A kitchen remodel project is something you need to plan for in order to get the most out of it. If you’re using a designed and contractor, this is the only time you’re really going to be involved so it’s essential to get your needs across.
Color is a very simple, but effective way of adding character, drama and ambience to a room. If your kitchen has a lot of wall space that isn’t covered by cupboards, this is even more important. It can completely change the way a room looks and feels, yet costs the least to achieve.
When choosing a color, it’s useful to get a color wheel. These are cardboard wheels with a selection of colors on them to allow you to visualize how different shades work together. It’s a useful tool to help the color decision.
Color is one of the most beautiful natural phenomenon, yet most of us are terrified of using it on our cabinets. That’s why the vast majority of our homes are bland and all look the same. We tend to err on the side of caution and settle for magnolia, terracotta or some version of cream.
With literally millions of colors to choose from, why do we stick to a narrow spectrum? It’s mainly because we’re afraid to experiment, and don’t really know how to use color to make a room look it’s best.
Color does much more than add life and personality to a space, it sets the mood for the entire room. Red denotes a sense of passion. Yellow is vibrant and happy. And nothing says regal quite like a deep purple. Colors even seem to give off their own “temperature” – red and orange are considered warm, whereas blue and green feel cool.
Yellows and oranges are warm colors that contain energy. It’s why they are popular in kitchens. Blues make you feel like you’re near the ocean and greens can provide that garden feeling. The choice of color for this room goes far deeper than looks and deserves consideration.
When designing or planning a kitchen remodel, I actually look inside the client’s wardrobe. The colors of the clothes in there will give me a good idea of the kind of thing they like. The rest of the home is obviously an influence too, as is the exterior architecture.
The shape of the room will also have a bearing on how you use color. For example, dark colors come out and light colors go backwards. What that means is, in a galley kitchen, painting the side walls light and the end walls dark evens the perspective out in the mind. While it doesn’t give you any more space, it gives the illusion of it.
There is an awful lot of thought needed to properly use color in a room and we have only scratched the surface of it here. If you’re planning on remodeling your kitchen, get yourself a color wheel before you do anything and consider that difference the color makes to a room.