Cheerful French Blue Kitchen Makeover : Paint Before & After

Welcome to my kitchen!

My rental house kitchen was trying to be a cheerful, what I call “French blue” kitchen but the dusty grey blue paint color was holding it hostage from its goal! Even though the South facing kitchen has airy daylight pouring into it, the sleepy grey toned blue still looked tired. It wanted to be awake and happy in that beautiful light. I was working with a tight budget so I bought Glidden interior paint + primer in the color “Sonata”. One gallon was $23 plus change and since the walls were already blue, it only took one generous coat of paint to look opaque. The room took one gallon of paint exactly!

Moreover, the walls were stained even after I scrubbed them. They were also two toned where a bench was probably built in at some point, painted around, and then removed. I needed fresh paint to erase the dirt and stains!

The up close of the dire state of these kitchen walls.

I felt relief with every swipe of this clean happy paint. I would describe the color Sonata as a soft sky blue with no green or grey tones. It is almost a cotton candy blue but softer. It works great as a background in this room full of natural light. In evening lighting it appears deeper in shade but still vibrant and works for a more luxurious dinner time feel. But this is a seriously vibrant “French blue” as it looks to me and is not for the color shy!

This blue pairs beautifully with the darker wood dining set and the black legs of the chairs.

Choose the Best Paint Colors by Nature’s Colors

The key to working with colorful paint, not just neutral paint, is to aim for the paint color to be reminiscent of colors outdoors in the natural environment. Tropical turquoise looks natural in a setting like Florida where the water is that same color, but turquoise looks intrusive in a woodsy place where the water outdoors is not bright but dark blue or green with more mossy tones or gray tones. There are vibrant and rich colors in all natural environments in varying intensities. Some places have much brighter colors while some have rich saturated colors but not necessarily “bright”. But you can choose indoor paint colors by pulling from the most vibrant colors outdoors to look appropriate in that setting. Vibrant, rich, or deep paint colors work best when they mimic the vibrant, rich, or deep colors of that particular environment.

A blue sky color is probably the most universal paint color in any environment since this sky color can be seen everywhere. In places with dreary weather, this color is a way to infuse a sunny day inside your house and cheer up the environment. In a sunny climate, it is simply continuing the sky color indoors.

How to Know if a Paint Color is For You

I sprinkled in this same blue color into my decor because it is vital to repeat your wall color in your decorating so the rooms looks cohesive. Wall color should not stand alone. You have to make sense of it in the decor. This is a good way to know whether you should actually paint a room a color. Do you like the color enough to have it in other items like dishes, rugs, throw pillows, or wall art? If yes, then you know the wall color is a good fit for your taste. I love this light blue color in dishes, kitchen towels, rugs, etc. so I knew that I admired this color blue enough to want it in my room in the first place. I knew I would be repeating this paint color in decor so that was not a problem! When the paint color is intentionally used throughout the room even in varying shades, it looks cohesive.

The kitchen is a room that looks beautiful decorated for the seasons. I keep this in mind when choosing a wall color so that I gauge whether it will look good in spring, summer, fall and winter. It must translate to my Christmas decor of greens and reds but it must also go with a bouquet of pink flowers! Blue walls compliment it all and I am excited to decorate this room for it all!

As decorating goes, I have considered adding a rug, perhaps curtains, time will tell!

Thank you for stopping in to my kitchen and I hope you stop by again!