If you have orange wood cabinets that you want to tone down, here are some steps you can try: Use a wood stain with blue or green undertones. Applying a wood stain with blue or green undertones can help neutralize the orange tones in the wood and produce a more balanced color.
Neutral Wall Paint Colors to Update Orange Wood Tones
This includes light, subtle beiges that aren't overly warm (Benjamin Moore Muslin and Gentle Cream and Sherwin-Williams Navajo White and Softer Tan).
I've been looking for a way to tone down the orange finish of pine and now I've found the answer–Liming Wax! You may have heard it called pickling, whitewashing, or even bleaching–the process of creating that beautiful, subtle, hazy, white finish on various woods (often pine or oak).
Try a burnt orange with red this will tone down the orange and make it more complementary to the red. Orange's complementary color on the color wheel is blue so if you want a perfect pairing stick within the blue color family.
Presoak (the method of soaking a stained article in warm water before laundering it) in a solution of 1 quart warm water, 1/2 teaspoon liquid dishwashing or laundry detergent, and 1 tablespoon white vinegar for 15 minutes. Rinse well with water and launder as soon as possible.
Use Purple or Blue Shampoos
"Using a color correcting purple shampoo will undoubtedly cancel out the overly warm, orange tones and keep that cooler, brighter blonde you desire," says Cunningham. So if your blonde is too warm and you want to cool it down, opt for a purple shampoo.
Refer to the color wheel above. As you can see from the color wheel, the color opposite to orange it on the color wheel is blue. So the way to neutralize the orange would therefore be to use blue based colors.
Colors with warm undertones like cream, beige, and warm greens will minimize the orange in the oak. Cool colors such as gray, blue, or purple will actually make the orange stand out. Learn how to choose kitchen paint colors that go with oak cabinets here.
How do you lighten old orange pine or white wash pine floors and furniture? We recommend two options to make the pine a bleached, pale colour, without the use of harmful chemicals: Palette (water based) Wood dye, overcoated with a quality water based floor varnish.
Pine and all solid wood furniture changes over time. Natural cherry will age to a much darker, redder color over many years. So, when you have pine furniture, do not be concerned about it aging to a darker, richer golden or orange color. This is the natural process and enjoy the beauty of solid wood furniture.
In order to bleach the wood, you want to oppose the orange color or brassiness in the wood. So apply a water-based stain with a neutralizing greenish tone. It doesn't need to be green, but it does need to counteract orange. Since the stain is just for this purpose, you can dilute it with a lot of water.
I used a chalk paint + antiquing wax to achieve the finish, and avoid having to sand. Although I was extremely pleased with my results, the wood grain did get covered up with the chalk paint. The antiquing wax helps achieve a faux wood finish, but the actual grain is gone.
Toning to balance out the warm tones
You can also use toners to correct the color and balance out the warm tones. By looking at color theory and choosing the opposite color of your hair in the color wheel, such as purple or blue shades, you can neutralize the yellow and orange.
Try adding neutral colors like gray, white, and cream to tone down the warmth created by the orange. A cool hue like teal or blue can also be used to create a pleasing contrast. Additionally, you could choose to add items of different textures, such as rugs and throw blankets, to break up the color.
For example, orange is directly opposite blue on the colour wheel. Therefore, an orange or peachy-toned corrector will help to cancel out the bluish tones under your eyes. Similarly, green is opposite red on the colour wheel. Hence, a green-hued corrector will help to neutralise acne, sunburn and all things rosy red.
If dealing with coloured clothing, you may not be able to see any traces of the orange stain at all, while white clothing may show a small amount of discolouration, but don't worry – this will easily be removed during the washing stage. Pop your clothing into the machine with good laundry detergent, and wash as usual.
You can use chlorine bleach to remove the stains from cotton white garments and linens (follow the product directions carefully). Alternatively, for items that are not colorfast, mix a solution of oxygen-based bleach in cool water following package directions.
1. Apply white vinegar directly to the stain, let it soak in for a few minutes (don't let it dry). 2. Wash the garment in your machine using the hottest water the fabric can tolerate.
Tone down the orange. If your wooden cabinets are stained a shade that pulls orange, you can do this by changing your wall paint color and cabinet door hardware. Choose a paint color that works with the cabinets to tone down the orange. Lots of recommendations include greige or beige colors.
By successive use of ammonia water and hydrogen peroxide, the method can achieve a very ideal wood bleaching effect, is easy to operate, and does not consume labor or time.