Guest Blogger: How to Choose Kitchen Colors the Easy Way

Guest Blog #211, Entry #703, October 14, 2011

It has been said that the kitchen is the heart of the home, and you probably know why. Whether you are preparing a family meal or hosting a dinner party, invariably it seems that everyone tends to congregate in the kitchen. It is certainly one of the most used rooms in the home and, for that reason, decorating it is a very important consideration. Because the kitchen is a room primarily for functional use, quite often the most important facet of the decorating scheme is the color arrangement rather than accessories. Choosing colors for your kitchen can be deceptively simple. Remember that you must consider the color of the walls, cabinets, countertops, and appliances to create a fully coordinated look. So where should you start?

Tips for how to choose a kitchen color

Image courtesy of Luxury House Design

Personal Preference

Choosing the cornerstone of your kitchen decor boils down to a matter of personal preference. Perhaps you have found some black granite countertops and would like to coordinate the remaining colors to match them. Or you may have a wall color in mind and want all the other fixtures to match. Perhaps the best way to start is to determine what kind of overall feel you’d like in your kitchen. Do you want a light, airy, open feeling or are you striving for a deeper, richer color scheme? Once you know what type of look you are aiming for, you can begin to think about where to start in terms of choosing colors.

Choosing Colors

Because they typically have the largest surface area and draw much of the visual attention, walls are a great place to start in structuring your kitchen’s color scheme. Lighter colors typically accent each other very nicely. For instance, if you decide on a pastel yellow for the walls, white cabinets and appliances are excellent choices to complete the look. Dark reds, oranges, or browns complement black appliances or dark floors very well. Always remember to keep continuity in mind. Contrasting colors or a mixture of light and dark shades can create a cluttered or visually confusing look.

Kitchen color and contrast is important

Image courtesy of World Designs

Cabinet Colors

Other homeowners choose to assemble their color scheme around the design of the cabinets. These items also take up a great deal of space in the kitchen and their color can set the tone for the entire room. If you have dark cherry cabinets, consider burgundy, green, or other soft colors. The contrast between dark cabinets and pastels like yellow or light blue can be a little cumbersome. The key is to make every surface complement the next. Light or neutral colored linoleum floors lend themselves very well to unobtrusive colors. Pine, oak, or other deep shades work well with similar hues.

Kitchen cabinet color can also influence your color choice

Image courtesy of DIY Network

In truth, it is up to you to decide which portion of your kitchen will be the starting point for your color scheme. If you are dead set on white cabinets or dark brown floors, this can be a great jumping off point for determining what colors to use throughout the rest of the room. Always remember that each surface should transition smoothly to the next. Use your imagination and you can come up with the perfect color scheme for the heart of your home.

This is a guest post by Jürgen Heidenreich from Germany. He runs a website about sofas, which provides helpful advice on purchasing different types of sofas, including corner sleeper-sofas and extra large sectional sofas (called Ecksofa mit Schlaffunktion and Wohnlandschaft XXL in German).

For more kitchen & bath ideas on Stagetecture, click here.