How to Design Kitchen Colors
Kitchens, the pulse of most homes, should be warm and inviting, making you, your family and guests feel comfortable and welcome. Color influences how people feel, act and react within any space, and should be considered when planning your new kitchen decor. With a little forethought and a can of paint, you can transform your kitchen from a functional place for preparing food to the hub of your family and social life that everyone loves spending lots of time in. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Design your kitchen colors by first selecting your curtains or artwork. It's much easier to have a paint store mix paint to a color within a print or fabric than to try to find those items after you've painted your walls.
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Select kitchen colors by realizing they set the mood, influence how we feel, and, in a kitchen, play a part in how much we eat.
White kitchens give a feeling of cleanliness, but if everything is white, it can leave us feeling cold and sterile, so adding an accent color, often in a cool color, can help alleviate that absence of warmth.
Cool colors like blue and green give a feeling of calm, while warm colors, like red or orange invite energy, and in the kitchen, stimulate the urge to eat. That is why fast-food restaurants serve their food in red and orange containers.
Yellow is a color that makes people smile and feel good about themselves and their surroundings. It's a happy color that works well in a kitchen.
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Convey the mood of a particular ethnic or period kitchen with the use of color. Tuscan kitchens work well with golden yellows or shades of terra-cotta. Moroccan kitchens want rich jewel tones on at least one wall while leaving the others in neutral sands or cream. French country kitchens work well in blue or red with white, as seen printed on toile fabrics. Create the look of a retro kitchen with black and white or the soft pastels of the 1950s.
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Faux paint walls for a designer feel. Tuscan kitchens work well when washing a honey glaze over a yellow wall, giving the feel of aged elegance. Or perk up a monotone-colored kitchen by mixing glaze in with your wall paint and painting wide, 12-inch stripes on one wall, letting the non-glazed paint serve as the alternating stripe. This look adds lots of subtle interest to any room.
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Replace your flooring with color in mind. Hardwood flooring adds additional warmth with its rich browns, while most tiles evoke cool feelings. Adding wooden flooring to a cool kitchen can warm it up, just as installing tile in a warm kitchen will help balance its heat. Hardwood and tile are available in many colors. Bring flooring samples home to determine how each affects your overall color scheme before installing.
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Accessorize your kitchen with colors that accent the mood you are trying to create. Monotone color schemes create a harmonious feeling, but need not be boring. Add accessories in the same color as your walls, but in a different, lighter or darker, hue. Or add a splash of excitement by choosing a few accessories that pop against the walls of your kitchen, like a red vase or pitcher sitting against a sunny yellow wall for a more vibrant room.
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Tips & Warnings
Browse travel books at your library when seeking inspiration for ethnic kitchens.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit brush image by Svetlana Kashkina from Fotolia.com
