Friday, November 30, 2012

four seasons, one kitchen


 


Blues and greens, touches of pink and yellow. 
Those are the colors I gravitate toward, surround myself with,
that my Massachusetts house is filled with.





The Catskills house is stone, tree bark, moss, and autumn leaves.


World's ugliest kitchen has been demolished. I've been imagining a barn red island with a dark soapstone surface. These floors. Natural cherry cabinets. This weekend I have to make choices. Orders must be placed. 


I have these tiles that I got at an auction (where else?) and badly want to use them on the walls/ backsplash. Cabins, canoes, pine trees...they are perfect. Except the colors.


Perfect in a white kitchen. 
But the Catskills house is the colors of autumn.
Please tell me--


Can the colors of spring and summer


exist in a kitchen with those of autumn and winter?

(Such a frivolous dilemma.)

Enjoy your weekend!

Jen

32 comments:

  1. If you're careful about the red (not too bright)you use, you could certainly use the green and white ones. I probably wouldn't mix both the blue and green with red. Or you could could just use the white ones in the kitchen mixed with a more ordinary tile of the same color.

    Are they a standard size that you can mix them with another tile?

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  2. Steve--you are brilliant! I'm thinking of a darkish red (old barn?). The greens and whites would be fine--I don't have to use the blue, and they are a standard size. Why didn't I think of that. :)

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  3. I agree. If you don't use the blue ones, warm colors will go great with the green and white. Steve IS brilliant. and yes, not too red.

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    1. I've decided to consult him on all matters involving home decor.

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  4. Lucky you lookin forward to a new kitchen!

    Love the photos especially the blue hydrangea.

    Happy kitchen planning


    Fiona

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    1. I am truly fortunate. Hydrangea...that's the color I painted my bedroom.

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  5. Just a thought...red/white/ blue is a classic Early American design theme. designer friend of the family did her whole house in those colors, using dark brick red and muted dark blues, and it was gorgeous! So if it were me, I'd choose the white and blue over the green.

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    1. That's a great combination, but in this case I'm not sure blue would work with the wood cabinets and floors--the natural wood will be pretty dominant. But maybe...

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  6. I think both colour schemes are gorgeous and would be happy with either! What a lovely dilemma!

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  7. I think the blue and white without the green would look lovely against autumnal colours.

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    1. It might--tomorrow I'm gettting to gether with a good friend who is a designer, and hash this out. I think the key is I can use green and white or blue and white, but not both. (She said, still thinking that maybe she'll find a way...)

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  8. Such beautiful tiles. Colour combination is a point for your kitchen, I understand. You can try to do like you do jigsaw puzzle against the wall and the floor. :)

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    1. Sadly, I'm not good at puzzles.
      I love the tiles. They may be my favorite thing I've ever gotten at an auction.

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  9. Blue and white here. The tiles are so scrumptiously beautiful and to me the blue are so much more beautiful than the green ones and I could easily see the blue and white with that beautiful floor and red cabinets. However, to me all white would be the best choice but I don't know if you have enough of the white to do that. I guess it would really depend on how large a area you're thinking of tiling. Blue and green should have equal value since they're both secondary colors so that it wouldn't matter which you use. Wow Jen, these are really hard decisions you're facing. Not joking.

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    1. You are so sweet. I'm just trying to be careful. I have been very impulsive with color choices in the past. Time to act like a grown up, I guess.

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  10. Looking at that pink kitchen again, you did the right think to demolish it. It will not be lamented, but we will all be looking forward to seeing its future incarnation.

    Those tiles are great--you will have to find just the right use for them.
    --Road to Parnassus

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    1. Not lamented in an understatement. So happy to see it gone.

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  11. Who made your tiles? I think once most of your kitchen is completed, you'll know which tiles to put to use - accent tiles among flat colored ones, I would think. Maybe some framed on the walls. Love the flooring.

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    1. I got them at an auction, so I don't know who made them. I think they were store samples, because there are so many shades. You make a good point--figuring out a backsplash is probably the last major thing I have to do, and getting filler tiles won't take long, so I can wait a while. Thanks!

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  12. Hello Jen

    You are making great progress. The tiles are beautiful. I am cautious of using tiles on walls in colours as they are permanent and as my husband reminds me, will it affect the buyer's decision should we sell. I would prefer the white textured tiles, used with a white smooth tile. Could you use the beautiful coloured tiles on side table?

    Good luck with your decision.

    Helen xx

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    1. We are planning to keep this house in the family so, I don't have to worry about buyers. If my sons want to knock out the tiles when we're gone they can!

      All of the tiles have relief, so they wouldn't really work as a table--it would be very bumpy, also very beautiful.

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  13. Dear Jen.
    lots of work going on there in your home.
    I myself like your tiles.. The sage light green or the white i would choose. they will both go with red.
    or any other color really.
    wish you luck.
    val

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    1. I agree! I was being greedy, wanting to use them all, but with all these comments I can see that the best thing will be to narrow them down.

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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. how big is the kitchen? is there a way to transition from one colour scheme to another with enough space in between?

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  16. First, I love love love the floors. The tiles are beautiful, I like the idea of white with an interspersed blue here and there. And the green ones, frankly you can give them to me since I need a backsplash that I've been mulling over forever and my kitchen walls are a moss color just like those tiles.

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  17. Oh, the floors are beautiful! I can't wait to see what it ends up like. To me, a good green goes well with anything (because I like it so much, I tend to use colors that mix with it). The darker blue looks like the color of an autumn sky, but I'm not sure if I would like it with the barn red. They are such wonderful tiles.

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  18. What a very difficult question! I cannot answer it! The tiles, however, are very beautiful indeed! I am certain you will find a way with all the suggestions my blogging fellows make! Christa

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  19. Damn Amelia got here first talking about "helping" by taking the tiles away. What she said.

    Blue and red are my favorite colors together. And a dull barn red would be perfect with the blue/white tiles.

    this is very exciting. and I'n sure the result will be fabulous.

    xo Jane

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  20. Hi Jen!

    I was just writting a comment on yur kitchen post and then it was gone!!!

    Anyway I need to tell you that for me its ok. I mean I enjoy reading about anything you write your kitchen plans included .They make you somwhow a real person... Well you are of course a real person but I think your know what I mean. It so weird in the blog world. some times I do wonder if people behind some blog are actually real...
    THere is always the back thought that others thing we are bragging (like maybe on my last post about my trip to Norwich or my drawing posts in my case) but we can only hope they take thing as they are. Pieces of our lives and a way to come in contact eachother.

    I must say from what I've seen I do like your kitchen style!

    lots of love

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