Colour My Kitchen World

Posted: 13 May 2011 by Metricon Homes

Tags: colours, kitchen, materials

Does the colour scheme of your new kitchen really matter? Isn’t it going to be overwhelmed, anyhow, by the inevitable clutter that accompanies a busy space with meal preparation for the whole family often going on for large portions of the day?

In fact, it can make a huge difference.

For example, cool, light and muted wall tones, with minimal contrasting aspects from drawers and surfaces, can optically enlarge the space. The kitchen simply “feels” bigger than it actually is, especially if a few carefully chosen windows or skylights allow natural light to come in.

Quite a different effect can be achieved with the use of warm, bright and dark contrasting colors and their combinations. Indeed, using dramatic colour flourishes make it easy to make your kitchen highly individualistic, to impress both you and others with your personal sense of space and style.

In general, though, it is important to understand that with a busy area such as the kitchen, less really is usually more … the dizzying contrast of workbench surfaces, flooring, walls, cupboard designs and colours, windows and window fabrics, when merged with all of your appliances, can be overwhelming. So in most cases, it makes sense to keep the word “simplicity” at the forefront of your mind. It will also make it easier for future owners to imagine the space created in their own image, if you have not stamped it too powerfully with yours.

ome simple rules are easy to remember as you choose your palette.

Bright yellows and oranges import freshness into the space, but should be used judiciously. They can be overwhelming and “over heated”.

Cool blues look professional and peaceful, with important overtones of cleanliness. Just be careful not to make the place look antiseptic.

Greens are considered romantic and tranquil, especially if there is an “outside inside” feel to the space thanks to intelligently positioned windows.

Red is generally a luxurious colour in the kitchen area … but the effect can be often be achieved with the used of carefully positioned cookware such as Le Creuset as well as by decorating.

the judicious use of colour, perhaps the most obvious trend to be accommodated in your new kitchen is the move towards larger and more fully-featured cooking ranges.

The flexibility of six burners or hotplates, rather than the traditional four, is increasingly a requirement, even in smaller kitchens, and with gas ranges it is often a smart idea to include an elevated wok burner so the family can enjoy the benefits of the rapidly-prepared, flavourful and health asian style food that is so much a part of the modern Australian diet.

Simple wok cooking is remarkably easy to learn, and provides variety and quality to the family diet.

You will also notice that ovens are getting bigger. This is quite deliberate as we move to more and more “baked” meals as opposed to less healthy deep frying. Modern healthy eating is reflected in an ability to cook multiple dishes at once in carefully regulated larger ovens. As regards trim, stainless steel is still hugely popular, although we are starting to see a trend towards black again, emanating from Asian design centres.

Metricon’s Point Cook displays showcase some of these new ideas, and loads of other design and decoration tips throughout the home. It’s well worth the short hop over the Westgate bridge to gather in some design inspiration ...