Warm and appetising or cool and relaxing? These 8 paint palettes can help you choose the best colours for your kitchen
‘‘There are no bad colours, just bad colour combinations,” said one of my interior design mentors many years ago. At first I disagreed with him, since there’s a certain shade of brown-mustard yellow that I definitely wouldn’t want slathered all over my walls. But after I chewed on his statement for a bit, I realised that I had seen that colour used in ways that were quite beautiful. It’s definitely possible to make any single colour work in your home – it’s all in how other colours and materials are incorporated with it. But how do you develop a cohesive colour palette?

Spend a few minutes browsing through the thousands of kitchens showcased on Houzz and you will quickly see they come in all shapes, sizes, styles and colours. Colour wise they can run the gamut from eye catching, bold and bright, to light, tranquil and airy. Featured here are some of the many delightfully colourful kitchens on Houzz, along with examples of colour palettes inspired by the kitchens.

Warm colour palette

If you love lots of bright and bold colours but don’t want your kitchen to appear as if a rainbow exploded inside of it, consider working with analogous colours: Colours next to each other on the colour wheel.

A simple way to think of this is warm versus cool colours. This kitchen features very bold splashes of warm oranges and red. The space feels exciting and energetic – great for entertaining.

Cool colour palette

This kitchen also features bold analogous colours, but it’s on the cool end of the colour wheel with shades of green and blue. It has a sophisticated and serene feel.

Bold wall with neutral accents

A great strategy for incorporating bold colours into your kitchen is to keep the expensive items – such as the countertops, cabinet fronts and flooring – neutral in colour and save the bold colours for things that are easy and affordable to change out, like wall paint.

Blank canvas with bold accessories

Here’s another kitchen that smartly features bold colours in a way that’s easy and relatively affordable to change at any time. You could give this kitchen a completely different look just by swapping out the carpet tiles and counter stools.

Splash of green

An unexpected splash of colour can be truly captivating. To prevent it from crossing the line to overwhelming, however, take a tip from this fresh and airy space by keeping all the other elements in the space neutral.

Bold traditional palette

Eye-popping colours aren’t just for contemporary kitchens. This handsome kitchen features an oversize bold red range set in rich, dark chocolate cabinets. The tile backsplash has an intricate pattern to it but, because of the neutral colours used, it complements rather than competes with the range.

Splash of yellow

This appealing, light-filled kitchen sports a band of colour at the backsplash and via the dining chairs. This is a great option for someone who wants a very light, soothing and restrained palette but with a little twist.

Warm, rich kitchen palette

This kitchen makes me want to eat! And definitely drink some wine. The colour red is said to be an appetite stimulant, which is why most fine dining establishments are painted shades of red rather than, say, green or blue. Red can be tricky to work with, though, because it tends to suck all the light from a room. Instead of painting your walls red, try using red in smaller chunks, such as the red range featured in an earlier kitchen, or as used here, in these beautiful cranberry-red cabinets.