The kitchen is the heart of the home and the focal point that attracts potential buyers. With everyone spending more time at home in the past few years, investing in this treasured space is a wise choice. Taking a designer approach to upgrading your kitchen will add value, both to the homeowner and any potential buyers in the future.
Choosing colors may seem like an art form, but it’s actually more of a science. Here’s how to choose colors for your upgraded kitchen like an interior designer.
Consider the Size and Limitations of the Kitchen
First, start by highlighting your kitchen’s strengths and weaknesses. This objective overview of the space will help you choose colors that work with the layout rather than against it. For example, if you have a small, poorly lit kitchen, you should choose light, refreshing colors rather than deep, bold colors. If you look at modern cabinets online, you’ll see a trend toward bright whites and neutral grays for this purpose.
If you have a larger kitchen with more space, you’ll have more bandwidth for incorporating darker colors. Choosing colors based on this principle also depends on whether you’re adding a coat of paint or doing a full kitchen upgrade.
Select an Inspiring Focal Point
Once you’ve outlined the limitations of your kitchen, choose a source of inspiration as your starting point. Many designers choose a piece of art, an existing design element, or an object in nature then build a design scheme around it.
For example, if you have a treasured piece of art that you like, start there for your color inspiration with the intention of prominently featuring this piece in your design. Alternatively, you may have inherited your grandmother’s yellow teapot and wish to build a design scheme around that. Maybe it’s the flowers growing in your window planter that brings joy or something you’ve seen online.
Once you have that design seed, use it to build upon.
Use the Color Theory
The color theory is the core principle of design, whether you’re an interior designer or a graphic designer. The color theory uses the color wheel to find contrasts, complements, and other combinations of shades and hues surrounding your core color selection.
Fortunately, you don’t need to go to years of training to unlock the power of the color theory. Find the color code (hex or RGB) that identifies the color you chose in the previous step, and plug it into an online color wheel tool. This will highlight the various contrasts and combinations to build a design palette based on your seed color.
Keep Dark Low and Light High
In addition to choosing which colors you want for your home, you’ll also need to determine where each color goes in the kitchen. Designers follow the rule of keeping dark shades low and light shades high.
In other words, if you determine you want a two-tone kitchen with both dark and light cabinets, you’d put the darker cabinets on the bottom and lighter cabinets on the top. This strategy helps create the illusion of space.
Create Balance
Finally, create balance when choosing colors. If your main color is a bold jewel tone, incorporate softer neutral backgrounds to offset it. If you gravitate toward bright pops of yellow inspired by your grandmother’s teapot, soften it with gray textiles and accent pieces.
With these professional tips, you can select kitchen colors like an interior designer and create an incredible space in your home.
