Christa’s Blue Tile Floor

Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap  —  April 23, 2013 — 14 Comments

Happy Tuesday, party people! Instead of droning on with the same old same old what’s-going-on-in-my-life, I’ll be talking today about my friend Christa and her blue-tiled kitchen. True story: I met Christa volunteering at a suicide hotline (that’s also how I met my friend Cassie, and a handful of other wonderful people in my life). Christa and her boyfriend James bought their house in 2011 from James’ grandparents (whom I also know from The Phone, shout out to Ms. Betty!). Ms. Betty and her husband owned it for more than twenty years before downsizing to a smaller condo, and now Christa and James are slowly but surely trying to make it their own. One of the big things holding them back is the kitchen. It’s centrally located and sports a blue-tiled floor. Without the budget to overhaul the floor, Christa feels paralyzed in decorating not only the kitchen but also the adjacent living room and other surrounding areas.

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I scoured Pinterest and the internet at large for images of rooms with strong hits of blue, and what appealed to me the most was seeing it paired with muted earth tones and lots of neutrals.

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InStyle

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Paper Couture

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Here’s what I would do if it was my kitchen:

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1. Benjamin Moore Blue Echo / 2. Benjamin Moore Mink / 3. Benjamin Moore Cream Fleece / 4. Thomas Paul Dahlia Aegean / 5. Crate & Barrel Olivewood Nibble Bowl / 6. Crate & Barrel Potted Kalenchoe / 7. Target Whittier Elite Rectangular Platter / 8. Fresh lemons (source) / 9. Crate & Barrel Turner Black Barstool / 10. Target Threshold Fairfield Stripe Rug - Natural

Christa already said that she wants to paint the cabinets a deep espresso brown, and I think that pairing them with cream on the walls would be really lovely. Both of these shades jive nicely with the blue floors, which Christa said were a pretty close match to BM Blue Echo. With so much color on the floor I’d try hard to keep the rest of the room airy and neutral. Some fresh (or fake) lemons and herbs growing in white ceramic pots would bring in color while maintaining the earthy vibe, and a window treatment using the same fabric I used for my counter skirt would carry the same feel into the breakfast nook. Black barstools add contrast (though I’d search for a cheaper option than these, or maybe even paint some secondhand stools from craigslist or the thrift store. I’d also probably paint the island a lighter color (possibly BM Cream Silk), but that’s a personal choice. The wood trim can shine in this color scheme instead of screaming “I’m outdated!” and a neutral runner on the floor brings in more texture and earthy color (jute is another option that’s just as earthy and easier to keep clean). White dishware is easy to collect secondhand and will still fit right in if Christa decides to change the rest of the room up again later.

Sometimes it can be hard working around expensive-to-replace elements like flooring, counters, and upholstered furniture, but it’s totally doable and the result can be a really fun and eclectic look. I actually think that having limits like a budget or a blue tiled floor can be great in that they drive creativity. Having buckets of money might even take the fun out of decorating for me, haha.

I hope you like my ideas, Christa, and at the same time it’s okay if you don’t! We all have different styles and tastes, which is why the kitchen that made Ms. Betty happy for twenty years can be so unappealing to someone young enough to be her granddaughter.

Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap

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14 responses to Christa’s Blue Tile Floor

  1. This is absolutely perfect! I love the color scheme and the idea about the window treatment and painting the island lighter is perfect! I love the pops of yellow, I think they help tone down the blue without being too “yellowy”. Thank you so much! I can’t wait to pick out the colors and get the painting started. I’ll send you an “after” picture :)

    • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap April 23, 2013 at 9:00 am

      Oh yay! I’m so glad you like it! Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

    • I also have blue tile floors in our kitchen. Luckily ours are a bit more updated but I still felt like it was too much blue. (especially since our walls were a dark cornflower blue!) However one I repainted the kitchen I am now okay with our blue floors. It toned them down so much. We opted to go for Olympic First Frost, which is an almost white blue, because our living room that connect through the arch way is a strong neutral! Best of luck in painting!

      • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap April 23, 2013 at 2:21 pm

        Oooh, sounds pretty!

        • Thanks Charlotte! If you check out my blog you can see the end result on our home tour page.

          http://www.joseandcharityspemberley.blogspot.com

          • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap April 24, 2013 at 11:11 am

            Oooh I love it! Are those lockers near the table?

          • Yeah those are lockers! We got them at a local habitat for humanity restore. They add so much storage to our kitchen. We use them as pantry since we are lacking in storage space in the kitchen.

          • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap April 29, 2013 at 3:58 pm

            So cool!

  2. Hi Charlotte,

    I love this color palette - I always wanted to paint those cabinets and change the hardware but Buddy is hard to move to change anything that is still usable as is!! I always told him that if he died before I do, as soon as I get home from the wake, I am calling a painter!!

    • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap April 23, 2013 at 9:54 am

      Hahahahaha! How funny! I’m glad you like it. Nick is the same way about not wanting to change things, but I can usually talk him into it if it’s not too expensive.

  3. You are a good friend!! One other thing I might try-some of that white grout paint to freshen up the grout. I know it’s so hard to keep stuff clean in a kitchen, so maybe paint then grout seal and see how that holds up.

    • Erin, you hit the nail right on the head. Once we’ve painted, we’re going to do the grout cleaning to bring it back to its original color (a very light grey).

    • Charlotte@Living Well on the Cheap April 23, 2013 at 12:54 pm

      I’ll admit that posts like this aren’t entirely altruistic. I’m always looking for stuff to blog about, haha.

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