Cooking With Color: 5 Ways to Go Bold in the Kitchen

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10 months ago

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White has been a go-to color for kitchen cabinets, countertops, and backsplashes for as long as we can remember. In a room that gets so messy, homeowners can’t help but gravitate toward pristine, white furnishings that make the room feel open and bright.

But over the past handful of years, the pendulum has swung toward more color and contrast, like two-tone cabinets (i.e., light-color uppers and dark-color lowers), and homeowners have warmed up to the idea of playing with color and texture in their kitchen in a big way.

If you’re looking to get out of your monochrome rut, keep reading for some fresh ideas for your kitchen, featuring examples from the Remodelista archives:

1. Color inside cabinets

Above: In Kitchen of the Week: A Two-Toned Design in Denmark, cabinets are painted, inside, an unexpected blue. Photography courtesy of Stilleben and Stilleben Architects.

Cooking With Color: 5 Ways to Go Bold in the Kitchen — Above: In Kitchen of the Week: A Two-Toned Design in Denmark, cabinets are painted, inside, an unexpected blue. Photography courtesy of Stilleben and Stilleben Architects.

For those who aren’t quite ready to redo their cabinet fronts in a bold hue, check out this technique, spotted also from @colombe studio.

“Painting the insides of the cabinets with glass-front doors offers a pop of color in a more subtle manner,” says designer Molly McGinness. “Since the glass-front cabinets are generally planned for display, be careful that the objects filling the cabinet work with the background color and that things don’t get too cluttered.”

Get the look: Paint the inside of your cabinets with Sherwin-Williams’ Major Blue or Benjamin Moore’s Rocky Mountain Sky in an eggshell or matte finish.

2. Yellow cabinets

Above: KBH of Copenhagen outfitted this kitchen in Frederiksberg, Denmark with bright yellow cabinets (and matching lava stone counters). Photograph by Gyrithe Lemche.

There’s nothing subtle about sunshine-yellow cabinets, but when a true break from the boring is needed, this larger-than-life color swap—including these, by @louiseroehome—could be just the thing.

Above: Interior designer Lonika Chande painted this kitchen in multiple coats of Paper & Paint Library’s “Indian yellow” Muga. See more in A London Designer’s Remodel for a Demanding Client (Her Mother). Photograph by Simon Brown.

“Painting the cabinets a bright hue can really make the kitchen sing,” says McGinness. “Get a sample to be sure you love it with the natural light in your kitchen, and if you’re repainting the cabinets, try a semigloss or high-gloss finish for high sheen and wipe-ability.”

Get the look: McGinness recommends Benjamin Moore’s Sun Kissed Yellow or Sherwin-Williams’ Confident Yellow. (And for more on yellow kitchens, see our Kitchen(s) of the Week: 13 On-Trend Sunny Yellow Spaces.)

3. Color-forward counters

Above: Green marble counters in Little Pink House: A Creative Couple’s Classic-with-a-Twist Home in Denmark. Photograph courtesy of Skagerak.

Hoping to ever so slightly spice up an all-white color scheme? Introduce a unique color or texture, like the marble backsplash seen in a post by @shoplonefox. “One of the most remarkable qualities of a solid marble backsplash is that each slab is completely unique, with the veins and hues varying widely, resulting in a one-of-a-kind installation,” says designer Devin Shaffer of Decorilla.

The versatility of marble also means it can easily be paired with a wide range of countertop materials and cabinet finishes to create your perfect personalized design.