Paint it Indigo

I’m still muddling through over here, and long overdue to fill you in on the story behind these pictures. Thank you for being patient.

There was an inspired guess from Mindy as to what was going on here,

but this shot was more of a clue.

What am I up to? Well, I’m painting the cupboards in the kitchen in a Resene colour called ‘Indian Ink’, which is about as close as a blue can get to black. Some see dark cabinets as a risky choice, but after taking the plunge with black cabinets in our last kitchen I’ve been an absolute convert. Not least because I’ve never been able to afford a new kitchen, and a dark colour disguises most of the not so attractive features of old and ugly cupboard doors.

So, would you like to see? Thought you might. Just bear with me while we do a little recap for anyone who might be new to the blog.

This was how the kitchen looked in the real estate photos from when we bought the property.

BEFORE: at purchase

A bit over a year ago I installed a dishwasher, and since then things have looked like this.

PROGRESS: post dishwasher install.

And here’s where we are now, with freshly painted cabinets.

NOW: The colour looks even a little closer to black in real life.

Can you see the potential? Imagine those bench-tops as wood slabs, or maybe white composite.

There’s a long way to go yet, and as with most renovation projects the middle doesn’t make much sense. To my eye things actually look worse rather than better just now. Those indigo cabinets aren’t playing at all well with the salmon pink counter-tops, and there is still rather too much orange pine waving at me from the shelving and window surrounds. It’s okay, much to the Forbearing Husband’s terror, I’m not done yet!

What’s your take on going to the dark side with kitchen cabinets? Love them or loathe them? Would you go for wooden bench-tops, or something else? Let me know in the comments.

Kitchen expenditure so far:

• Secondhand Smeg stove (Trade Me): $350.00
• F&P dishwasher (Harvey Norman): $1678.00 (ouch)
• Plumbing parts for d/w installation: $31.00
• 1 litre of Resene paint ‘Indian Ink’ (used about 2/3 can for 2 coats): $54.00
• Sylvan cabinet handles ‘Gatwick’ in brushed aluminium 14@$7.08ea: $99.12
  • Subtotal spent so far = $2212.12
• Income from selling the stove that came with the house on Trade Me: -$246.00
• Total spent to date = $1966.12