Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Vancouver Colour Expert; How to pick the Right Colours for your Kitchen

I have been in too many kitchens where the floor is a completely different colour than the countertop, the backsplash, the cabinets and finally the paint colour on the wall.


In my world, a pretty kitchen is one where there are at least two surfaces (above) that ‘relate’ to each other with the colour. This seems like a really simple concept but can be very confusing when sourcing finishes because there are so many options. I would say choosing kitchen finishes (without a professional) is probably much harder than choosing a sofa colour, which I talked about here.


In this kitchen above. The white in the marble countertops relates to the white cabinets.


In this kitchen (above) the granite countertop relates to the black squares in the floor tile, but notice that the alternating tiles are a gold beige colour while the ceiling (and most likely the rest of the kitchen) has been painted a pinky beige.


Since the above granite countertops already have at least 5 colours in them, it makes sense to select a wall colour that is already in the granite (like in the above photo). Otherwise you end up with 7 colours that do not relate to each other (as it looks like the tile floor in the photo above does not relate to the granite).
Sometimes that happens. You decide to replace the countertops but can’t afford to take out the tile floor. That’s when you need to be clear that you are ignoring the floor in order to move forward with the counters to get what you want eventually!


In this kitchen, the backsplash relates to the multi-coloured stone floor! The beams and wall colour appear to have been chosen to relate to the island and the warm brown tones in the tile. The cabinets here could have even been creamier but overall the colours in this kitchen tie together nicely!


Here the backsplash is pink and the cabinets are yellow. Remember this post where I talked about the only time pink and yellow work together? It’s not here in my opinion.

In this post I talked about hardwood floors and how they are pretty much like jeans when it comes to picking wall colours unless the colour is too close to the floor. With wood stained cabinets, it’s very important to consider how the wall colour looks. A pinky beige wall will not look good with orange oak cabinets, for example.

So read this post on painting up samples, and use them when finalizing colours, and when you are shopping for finishes. And of course, if you are choosing the finishes yourself, a consultation with a professional to make sure you’ve selected the right combination will give you the confidence to move forward with your renovation and have a kitchen to love!

If you would like your home to fill you with happiness every time you walk in, contact me for on-line or in-person decorating and colour.

Related posts:
The 80/20 Rule Also applies to the most Popular Paint Colours

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