I have to admit that deciding what color to paint the washer and dryer cabinets was one that I really struggled with yesterday. And when I posed that question to all of you, I thought the answer would be clear cut, but it really wasn’t There was a crowd favorite, but it certainly wasn’t a 90/10, or even 80/20 vote. It was more like 55/45 in favor of the light blue. Here were the two options that I presented.
I started off the day pretty squarely on “team dark blue”. My mom was team dark. Other members of my family who weighed in were team dark. So naturally, in the end, I went with…
…the light blue. 😀
The dark blue just seemed to bring in a whole slew of other issues. If I went dark blue, then what color would I paint the baseboards around the washer and dryer cabinets? And if I paint the baseboards around the washer and dryer cabinets dark blue, then many people suggested that I also needed to paint the baseboard under the window the dark blue, which in my mind, would throw off the continuity of the whole look of the room.
And then if that baseboard went dark blue, then others suggested that the crown molding and window trim needed to be dark blue, while others suggested it needed to be white. So in the end, I just decided to stick with my original plan and carry the light blue around the entire room and on all of the trim.
I still need to add the tiny shoe molding where the cabinets meet the wallpapered wall, and also where the washer and dryer cabinets meet the wallpapered wall. I’ll do that at the same time I add the shoe molding around the baseboards on the rest of the cabinets.
But let me tell you, I struggled with this decision. At one point, I even removed the countertop on the washer cabinet and went back to the idea of making a countertop out of leftover hardwood flooring. I thought I just needed something to break up the sea of light blue. But that didn’t look right to my eye either, so I put the solid countertop back on (which then had to be re-trimmed, wood filled, and sanded again) and stuck with the original plan.
But the main comments that influenced me were from those of you who said that the dark blue cabinets made it look like I had just stuck my dark blue washer and dryer there with no cabinets around them. And if that’s the look I wanted, why did I go to the trouble of building cabinets in the first place?
And when I compared the two options side-by-side, that’s exactly what it looked like. And that’s not the look I wanted. I think the light blue makes it obvious that the appliances are sitting inside custom cabinets built for them. That’s the look I wanted. And in the end, I have to say that I really do love the cohesive look of the light blue on all of the cabinets and all of the trim.
I also decided to bring back the original shade for that I had in here, and I love the look! I love the warmth that the wood tone brings in, and with all of the additional light that I added to the room, it doesn’t look too dark to me. In fact, it’s almost the same color as the woven laundry hampers that I bought, as well as the baskets that I bought to go on the shelves on the opposite wall. (Yes, I bought ten baskets! Someone sent me a link to the perfect baskets, and I snatched them up as quickly as possible. So far, I’ve only received two of the ten.)
This is a top down/bottom up shade, fully lined shade that can provide complete privacy, but I’m also going to add privacy window film to the window so I can still have some privacy when I want the shade open to provide sunlight to the room.
But one more reason I decided to go with the light blue on the cabinets is because I made another big decision yesterday. I won’t be painting the island light blue. In deciding to paint the island the same light blue as the rest of the cabinets, I wasn’t being true to myself. I was trying to please others. But this is my closet. I’m going to be the one using it and seeing it every day. So the only person who needs to smile when they walk in here is me. 🙂
I’m not quite ready to share the color I’ve chosen yet because I’m still not 100% sure about it. I have an idea, and I’ve tested it out on the top of the island, but I’m not ready for input on it at this point. That’s why it’s covered up. 😀 But when I finally decided to be true to me, and to bring in an accent color on the center island, that’s when I made the final decision to stick with the light blue washer/dryer cabinets, countertops, and trim. With that accent color in the middle, I needed everything else on the perimeter of the room (except for the wallpaper and the fronts of the washer and dryer which, to my eye, blend in with the wallpaper) to be the same color.
I have a friend coming into town today, and she’ll be here until Friday, so my work on this room may slow down a bit. Or I may put her to work. 😀 But I’m hoping that by the end of the weekend, I can have the island finished and ready for its big reveal early next week. So stay tuned for that!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
