent wall.
- Rug: To further up the happy in Paige’s kitchen, we suggest getting a large area rug to place under the table in the dining area. This will not only add color and pattern to the space, but also help break up the large expanse of brown flooring.
Now, let’s see four options we came up with to help brighten up Paige’s brown kitchen.
Kate’s option 1: A happy aqua
In this option, I found a light colored cheery flower print indoor/outdoor rug that will contrast with the medium brown floor tiles and inject some life into the room. Next, I pulled the aqua blue flower color found in the rug and used that shade to paint the walls. This instantly refreshes the space! Playing off Paige’s Jere inspired starburst wall hanging, I also added a coordinating sputnik light fixture that will not only add interest but also more light to the space. Finally, a medium toned vintage wood starburst clock helps repeat just a little bit of the wood up on the walls. Paige could recover her dining chairs with a solid coral, green or aqua fabric and also use that fabric to make coordinating valences for above the sink and dining room window.
- Aqua walls — like Sherwin-Williams ‘Spa’
- Paige’s Heywood Wakefield dinette set
- Paige’s Jere inspired wall art
- Sputnik light from Practical Props
- Rug from Overstock.com
- Vintage starburst clock from Ebay
Kate’s option 2: Cheerful coral
This option — similar to option 1 but a good choice if Paige likes warm colors more than cool colors — I used the same light colored cheery flower print indoor/outdoor rug that will contrast with the medium brown floor tiles and inject some life into the room. Next, I pulled the coral flower color found in the rug and used that shade to paint the walls. This instantly refreshes the space! Playing off Paige’s Jere inspired starburst wall hanging, I also added a coordinating sputnik light fixture that will not only add interest but also more light to the space. Finally, a medium toned vintage wood starburst clock helps repeat just a little bit of the wood up on the walls. Paige could recover her dining chairs with a solid coral, green or aqua fabric and also use that fabric to make coordinating valences for above the sink and dining room window.
- Coral walls — like Sherwin-Williams ‘Persimmon’
- Paige’s Heywood Wakefield dinette set
- Paige’s Jere inspired wall art
- Sputnik light from Practical Props
- Rug from Overstock.com
- Vintage starburst clock from Ebay
Kate’s option 3: Kitschy kitchen wallpaper
In this option, I started with some fabulous vintage 1970s wallpaper with a kitschy kitchen themed print. So as not to overwhelm the space and save on cost, I would wallpaper just one wall as an accent wall. The remainder of the walls would be painted a cheery aqua, pulled from the wallpaper pattern. Next, I’d add a yellow area rug — another color pulled from the wallpaper pattern — to help brighten up the floor and add even more color. A classic globe ceiling light over the table would not compete for attention with the wallpaper, and would provide a nice amount of light in the space. A grouping of vintage wall plaques in coordinating colors to the wallpaper helps repeat the color scheme and ads a bit more kitsch to this kitchen. Finally, a medium toned vintage wood starburst clock helps repeat just a little bit of the wood up on the walls. Paige could recover her dining chairs with a yellow, green or aqua fabric matched to the wallpaper pattern and also use that fabric to make coordinating valences for above the sink and dining room window.
- 1970s wallpaper from Hannah’s Treasures
- Bright aqua walls that coordinate with the aqua in the vintage wallpaper — like Sherwin-Williams ‘Tantalizing Teal’
- Paige’s Heywood Wakefield dinette set
- Globe pendant light from Practical Props
- Rug from Overstock.com
- Vintage starburst clock from Ebay
- Vintage tree of life wall hanging from Ebay
- Vintage yellow flower and butterfly wall hanging from Ebay
Pam’s option 4: Warm and woodsy like Grandma’s kitchen
Pam here. The first thing I thought of when I saw Paige’s kitchen was to start with a braided rug, because this whole space has old-fashioned feel, like a knotty pine kitchen. In addition, that DELICIOUS Heywood Wakefield Dogbone set can skew old-timey or mid mod. So I went for a kitchen like my Grandma Agnes had. I found a Capel rug that would look good with the brown — kinda foresty. I looked for a cheery barkcloth that would add more pattern via matching valances for the two windows — hey, you could also do a cafe curtain on the bottom half of the dining room window, which would add even more cheer. Kate chose a dusty blue paint color taken the rug and the barkcloth. In this concept, I skipped a light for over the table thinking you may want to keep the existing fan with light, for function. And I found forest green fabric for the chair pads.
- Aqua blue wall paint — like Sherwin-Williams ‘Raindrop’
- Paige’s Heywood Wakefield dinette set
- Braided oval American Legacy rug in Pine Forest from Capel Rugs
- Maharam Messenger ‘Turf’ fabric from Modern Fabrics to recover the chair seats
- Martha’s Vineyard vintage barkcloth fabric from Ebay seller floridabungalow for window treatments
- Vintage starburst clock from Ebay
- Paige’s Jere inspired wall art
Ok, readers — here’s your chance to chime in. Which of these options do you like best for Paige’s kitchen? And: Feel free to add your own ideas to the comments, too!
Judy says
Sherwin Williams Blonde, would be a great color brighten the space and make it look bigger. I would cover the chairs with black to tie in the hardware. Pick your favorite pop of color as the accent, aqua or red as an example.
Jill says
Hi Paige! I’m torn between the Aqua and the wallpaper look. I have a knotty pine kitchen in my 1958 ranch and have experimented with different color ways over the years. Aqua, red and yellow all work well. Actually a light apple green is nice too. I have one wallpapered wall in my dining area. The pattern really does brighten it up. Good luck! Glad you’re not painting the cabinets!
Connie says
Option 2. Gold rug and wallpaper is so authentic looking.
Scott says
Actually I like the fabric on the Heywake quite a bit, and can see spinning the room off from that print if its in good shape. To counter the brown elements I’d go with a really bold, strong color… perhaps a vivid cherry red, orange, or goldenrod yellow that plays well with print, and some cherry red place mats.
And a super happy light fixture with color, like a big orange spaghetti or a one of those multi-hued acrylic panel jobs with red, orange, green, turquoise, etc. Then top if off with some bright, perhaps impressionist artwork.
Yes, I mix my decades from late 1950s to early 1970s with wild abandon, but real life was like that and you can get some super impressive results if you have some common elements to tie it all together.
Sandra L Sells says
I personally love the fabric on the chairs as well as the chairs. Wouldn’t replace either one. I do think that the aqua works well with the brown. I do not like the current rug ideas and would keep looking… I also think that the floors could be brightened up with a bit of the right product to refreshen them. I also would add a bit more of the orange in the decor as some sort of decorative items. Freshen the cupboards. Live with that for awhile and see. Don’t rush ! There are tons of things for the floor including the new Wilson laminate floors in the boomerang designs which has an aqua one by the way. Pam introduced those to us and I got samples. I am putting money away to put in my own kitchen. Love the color choices. Then, on etsy, there is a seller that has super neat fabric which I just bought in two patterns and colorways to brighten up my windows. There are tons of vintage curtain ideas online…Anyway, I think you guys are very lucky to have this kitchen with so many options to choose from. I personally love aqua with orange and that is my own primary color scheme in my kitchen! Have fun you guys!!! By the way I am nearly 70 so I actually lived through the era…
pam kueber says
FYI, the laminates in our collection are not for floors — they are for countertops….
Leslie says
I’m taking a break from peeling the tape from our kitchen- we used Behr Green Aqua on our very woody 60s kitchen and the difference is unreal. Light bulb switches and the paint did wonders.
Dana says
I really like the upholstery on your chairs. I’d pull the orange from that for the walls and add your light fixtures.
Pat says
You might consider giving a nod to the black appliances with a fabric such as this: https://www.fabric.com/buy/0366871/black-tan-lattice-cognac-black used for a Roman shade or valance in the kitchen and to cover the chair seats, with a coral or cream color for the walls and a coordinating rug which also incorporates the wall color and a small amount of black .
Lizzy says
Aqua with the brown is the classic Renaissance Masters pallete based on cerulean blue and burnt sienna, It always works well. The coral would be fine if that’s your thing, but it can bring out any yellows in the wood and the brown. Look out for that.
It’s perfectly ok to put a rug in the kitchen. A big cheap olefin rug, the really flat kind, cleans with a hose out in the driveway once a year and gets vacuumed instead of mopped. Not for everyone, but if you don’t cook much it fixes plenty quick! Fatigue mats, they’re black but sometimes black rubber beats brown.
Brown is not allowed in my world unless it’s nice wood, so I feel this acutely. Nice cabinets, but that floor!
If the backsplash really gets too you, (I couldn’t deal with it!) get some cheap art in cheap frames and put it up with sticky back velcro. Or tin signs. There’s plenty of possibilties. You can pull it off to clean it, but it’ll add color and interest in a muddy space. That velcro is the greatest thing ever! Just make sure there’s no grease on the wall before you stick it. It’ll also put stuff on cabinets. I’ve had tin advertising signs with the absinthe fairy up in cabinet doors before, it helped a gruesome apartment kitchen.
Painting cabinets is tough work, so distracting and covering the floor and backsplash is easiest. There’s peel ‘n stick backsplash if you get desperate, too. Saw it on Amazon. Might cover stuff up…
Stephanie says
The aqua and wallpaper combo with the yellow rug really caught my eye.