Reader request - black kitchens

Today's reader request comes from Beverly: I am considering painting my kitchen cabinets black, at least the lowers. Most likely will do the uppers, which are doorless, in white to keep the room from being too dark. There is no natural light. Do you have any inspirations? I sure do!! I LOVE kitchens with black, whether it be just an island, or a wall, or cabinets. Now without natural light maybe painting the uppers white is a good idea but if you have a reasonable amount of wall space and you paint that white, then you likely could get away with painting all the cabinets black. Plus whatever you are displaying in the door-less uppers will show so nicely against the black. I couldn't find many photos with black lowers and white uppers but you'll see in many of these photos that white uppers maybe aren't necessary.

Canadian House & Home
Amok
Sunset
McGill Design Group
Apartment Therapy
Bricault
Sköna hem

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Design Crew

Got a problem? Need some help? Just standing there shaking your head? Don't know what to do? You're not alone. Send us a link to photos of your design quandary and let the Desire to Inspire design crew help you .... that's you lot ... the readers!

Arnold emailed, "A couple friends and I recently acquired a 700sq/ft beautiful old classroom with original slate blackboards and large windows to use as a design studio space. We realize the space has so much potential to be super amazing but are overwhelmed by the options as we are not experienced with interior design. I would like some ideas from you and from your readers as to what we should do with the space ... (we are) mainly looking for ideas in terms of wall treatment?"

Look at those blackboards! Imagine what Dana Tanamachi could do to those! I know you will come up with great ideas for Arnold and his friends. In the meantime I'm heading back to bed. I have put my back out and have orders for 5 days bed rest with lots of drugs. Like the idea of doctor enforced time in bed. Don't like the idea of the drugs ... much ;)

Design Crew

Got a problem? Need some help? Just standing there shaking your head? Don't know what to do? You're not alone. Send us a link to photos of your design quandary and let the Desire to Inspire design crew help you .... that's you lot ... the readers!

Peach from the Philippines (check out her blog Grace in Full Measure) emailed ...

I read your recent blog entry about seeking help for design dilemmas thru your blog. I hope you can help me out with my living room. My living room space is cavernous and the ceiling is high. My very limited furnitures look way too tiny in the space and there's so much unused areas. I don't want to fill it up with too much stuff but I do want to make it look homey and cozy, Pottery Barn style :) Suggestions are very much appreciated.

Here is the sort of look that Peach is hoping for.

I think the pictures are a good place to start Peach. Move the furniture away from the walls and ..... OK now it's your turn DTI readers to come up with more suggestions.

Reader request - exposed brick

Today's reader request comes from Erick: I wanted to know if you could help me find ideas for designing/decorating an apartment with exposed brick wall. I think I'd like to see more of a modern take rather then a rustic one. I'm open to the industrial look also. Jo and I are HUGE fans of exposed brick. H U G E. And I think exposed brick works with any type of decor. Smooth and sleek modern furnishings add an interesting contrast to the rough and raw edge of brick walls. And industrial mixed with brick just makes total sense. WORK IT ERICK!

minh+wass	Chocolat Mag
Dan Duchars	Eric Roth
Design*Sponge	Design*Sponge
jeltje fotografie	Design*Sponge

Stephen Falcke

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Design Crew

Got a problem? Need some help? Just standing there shaking your head? Don't know what to do? You're not alone. Send us a link to photos of your design quandary and let the Desire to Inspire design crew help you .... that's you lot ... the readers!

Andrea from Australia emailed. "I'm hoping your lovely design crew can help me out with something. I'm in a bit of a quandary about some renovation decisions for a downstairs studio which is currently being built."

The demo begins

"Our house is built into the hill, so the back wall of the downstairs room is below ground level, and the front wall at ground level. This means there are only windows on two sides, and it has the potential to be a bit dark. The space will be used primarily as a Studio space so it is important to bounce light around. It will also be occasionally used as a guest room so needs to be a little bit swish."

A little further on and the builders have started

"I can't decide on flooring and lighting. We don't have a lot of room for either, due to low ceiling height constraints. So timber floors and recessed lighting are not an option. I'm hoping your design crew has some ideas. Terrazzo, or a concrete finish? Tiles or Vinyl? It needs to be serviceable and yet light and reflective. Something that looks smart enough for a guest room, and serviceable enough for spilt paint, oils, thinners, hammers or anything else I can drop on it. The lighting is also a problem. We don't have enough space to do down lights, and at this point I am thinking of hiding some LED lighting behind one of the beams, and some wall lights of some description combined with some good floor lights. What to do? Apologies for the photos but the renovation is in progress and far from finished!"

You can see more of Andrea's renovations on her blog Strong Southerly.