1. TWO-TONE AQUAMARINE
We love the pale blue-green palette used in this space. For a contemporary take on a tonal kitchen palette, Ruth Mottershead of Little Greene recommend that once you know how to paint kitchen cabinets you can combine different shades from the same color family. ‘Adding one color to the lower cabinets and contrasting colors for walls and upper cabinets creates a dynamic scheme’, says the brand’s creative director.
2. SEA-GREEN TIMBER
Green-stained timber defines this kitchen on the Belgian coast, designed by architects Thomas Geldof and Carmine Van der Linden. Inspired by the home’s surroundings, the pair devised a palette drawn from nature, enlisting Belgian joinery experts Deco-Lust for the custom birch cabinets. ‘They did a great job achieving the color we wanted and allowing the flame of the wood to shine through.
3. A WALL OF EMERALD TILES
When London architecture studio Emil Eve set about transforming this Clerkenwell warehouse into a two-bedroom home, they used kitchen tile ideas as a focal point, installing a wall of glazed green. ‘These were chosen as a reference to the Victorian glazed tiles that can be found throughout the local area,’ says practice co-founder Emma Perkin. The tiles, in shades of jade and emerald, form a striking feature within the lime-washed birch-ply cabinets, and serve to soften the architecture’s industrial feel with an injection of timeless color.
4. PAIR DARK GREEN AND LIGHT PINK
Taking modern backsplash ideas to their most beautiful, here a wraparound of chalky pink Spanish tiles is flanked by timber shelving and muted-green base units in this inviting kitchen. ‘We love how our rose-pink tiles have been used here,’ says Bert & May’s Victoria Lunn of the colorway, which was inspired by the pink hues of early evening.
5. WALL-TO-WALL FOREST GREEN
‘In this large farmhouse kitchen, the tonal color scheme helps disguise the irregular beams and windows and the rich greens complement the warm tones of the oak floor and island worktop,’ says Merlin Wright, design director at Plain English. 'Using one shade on both walls and joinery is sometimes called a 'color drench', and has the effect of unifying the disparate elements of a room’, he explains.
6. CHOOSE A SUBTLE EARTHY GREEN
‘I wanted to create a sense of calm and to connect the kitchen with the home’s small urban garden, which was a very important part of the project,’ says Rebecca Wakefield of Studio Fortnum, who chose Farrow & Ball’s earthy ‘Treron' paint for the base units in this sleek and pared-back space, showing why sage green kitchen ideas are always popular.
7. PALE AND SOOTHING SAGE
Soft sage walls and units provide the perfect contrast to dark timber ceiling beams in the characterful modern-country kitchen, which was designed and built by Neptune. ‘Matching the walls with the cabinetry creates a restful space,’ says Stephanie Nix, kitchen designer at Neptune. ‘Something like our ‘Sage’ or ‘Powder Blue’ is the perfect cool neutral.’ The pale palette gives the shaker-style kitchen a more contemporary edge, while light wood kitchen countertop ideas work with a white porcelain butler’s sink adds to the room’s light, bright feel.
8. HIGHLIGHT WITH A PUNCHY GREEN
A punchy shade of leaf green was chosen as a highlight color in the renovation of this London home. ‘It’s picked up in areas such as the hallway, windows and skirting boards, and helps to pull the different elements together,’ says architect Christian Ducker of Gundry + Ducker, the studio behind the kitchen’s bold design. ‘Where possible, we always build the room and the joinery before choosing colors. We tried a range of green shades, ranging from dark to light, and decided this one was the most impactful. I think, if we had picked a lighter color, you might miss the visual link to the other parts of the house.’
9. MATCH YOUR LIGHTING TO YOUR ISLAND
If going for a two tone kitchen, add an accent of the shade used on the lower half of the room to the top. This creates a space that feels curated, rather than of two halves, and is a smart way to think about kitchen island lighting ideas. 'It's always a good idea to pick one color that can carry through the scheme,' says Livingetc's editor Pip Rich. 'Just a dash of it on your lighting that connects to your island will feel so much more cohesive.'
10. USE WOOD SLATS FOR TEXTURE
One of the biggest kitchen trends at the moment is for wood, used as slats on walls or to frame cabinets, adding a feeling of textured. When paired with green, it instantly evokes nature, the same sense you get of being in a forest, and as such creates an utterly calming space.