Whether you’re planning a complete kitchen overhaul or just a refresh, colourful kitchens are a big deal. The chances are that you won’t get many opportunities to install a new kitchen. So when making design decisions you want something that will stand the test of time.

The danger here is that we shy away from making bold colour choices and instead play it safe by opting for a neutral scheme. This could be seen as timeless but you’re missing out on a great opportunity to make a stylish statement. After all, most of the time the kitchen becomes the hub of the house. It’s somewhere you’re probably going to spend a lot of time socialising so make sure it oozes personality and is space you feel proud to invite guests.

Kitchens are unavoidably quite often full of chrome appliances so adding pops of colour creates a nice, and much needed, contrast to this. There are so many options for creating a colourful kitchen but this is so dependant on personal preference, so a good place to start is to decide what style kitchen you want.

Whether you need your home to feel calm and light with pastel tones or if you want a more elegant and traditional look with deep blue/green colours and dark woods, ultimately you need to make sure you choose a scheme you can live with.

If you’re not feeling prepared to splash colour all over the walls then here are a few slightly more tame options to inject colour into your space. Adding colour to an island is a great way to create an eye catching feature with an accent colour as opposed to it taking over the whole room. Using a bold colour for your island will ground the room especially if your space is light and airy.

Dark Colours

A painted island should give you much more confidence to go bold with colour as this is a lot less permanent and can always be changed up in the future. Feeling daring? Why not go for Farrow and Ball Black Blue. Dark navy interiors are really coming into their own and a popular kitchen colour perfect if you want a bold, modern and practical look. Dark cabinetry also is a great backdrop for light accessories as the really stand out, for example a white marble worktop or brass handles.

Go Green

A green colour palette is a great way to link the inside with the outside creating harmony between the two spaces. This is particularly effective if the kitchen looks out onto the garden. Green exudes vitality and freshness, which is generally a great vibe to create in your kitchen. The differing shades of green available are massive but I’d definitely recommend checking out Little Greene as they’ve got you covered from light and bright greens such as Acorn and Apple to dark much warmer shades like Olive Colour or go super dark again with Farrow and Ball’s Studio Green. Dark green works well in older properties by staying true to a more traditional feel. A really simple way to inject some green is with house plants or potted herbs, they’ll look totally at home in your kitchen and work as both a practical resource and a great styling accessory.

Mixing Finishes

Talking of adding a touch of nature, warm woods are a great option for adding colour and texture to your space. Studio McGee have written a blog post about stained cabinetry which is definitely worth a read for some inspiration of how wood can be used to transform a space. Don’t forget to also mix finishes in your kitchen, mixing wood finishes and metals such as nickel, brass and chrome can also make for an eye-catching and visually interesting space without the need for lots of colour.

Accent Colours

How do you feel about opting for red as the accent colour in your kitchen? It’s actually a pretty good option as psychologically it’s said to be a colour that stimulates appetite. This however doesn’t mean you have to paint the room fire engine red, instead have a look at Farrow and Ball’s Eating Room Red – it’s a much softer tone. If you want to use a bright colour like this but you don’t want it to overwhelm the space then instead use it to draw attention to particular areas. For example if you have glass fronted cupboards, paint or wallpaper the back of the cupboard to frame nice crockery or glassware.

If you’re feeling a little less into the bold and bright colours then a monochrome scheme might be more up your street and actually is just as effective and impressive. When black and white is done right is can look so sleek and stylish and not to mention definitely timeless. If you didn’t already know I am a massive fan of encaustic tiles and the monochrome ones from Bert and May would make for a very statement splash back.

Keep it cool with Grey

If you just can’t tear yourself away from a neutral colour scheme then steer clear of the stark white and instead for a warm grey. I talk a lot at my workshops about how to choose paint colours depending on the natural light in your home as this is such a big deciding factor.

Avoid using cool tones if you’re room is north facing as it will end up feeling cold. I love using soft grey’s such as Little Greene French Grey. Also as opposed to contrasting this with a harsh white ceiling why not consider taking the colour up onto the ceiling. This works well with neutral colours and it creates a seamless space and will draw the eye around the room making it feel bigger as opposed to being stunted by the ceiling.

I’ll leave you with this for now, I hope this has inspired you now have a new love for colourful kitchens. As always I love to hear about your own homes and if you have any comments to add or questions please do pop them in the comments section below! 

Sources: Dark Green | Blue Island | Green Kitchen | Monochrome