Want to paint kitchen cabinets...would an espresso brown look okay?

Question

The cabinets are oak and are a honey color with a lot of wood grain. I'd like to paint them a dark brown color, but don't know if this would look okay. I've searched and searched - cannot find pics of any dark brown painted cabinets...only white, black, red and green. Your thoughts??

The cabinets do have beveling in them...they're only two years old. They have the cathedral style doors and a lot of molding on the tops. I'd love to post a picture...don't know how!!

Hmmm...our appliances are all black. I thought this would look okay. I considered painting them a vanilla cream color, but didn't want the appliances to stand out. Here is a link of my house w/ pictures of my kitchen. (home currently for sale - very unsuccessfully I might add)
http://sira.org/pubProp.htm

Type this listing number in:

Listing #200705533

To answer some questions: I would be repainting the kitchen to a creamy - light tan color and accenting with chocolate brown and aqua.
My appliances are about a year old and in great condition. Perhaps with black appliances I should go with antique white cabinets?? I just don't want the black to stick out like a soar thumb.
The counter tops are laminate in a granite design of grey, white pebbles (over all - grey looking). The floors are vinyl (BLAH) but a neutral cream color. We are also going to make this tile but will stick with a neutral light color.

Please let me know what would be best.

Answer 1

You don't say how large/small your kitchen is, or how much natural light it gets. Also, the style of worktops or the type of floor.
In my opinion, dark brown on wooden units (which sound quite a traditional style) would simply be too dark. A light, neutral shade would look good on the type of units you describe. I would suggest an 'old ivory' shade or even a very light washed out sage green. You could sand back the edges and any mouldings to give a distressed appearance, which would suit the type of cupoards. Finish with a coat of clear matt or satin finish varnish to make them easier to clean.
The kitchen would immediately have a clean, fresh appearance without being clinical.
Expresso brown, plain glossy units may suit an ultra modern kitchen with other light coloured features/stainless steel/chrome etc.
I hope this is of some help!

Answer 2

I would have to see the rest of your kitchen to see how it would look, but just the colour itself on cabinets I think would look great! Just make sure you use a primer first to get the true colour you are after.
All the best and have fun! Plan on it taking you longer to do than you think right now. I have done my kitchen cabinets before and it actually was a big job, but so worth it. ;)


Molding on top? Not fully sure if I know what you mean but for the molding you could use a lighter version of the same colour, like maybe two or 3 shades lighter. It would really make them pop. But without seeing a picture it's hard to help. Use your judgement and hey if you don't like it...you can always paint again! ;)

Answer 3

Brown is a very rich and gorgeous color..I think the cabinets would look great as long as you have Earth tones in the room to help balance the color off; deep reds, mustardy golds, pumpkin type colors, deep greens...
another option that you might like is to stain the cabinets with a brown stain, this will enable the beauty of the wood grain to still show through....

Make sure you follow the manufacturers indications, prep your cabinets and use a good quality paint such as Sherwin Williams or Ralph Lauren (I used Ralph Lauren to paint my daughters bedroom furniture and then applied a glaze over the paint for an old world look and it turned out beautiful)..

Good Luck...I hope it turns out beautiful!

Answer 4

If you send me a picture (or send a link) of some green cabinets I can adjust it to show dark brown for you.

Personally, dark brown on a white wall might be very striking. Just be sure that the dark cabinets don't steal too much light. Otherwise, I can see no reason why not.

Answer 5

I viewed your pics and I think espresso would look wonderful especially with the color of your walls. Thats to bad it is taking you so long to sell your home it looks very nice and well kept. The market is a little slow right now. Painting your cabinets might help. I would remove the doors and put your paint in a sprayer and spray the doors brush your cabinets. Good luck and HAVE FUN. I think you will be pleased with your results. Thanks for inviting us into your beautiful home and asking our opinion.

Answer 6

Not in your kitchen. Adding dark [ espresso ] brown, with black appliances and gray counters - no, no, no.
I like the colors you have now.
Ask your realtor what he or she would suggest for your home.
NEVER make things darker, unless it is the only dark.
Get rid of all excess clutter/furniture.
Be sure everything is in good working order.
How old are appliances, bath fictures, etc.
Any cosmetic improvements needed? [ paint, carpet, tile, etc.]
Be sure house
1] looks good - clean, in repair, pretty flowers, lights on, drapes open to light
2] smells good - bake cookies, and serve them at open houses
3] sounds good - no screaming children [ bribe them ], or barking dogs [ give them treats ], maybe soft background jazz or classical music
4] feels good - be sure temp is comfortable, and you have some textures buyers can feel [ velvet throw, silk pillows, glass or china doorknobs, for example ]
5] taste - put out cookies, or wrapped candies for buyers

Answer 7

I had my home built late70's - had very dark stained cabinets for 25 yrs. How depressing - how aweful. I have beautiful beveled wood insets on the doors. After a house fire I finally got to redo the cabinets. They are now a very nice antique medium to light green, with undertones of red, yellow & blue. Sounds aweful, but they are so much nicer than anything dark could ever be. Unless you have alot of light, really nice windows & bright walls, don't go dark!

Answer 8

if the cabinets have a modern look w/ modern detailing (beveling for example) my personal answer would be espresso brown would be okay. the trend is to pair with silvery hardware. i think it's called brushed nickel hardware. i might not pick that color if the cabinets have more traditional looking detailing

Answer 9

For sure! I am about to paint my bedroom walls chocolate brown and blue! Brown and blue is really in now! I am also buying a chocolate brown couch and using blue throw pillows...they go together perfect!

Answer 10

Brown can work however what color of appliances do you have....they only way the brown would be ok is if you had stainless steel. Plus you may have to change a lot of other stuff to ensure the brown would work (i.e. flooring and countertops)
But if you have stainless and it would match your countertops and floor (unless you are willing to change that stuff)...go for it!