Help we painted our Kitchen Grey, It turned out dark grey. How can it be lighten up without repainting?

Question

It looked good on the sample kitchen. But now that it is on the wall it is way too dark. is there a good way to brighten it up. I do not want to completely repaint. Any ideas would be appreiciated.

Answer 1

The reason your paint doesn't look the same as in the sample kitchen is simple... it's all a question of lighting.

Well, you can do what lots of others here have told you, but if you don't want to repaint, then you can lighten it up easily:

1. WalMart: spary paint... marble effect in silver. Goes on really easy, just like spiderwebs of silver coming out of a can. Do this on one or two large accent walls. Silver reflects light and this treatment takes only an hour or so to do on 2 walls.

2. Use lots more accents in lighter colors. Get yourself some stainless steel cannisters, breadbox, etc.

3. Use mirrors. They are fantastic for lightening up a room.

4. Hang some great art. Make sure there is some silver in it. Use a silver frame (do that with the mirror too).

5. Use a bright yellow colored rug in front of the sink. Have a plant with yellow flowers.

Short of repainting a wall or two in a much lighter gray, there isn't really much you can do...

Hope this helps solve your dilemna... Happy decorating... and Happy New Year!

Answer 2

If you're up for it, pick one wall that's mostly wallspace, and paint that a much lighter shade of grey.
What color is your trim? White would help! Drapes, curtains, blinds? Make sure they're all white and airy, or just valances to keep the light in.
Hang pictures and decor up with white frames, and breaking up the dark grey. Anywhere else you can change what's dark to light for more balance? Backsplash, hardware, counter accessories.
Do you have enough lighting in the room? How about ceiling track lighting (the inserted round spotlights you see done on Candace Olsen), and also lighting under the cabinets if needed.
Another thing to do is do a whitewash over the dark grey in a sheer white (or light grey) semigloss. Just do it lightly and evenly -- don't let it look too 1990s speckled or stonewashed, it'll date your kitchen.

Answer 3

If you dont want to do any of the above recommendations, which are very good, and probably the best thing you can do, to get away from a dreary kitchen. (White washing, faux finishing, or adding patterns to your walls) you can consider keeping the dark color (until you decide it's okay to repaint), and use contrast to brighten up the walls. and remember next time, that paint will be up to 3 shades darker on a wall, after painting it.
Some examples
(i'm going to use the color white, but as long as you stick with a color theme, you can use any color, like red, or blue, or even yellow, if thats what you like. but too many assorted colors in a room does look jarring when they are appliances)
White or platinum curtains.
Silver, or white outlet covers.
silver or white storage jars on counters.
White or silver picture frames, with black and white images inside.
Tiling a small back splash.
the use of color contrasting plants.
Changing the handles on your cabinet doors.
Add rope lighting above cabinets, or under the cabinet lighting.
use white table clothes, and or chair coverings.
white or light colored wood baskets over the cabinets, or refrigerator.

Answer 4

Try painting the existing color on a couple of large boards (like cardboard) to sample before you repaint & then I would try doing a light "colorwash" over the top. It has a soft aged look to it that you could apply sparatically right over the top of the paint.

Take a look at this site's colorwash (I was thinking the silver on your grey would look great!):

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/do_it_yourself/painting_techniques/faux_painting_process/colorwashing/index.jsp

Good Luck!

Answer 5

Perhaps you could go to the other side.....find a way to paint trim, or find accessories in a darker shade of gray or a charcoal black. With darker items around your too dark gray, it will begin to look lighter. If you add lighter or white trim, it's going to look darker. Of course, if you lighten up everything else around it, you may actually like the darker gray color. It may not appear at first to be what you wanted, but after a few days, it MAY be something you can live with and come to like. If you're brave.....add a dash of a blazing color to the gray....turquoise blue or deep claret red. Makes a punch and a sophisticated look.

Answer 6

You could sponge or rag over it with a lighter shade of gray for a marbled effect. Add some mirrors. Repaint just the main wall a lighter shade of the same color. Good luck.

Answer 7

You could take a much lighter grey and do a sponge or feather paint on it. it will not take as long to do. another way to put the lighter paint is to use plastic bags that have been wadded up and lightly put into the paint and then sort of daub them on the wall. it will lighten up the walls and will take a very short time to do.
hope this helps.

Answer 8

Maybe consider your lighting. Also the other colors in the room will effect the wall color,( curtains, cabinets, counter tops, accessories. rugs. Chose colors in the room to lighten the tone.

Answer 9

adding a texture is a great idea as noted above.... you can also add light. Change the window coverings.

Answer 10

do the trim in a light (yellow, white) color, and do all the decorations in a light color also