An Intriguing Look For A Kitchen

In most homes I visit, the kitchen cabinets are either stained wood or painted.  The cabinets are usually all done in the same finish--top and bottom.  Occasionally, I will see a kitchen island done in a different finish than the rest of the cabinets.  This gives the kitchen a nice visual break.  While looking through my various decorating magazines and websites, I'm starting to see a lot of kitchens in which the top cabinets are painted a different color than the bottom cabinets.  I've seen this done at a few designer showcase homes I've visited.  At first I thought it was a little strange, but the more pictures I see with this look, I'm really starting to like it.  I think it gives the kitchen some interest.  I thought about this look for my kitchen but I wasn't sure how it was going to work for me.  I have a cabinet that is my pantry and there was no way to paint that cabinet two different colors.  Also, I didn't know what to do with the surround for my refrigerator.  I suppose I could have painted the pantry and refrigerator surround the same as the bottom color and then paint the top cabinets a different color.  But in the end, I decided on one color.  Here are a few great examples of the top cabinets painted a different color than the bottom cabinets:

I'll admit, you have to be a little brave to try this in your kitchen, but I think the end results are amazing!

One Room - Three Different Looks!

I saw this on HGTV's website and I wanted to share.  This is a great example of using pillows and other accessories to change the look of a room.  If you have neutral furniture to work with, you are halfway there.

The room started out looking pretty plain:

It's not a bad look if you don't like a lot of color, but it's a little drab for my taste.  Now here is the room done in a fuchsia and orange color palette:

It doesn't even look like the same room!  Here is the room using a purple palette:

And finally, here is the room done in a blue palette:

I don't know which room I love the best.  All three look great to me!