Kitchen Design Ideas

Designing a kitchen to feel lighter and airier is easy with some light-colored cabinetry.

Another solution is to add as many windows and doors as possible, giving your kitchen more air circulation.

Color Theory

When staging your home for sale or simply updating the kitchen decor, an understanding of color theory can make the process smoother. Not only that, but having this understanding also allows you to select paint, fabric and accessories that work harmoniously together.

Color is an invaluable element in interior design, capable of altering the atmosphere you create. It can enlarge or shrink a room, raise or lower ceilings and change the texture of surfaces like stainless steel or wood. Color also has the power to transform how we perceive space overall.

Designers use the color wheel to select hues that complement one another and produce vibrant tertiary colors. By mixing primary colors with their respective secondary hues, designers are able to achieve stunning effects.

Color schemes can add a unique touch to your kitchen design. For instance, blue-orange hues look wonderful in a contemporary kitchen.

Storage

Storage in your kitchen is essential to make it functional for working, cooking and entertaining. According to Danny Lay at Caple, “High capacity, well-located storage is key for keeping everything tidy, creating a clutter-free space that’s enjoyable to use,” providing an organized atmosphere in which to work, cook and entertain.

Jane emphasizes the significance of selecting the correct storage for items. “Utilize both closed cupboards and open shelves to store different kinds of things, keeping your kitchen looking neat and organised.”

If your kitchen is on the smaller side, don’t be intimidated to use some creative storage solutions that won’t take up valuable floor space. Consider hanging a rail or high-up rack from the ceiling, for instance, or adding hooks to the wall for easy hanging items.

Another great solution for storing your favorite crockery is leaving them out on display – this is an effective way to keep them out of the way and accessible. Alternatively, try placing them in a slimline countertop cabinet that blends in well with the rest of your design aesthetic.

Texture

Texture can add depth and variety to your kitchen design, even when going for a minimalist aesthetic. For instance, textured wallpaper or wood panels can break up bold blocks of colour to make sure that your feature wall stands out in the crowd.

Contemporary kitchens can benefit from the warm tones created by textured cabinetry in an oak slab or fluted style. On the other hand, distressed wooden cabinets with natural wood textures and more ornate hardware fit perfectly into a rustic or farmhouse kitchen design.

Backsplashes can serve as a focal point to add texture and visual interest to any space. Metal backsplashes like brass or copper add glamour, while stainless steel works great for modern designs.

Light

Lighting is essential in kitchen design, both as a functional element and an aesthetic feature. It can completely change a room from dark and uninviting to bright and welcoming, showcasing key pieces and creating a certain atmosphere.

To guarantee the ideal lighting in your kitchen, it’s essential to plan various sources of illumination – from ambient and task to accent and decorative. A ideal design scheme should incorporate a minimum of two and maximum of four distinct layers for illumination.

The initial layers should consist of overhead pendants and recessed downlights, spaced around 3 to 5 feet apart. Depending on the depth of your room and layout, you may wish to run an additional row of lights in the middle for added ambience.

Once you reach the base of the countertop, add in a long line of recessed downlights and undercabinet lighting for even illumination. This will let light into the counters and cabinets without blocking light from upper cabinets as a single recessed downlight would.