As with pretty much everything to do with home improvements these days, one thing you certainly have a lot of when it comes to choosing the colour scheme for your kitchen is choice. This presents its own challenges. Of course, it’s great to have plenty of options and the idea that you can have too much choice is a dubious one. What it does mean, however, is that it can be difficult to make your mind up because there are just so many options in front of you.
Most people are often fairly clear about which colours they prefer. However, every single colour now appears to have a seemingly endless number of shades and tones to choose from. The bottom line is this, if you want to create a look for your kitchen that is worthy of a feature in a glossy home design magazine, you will need look at your entire kitchen project as a sum of various parts.
Here’s how you do just that.
Colour scheme choices: Choose your cabinet colours
There’s a very good reason why choosing the colour of the cabinets and units should be your starting point when you are deciding the colour scheme for your kitchen. Firstly, the doors and cabinet units are likely to make up a substantial part of the total budget you spend on the project. Secondly, it’s typical for around 40-50% of the space in the kitchen to be taken up with the cabinetry.
So, the colour of your cabinets should be seen as the foundation from which you build your colour choices from. You should choose a colour, texture and type of material that marries with your personality, preferences and budget and go from there.
Colour scheme choices: Appliances
Unless you are opting for built-in appliances that are going to be encased by your cabinet choices, the next consideration should be the colour of your appliances. With freestanding appliances, you’ll need to be sure that the colour of the fronts blends well with the colour of your cabinets. You can’t really finalise your cabinet choice without knowing which appliances you intend to have.
Of course, appliances don’t tend to come in an infinite choice of tones and hues like wall paints or units. Typically, you can choose between the ‘traditional’ white or a contemporary metallic grey or silver. There are no hard and fast rules either. White goods tend to look really smart when combined with either or light grey cabinet choices. On the other hand, the stainless steel look is a great match for more vibrant colours and darker greys.
The key thing is that your appliances and units come across as being a part of the same plan. This is why your colour choices need to be carefully considered.
Colour choices: Choose your countertops
Your choice of countertop is a key decision in any new kitchen project. For practical and budgetary reasons, you need to get your choice of countertop spot on. However, the colour you choose is really important too. As countertops are relatively close to eye-level, they constitute a significant section of your visual space. This means that you need harmony and cohesion to exist between the cabinets and countertops.
Again, there are no hard and fast rules, although matching countertops to the colour of the floor is a foolproof way to achieve excellent colour coordination.
Choose your floors
Next on your journey to choose the perfect colour scheme for your kitchen comes the floors and walls. With flooring, the adjacent rooms of your home will influence the colour you choose for your kitchen floor.
Other than that, it’s important that your chosen colour of flooring complements and coordinates with the elements you have chosen so far: cabinets, appliances, and countertops. Picking the flooring material is a logical first step. Tiles, laminate and hardwood are all popular choices. The easy-to-clean aspect should not be overlooked. In terms of ‘colour rules,’ choosing a second dominant colour to pair with your cabinet colour selection is good advice. The good news is that both complementary and contrasting colour choices can both work well.
Classic white cabinetry with warming laminate or wood is a combination that you can never go wrong with as it is a timeless pairing.
Choose your walls
Perhaps surprisingly, kitchen walls often get overlooked slightly when it comes to putting together an overall colour scheme. The colour you choose for your walls needs to be more than an afterthought, however – both in terms of adding to the overall mood and tone of the space, and as a way of bringing all the different elements of the kitchen together.
The walls might be obscured to a certain extent by the likes of backsplashes and shelving, but it’s still an area of the kitchen that will stand out for all the wrong reasons if you get your colour choice wrong. The key thing is that your chosen colour balances well with the other elements. The likes of off-white and cream blend with most palettes. It’s also fine to go with bold and vibrant tones too. If the flooring and cabinetry has more subtle shades, this can be a good combination.
Don’t forget the hardware
Last but not least come the elements that will probably be installed in the latter stages of a project. Taps, handles and light fixtures can really be the icing on the cake. Sometimes it’s the smallest of details that can make all the difference. Once again, there are no fixed rules. As long as you choose styles and finishes that complement each other, you can’t really go wrong. One top tip – if you want to create a sleek and streamlined look – is to choose just one style of hardware to use throughout the kitchen.
Choosing your colour scheme: Dos and Donts
Creating a kitchen colour scheme that really flows and that has all the various elements singing together in harmony can seem like a really daunting prospect at first. The trick is to work through all the different elements carefully one-by-one. The result will be a cohesive and wonderful space.
Here are some final dos and donts to keep your colour scheme focused and on-point.
DO appreciate the impact colour can have on any space. Even with the most stunning of countertops and cabinetry, it is with colour that you really transform and lift the room.
DO at least learn the basics of cool vs warm colours. This is the key to mastering the subtle art of colour coordination.
DO be bold and adventurous! Don’t be afraid to have fun with colours or choose vibrant blocks of colour!
DON’T overdo grey! Grey and grey-blues are particularly popular at the moment. It’s not hard to see why greys and blues have become the go-to kitchen colours, but you should never overdo any single shade in a colour scheme, or it can become overkill.
DON’T forget the possibilities that coloured linen, ornaments or accessories can add to your kitchen colour scheme. Different schemes and themes are a great way of signposting seasonal changes and helping you to create a summer vibe or wintry feel – without the need for full-blown re-decoration.
DON’T forget the colour and style of adjacent rooms when deciding what your kitchen colour scheme should be. You need to make sure everything is compatible and works well together.
Final tips
Balancing, blending, contrasting and complementing are the vital ingredients of an excellent kitchen colour scheme. Nothing should be left to chance. As mentioned before, it is really important that you consider the sum of all parts. Each individual element of the kitchen design has an important part to play in terms of bringing a colour scheme together.
Nothing should be overlooked. It is especially true with colour schemes that the tiniest of details really can make a massive difference to the overall effect and vibe that you create in a room.
Other than the basics of cold versus warm colours, there are really no particular ‘rules’ as such when it comes to colour. It’s true that you can choose to contrast or to complement and have equally pleasing results. Tricks for the trade, top tips and useful snippets of advice will help to point you in the right direction.
If you’d like to chat through your colour scheme ideas with the kitchen experts, feel free to get in touch with the team at Kitchen Warehouse team.
