New Apartment - Starting in Kitchen

insanityofamom

We are renting an apartment that we just moved into, and there is a lot of touch up painting work to do, so while my FI is working on that he said I could pick out colors and he would work on each room one-by-one. 

So, first up is the kitchen. There are two windows, and a glass window on the back door. There is a space for a washer/dryer in the kitchen (but we don't own them yet), and a bump out space that would be good for an accent wall.  The cabinets and walls are white. The floor is a hardwood, dark brown. The counter is some kind of faded pink. The walls also have wainscoting, which is a strange peach/brown color. 

 I'm aiming for something light and fun- with tones of yellow and green. I was looking at this fabric - http://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=1c700576-4e82-4ea1-b4fd-1086111950bd but wasn't sure what colors would go good for either counter or walls. Which should i pick first? 

 http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/rooms-by-color/calm-contemporary-yellow-kitchen

I'd like to: 1.) Paint Wainscoting  - I've only seen wainscoting done in white. 2.) Maybe paint the walls (w/ accent wall) depending on #1 3.) Curtains, 4.) Paint Countertop. I have no idea what to do with the countertop. 

SJU1982

Congrats on the new apartment. ItAs much as moving sucks, the fresh start is always nice. 

With regards to your post:

I'm not really crazy about the fabric.  The checkerboard pattern screams country to me, which is a style I don't like (but to each their own!).  I like a few of the other patterns on that page though (Suzani, Zig Zag, Traditions) , and I think that a sunny shade of yellow will look great against dark wood floors. 

I like the yellow paint in the kitchen you posted, and think white wainscoting will make a nice contrast.  I'm not sure about a green accent wall.  If your kitchen is on the smaller side, it might be too busy. 

I've never heard of painting a countertop.  I just did a quick search, and it looks like it's semi-involved if you want it not to chip off right away.  Is it too late to negotiate a new counter as part of your rental agreement?  If you go the painting route, I'd go with a neutral color.  You won't want the counters to be a focal point. 

insanityofamom

Thanks for the reply! Moving really does suck. We underestimated the amount of time it would take to carry all our crap down 3 flights of stairs, so we were perpetually behind schedule. (old apartment was on third floor). 

I can always paint all the walls yellow and see if I like it that way first. 

My FI is pretty conservative when it comes to prints - so I don't think he would like any of the more modern designs on yellow fabric. And I would be too worried that Suzani or Traditions might give our kitchen the wrong "feel" - I'm looking for simple tab cafe curtains. But I could be wrong.  

FI has mentioned replacing the countertop- which is certainly an option. IKEA has a lot of great affordable options, but I have to ask FI what he thinks because a part of our counter is really just a cupboard with a countertop on top and is not attached to the rest of the counter. I also don't want to mess with having to change the sink.