As time went by I put in new flooring (not the gold/orange/cream patterned vinyl the first owners put in, which also went oddly with the rose/gray faux-wood paneling, but a muted pattern in white/gray/grayblue. That took pressure off the turquoise countertops. But there was still the faux-wood wall. Meanwhile other stuff happened, and still other stuff happened, and finally, this year, after the 30+ years, I got real chairs into the kitchen instead of folding chairs. They went nicely with the cabinet wood, being real wood themselves. They did not go nicely with the faux-wood paneling on the wall against which they stood. Hmmm.
So after much discussion through the spring of what colors to try, given the other colors, the size of the kitchen, the tablecloths we already had, etc.--and after a hiatus caused by a medical emergency and two conventions--I finally made it to the store and looked at paint colors. Lots of paint colors. Brought home several paint chips (or swatches or whatever you call them) and one jar sample of the color I thought might be best. (Trying to pick paint in a store, under its lights, instead of at home in the light of the room to be painted--unless you're just going with white--is tricky.) Then I scrubbed off two sections of the wall to be painted (one higher, one lower) and shook up the little jar, and painted two big-enough messy areas on the wall. Let it dry.
And amazingly, that was the right color. YES! So today, we have a full gallon of said paint, a new dropcloth (the old dropcloth had worn out), painters' tape, and the rest of the stuff you need to paint a wall. And tomorrow morning, when it's as cool as it ever gets in summer, so we can open the door for ventilation, i will paint that wall and never have to see the paneling argue with the cabinets again. Eventually there will be pictures.