One of the biggest design aspects that can either make or break a room is the color selection. Far too often do people go into the process of picking colors for their room without really knowing the importance and depth that goes into the selection; you have to consider the color in certain lights, how it looks against your flooring and molding, if it is cohesive with the rest of the decor, and especially if you can see yourself still liking the color a month from now! Color selection is not a hard process, it just takes a lot of thought and a little bit of time and trust me– both of these things are well worth it after you find the exact color that will go perfect in your space.

When I am designing a space, one of the biggest concerns that I have with color is how it makes the overall room feel. I have mentioned before that I attempted to carry a color theme from my old apartment into my new house and it was an awful transition and I ended up changing the entire design of the room! The issue wasn’t that I didn’t like the color anymore, but the color didn’t look right in the new space; the light was different, the molding and flooring was different, and I had a lot more space to work with in the new house compared to the old apartment.  The color was a bold, sunflower yellow that looked perfect in my small, quaint Victorian-style apartment with a black radiator and white crown and base molding; it didn’t exactly carry over into my new space– which was bigger, with a khaki fireplace and dark wood accents around the base and lining the windows. The point being that certain colors may look fantastic with your decor in one space, but it can be unsightly with just the change of some different accent woodwork!

My goal with this series of blogs is to provide you with a starting point in the exciting process of color selection, as well as some hints to guide you along the way as you attempt to find the perfect color for your designated space. As with my aforementioned personal experience with color disaster, color selection based on the aesthetics of the space is obviously based on each individual room, I will more than likely reiterate that point a lot, so I am going to supply you with color selections based on the basic characteristics and purpose of each room in a general house.  This week I am going to focus on one very exciting room in the house: the kitchen.

Kitchens are so interesting to me because they come in so many different shapes and sizes and you can customize every little detail in them from the floor to the color of your stove top and everything in between. A lot of people don’t really think too much about painting a kitchen because it’s a personal space in the house, especially if you have a separate eating area: the kitchen shouldn’t be ignored or neglected as a potential area for an update in design!

Generally speaking, when you are choosing the color of a kitchen you should keep these things in mind:

These suggestions provide a quick summary of the design basics for each kitchen, as well as a color palette to guide you as you make your color selections.  You will notice that each color guide consists of one big paint blob, two smaller ones, and then three even smaller ones; the biggest one will serve as your main wall color, the next two smaller ones will serve as your accent wall colors or if you are painting your woodwork or doors in the room, and the last three are your accent colors which you will use for decor items such as seat cushions, window treatment, artwork, vases, display plates, etc. You can also mix and match the accent colors because some will look better than others due to the variations of each unique space.

1 For a clean looking kitchen you should consider using a light colored wall that isn’t bold or distracting. Consider shades of white and cream, with accents of a lighter or darker shade of your base color, or even a softer color like a baby blue or lavender. When I think of a clean looking kitchen, I always think of the kitchens featured in the magazines like Real Simple and Martha Stewart with soft colored walls, light wood or white cabinets, and keeping all other decor very light colored and airy. The accent colors that you select for this style of kitchen should be muted as not to create a shock value to your wall; what I mean by that is that in this particular kitchen, it’s often looked at as a whole and not one bold accent color or tons of things to look at. Everything is light and compliments each other, nothing is overpowering anything else.

2 This is definitely one kitchen that you can find inspiration through food or icons of Italy. The warm colors work beautifully in a rustic Italian inspired kitchen such as sunflower yellow, terracotta, deep red, and burnt orange. I personally love black accents paired with these color selections. You can also take the cool color family and work it, specifically purple (wine shades like Merlot or Cabernet) and green (herb green). It’s okay to be dramatic in an Italian kitchen and show off some little knick-knacks that fit the decor. One of my favorite things about the Italian inspired kitchen is that it’s okay to have something a little bit off the wall because it just works perfectly; I had some really crazy looking vintage tile in my kitchen that was brown with little terracotta specks and it picked up perfectly with my tomato bisque walls.

3 You can go one of two ways with a country kitchen– you have the light country kitchen and the in-yo-face country kitchen. Both can have roosters somewhere in the decor, but the color selection (and maybe type of rooster) is definitely different. A light country kitchen, like pale yellow for example which is beautiful in country kitchens, should be complimented with additional pale colors like baby pink and white. If you are going this country route, feel free to incorporate some floral prints or plaids that go with your theme. If you are going down the in-yo-face country route, explore darker color options, like a dark blue or burgundy, especially if you have darker wood cabinets. This is my personal preference to pair dark with dark, but I personally think that it blends well together without causing a harsh contrast from say….white walls to dark cabinets. I think that a country kitchen is complete with a plaid or gingham print somewhere in the mix, but I would pair fabrics for window treatments and whatever else based on a) the country road you’re going down and b)the color selection.

4 A modern kitchen is something that is designer inspired (such as West Elm or IKEA) with some killer appliances and an infusion of stainless steel. There are so many different options that you can explore for a modern kitchen, one of my favorites being a granite wall color with light gray and blue accent colors. Gray has a way of providing warmth to a kitchen without being a warm color, and granite particularly will compliment stainless steel appliances. Cool colors are definitely the way to go as far as modern kitchens are concerned, not to say that warm colors will not work…but stainless steel works very, very well with blues and grays, and even certain muted greens.

5 A classic Mediterranean kitchen is warm and inviting and the best way to achieve this feeling is by using…you guessed it…warm and inviting colors! The major colors within your color scheme will be warmer, but you can accent the room with cool colors like jewel tones of sapphire and emerald. When designing a room with a cultural theme, it’s a good idea to get a feel for the culture by looking at photographs and take note of some recurring colors that you see as well as color pairing combinations. A great color pattern for a Mediterranean kitchen is a golden sand color with accents of brown, sapphire, and emerald.

6 When I think of a feminine kitchen, I always think of pretty trinkets all over the place– especially teapots! Obviously, you can’t get any more feminine than pink and there are so many different shades of pink that you can work with; soft, pretty pink is definitely my favorite choice because it’s beautiful in certain lights and would work nice in a light kitchen. You can accent with bold pastels such as sky blue, spa green, and lavender. I really like using a muted soft color for the background and then accenting with pastels because it all just sort of blends together without any one color being too distracting and this design technique is also great if you plan on showcasing some pretty little things like printed plates on the wall.

7 A great way to get a better idea of a color palette for a Mexican kitchen is by looking at Mexican art, especially their beautiful pottery! I always think of a Mexican kitchen as having a tile backsplash or a mosaic tile design and if you have this in your kitchen, definitely work off of the color pattern within the design. Incorporate bold colors like sunflower yellow, chili pepper red, and tile blue; you can either make your walls this color or have a muted color, like wheat, and accent with these bold colors– just make sure that they pop! The Mexican culture has such great food that is made in their fantastically bold kitchens that have warmth, culture, and a whole lot of spice!

8 Some people don’t like to assign themes to their rooms because it simply isn’t their style, and that’s perfectly fine. Your kitchen will still have a theme based on your color selection, but it will be more of a color pattern than a named theme. If you are looking for just a nice kitchen, start out by picking out colors that you like and then base them off of how the light reflects in your kitchen, as well as the color of the cabinets and counter tops. A color can look really beautiful on the color card, but really awful once you’ve got it painted on the wall (I know this from experience!). Don’t be afraid to experiment with new colors and especially new color combinations; sometimes the most beautiful rooms are so special because they’ve paired two colors that you would personally have never thought to do, but it looks lovely! Take advantage of the smallest size possible of paint from your paint store so you can try out some different colors in a spot on your wall and see which one looks the best with all of the other elements of your kitchen.

Kitchens are a place for gathering around to make great food and even better memories. Don’t neglect your kitchen as just being a minor room in the house because they are often the easiest to customize as there are so many different aspects that need selecting (counters, cabinets, light fixtures, appliances, color, etc). Try to find inspiration in food-related colors, as well as items that you would like to incorporate into the kitchen. If you are going for an overall theme, try to make a lookbook to organize your information and hopefully come up with a visual plan of what you’d like to achieve in your designated space. If you don’t have a theme in mind, but would like to spruce up the kitchen with some color…try looking through some design magazines to see what you like– this will definitely give you an idea of the type of kitchen you like and from there you can start to make it happen!

Like always, if you ever need any color suggestions or ideas on how to spruce up your personal space– let me know! I may not be a professional, but I have a passion for this stuff, I love to help, and I always benefit from every design experience.

Here’s to spicing things up in the kitchen with a little color and a lot of personality!

-M.