Color combinations for kitchen interior design

Color Combination Rules

There is no wrong or right combination of kitchen colors. However, if you follow some requirements, the overall picture will be more harmonious.

• Use the 60/30/10 rule. Where 60 are neutral colors, 30 are additional, up to 10% are bright and dark. Do not use more than 3 shades. If you are a beginner in design, combining more colors in the kitchen interior can be a difficult task.
• Consider the degree of illumination. A dull kitchen interior with windows facing north requires warm colors – soft white, beige, yellow, orange. If the kitchen is southern, on the contrary, add tenderness: snow-white, blue, pink and other pastels will balance the level of heat.
• Start from the size of the room. The color scheme for small kitchens should be as light as possible. The best way to expand space is white, which is diluted not with other tones, but with textures – glossy facades, brickwork, light wood.
• Turn to psychology. The color of the walls and other interior elements directly affects your mood and desires. For example, a warm color scheme stimulates appetite, while a cold one, on the contrary, calms it down. This does not mean that if you are trying to keep fit, you need to decorate the entire kitchen in chilling shades – just choose the right tablecloth and dishes.
• Maintain a balance. Choose a neutral kitchen set for bright or dark walls. And vice versa – a flashy set will look better against light or completely white walls.
• Follow the rule of combination on surfaces. It can be summed up in one phrase: from bottom to top. The darkest thing in the room is always the floor, the lightest is the ceiling.
• Don’t forget about the texture. The same color scheme will look completely different on a glossy and matte surface. In the first case, the tone will become more saturated, in the second – more muted.

What are the color schemes and their features?

To correctly select a combination of colors in the kitchen interior, use the color wheel – depending on the location of the sectors on it, several win-win schemes are distinguished.

Gradient or tinted

This color combination for the kitchen is also called monochromatic or single-color. The idea is to take one segment of the circle and make the interior in these tones. That is, only one tone is taken as a basis, and the depth of space and dynamics are achieved through its halftones.

Thanks to this technique, you can bring a sense of unity to the interior, combine many details without the risk of oversaturation and clutter in the interior.

In the photo, the beige color of the kitchen as an example of a tint color combinations

To prevent a monochrome interior from seeming boring, add more contrast between shades, use several interesting textures and details in the interior. At the same time, the brightest elements should be those that you want to highlight or emphasize.

This scheme is the only one where you do not need to follow the rule of maximum 3 shades. You can achieve an interesting effect if you use 5-6 tones.

Contrasting color combinations

A complementary pair is one that is placed opposite each other on the color wheel. Sunny yellow, for example, complements night violet. Bright red serves as a contrast to rich green. Energetic orange pairs with sky blue.

The main advantage of a two-tone interior design is expressiveness. The design will definitely not be boring and the colors will not argue with each other.

But you need to combine colors in the kitchen interior carefully, so that the effect is not too flashy, choose one color as the main one, and use the second to place bright accents. The final result depends on the brightness of the base color – the calmer it is, the calmer the kitchen will be.

From the color spectrum, try to choose not pure, but diluted, muted or dirty shades. Complex tones allow you to create the most comfortable space. For example, replace orange with rusty, pumpkin, tangerine, ocher or bronze.

The photo shows a light green and purple interior with pop art elements

Triad

As the name suggests, this color scheme has three components. A triad can be:

• Analogous. On the color wheel, these are three colors of the same brightness located next to each other. For example, for a yellow kitchen, the combination of green + tangerine will be considered analogous. To make it easier to decorate the interior, one of the shades is chosen as the main one – the kitchen set or walls are made in it. The second tone is supporting, the third is accent.

• Classic. If you draw an equilateral triangle on a circle, its vertices will just point to the colors of the classic triple combination. This scheme uses sectors that are equidistant from each other – in a twelve-sector circle – three sectors apart. Example: purple + pumpkin + green, scarlet + lemon + sky. Just like in the analog, the first thing you need to do is choose a shade that will become the base, the second – an addition, the third – an accent.

  

• Contrasting. A variant of a complementary combination, but instead of one opposite, a pair of adjacent shades are used. If you draw a triangle, it will be isosceles. That is, for orange, instead of blue, take dark blue and turquoise. Purple is diluted with green and light orange. This combination of colors is more difficult to perceive, but more interesting.

The photo shows a combination of muted pink, pale yellow and gray-green

Black and white kitchen

Such kitchens are contrasting, but are considered less active compared to colored ones. Recently, combined black and white shades are found in Scandinavian, minimalist and other modern interiors.

Boring black and white is diluted with one or two additional textures and shades:

• metallic shade of black silver;
• complex white in the form of ivory, marshmallow, vanilla;
• steel and brown;
• the color scheme of natural wood in combination with texture.

Special attention in a black and white kitchen should be paid to lighting. It can be either colored or standard – warm or cold, depending on the desired effect.

Table of the most popular combinations

If the basic tones are combined with almost all colors, then the combinations are more complex. But no less beautiful.

How to choose the right scheme?

The color of the walls in the kitchen affects the combination of colors as well as the color of the furniture, floor and ceiling. To avoid making a mistake, start from something large – for example, upper and lower cabinets, and select the rest of the details (chairs, curtains, decor) based on their shade.

Choosing the color of the kitchen set

The color of the kitchen set is not limited by anything today – a large assortment of films and paints allows you to choose absolutely any shade. You should start from personal preferences, the size of the room and furniture, ease of maintenance.

For a small kitchen, only light facades and preferably glossy. Dark colors, especially matte ones, absorb light and make the room visually smaller. A white kitchen set combined with white walls will literally dissolve in space, and glossy surfaces will reflect and multiply the light, making the kitchen brighter and more spacious.

Some people think that white or light doors are absolutely impractical – this is a misconception. Dark glossy facades are considered the most impractical – they leave fingerprints, and even the slightest traces of grease and water stains are noticeable.

It is not necessary to choose one color for all furniture. Dark or bright bottom and light or neutral top — a win-win option, suitable for a kitchen of any size.

The photo shows a two-color set with a wooden countertop

Deciding on the color of the equipment

When choosing household appliances, you can go three ways: standard white, black or a bright accent.

• White appliances in a light kitchen will not stand out or weigh down the space, they are easy to care for.
• Black appliances attract attention and require complementing in the form of accessories or details of the same shade. They go well with a countertop in the same tone. Glossy and glass surfaces require special care.
• Bright appliances can be used in colored and achromatic kitchens to emphasize the right place. The combination of elegant red or blue with white or black looks fresh and stylish. But do not overdo it – 2-4 devices will be enough.

The photo shows red accents in the kitchen: refrigerator, radiator, kettle

Choosing the color of the countertop

Most designers and apartment owners try to make this surface neutral – and this is the right decision. The main thing is not to choose a color that is too dark, otherwise it will be difficult to keep it clean.

Important! The most practical colors are: white with veins, beige, natural wood, gray.

The most win-win way to choose a shade and create coziness is to repeat the palette of one of the design zones. Floor, apron tiles, dining table, decorative elements.

Choosing the color of the walls

The walls can be absolutely anything, the main thing is to achieve a harmonious combination with furniture and appliances. And also take into account the features of the room:

• Color saturation. Dark oppresses, narrows the room, light adds space.
• Temperature. Warm colors soften, cold colors refresh.
• Print size. Large flowers, patterns and other elements are suitable only for spacious kitchens, they can visually reduce the size of the room. Small patterns, on the contrary, increase.
• Direction of the pattern. To make the ceilings in the apartment visually higher, choose vertically directed stripes. A narrow room will be transformed by horizontal ones. If the interior lacks dynamics, diagonal will help.