Color is an indication that your eyes perceive the depth and it can be pretty deceptive. Designers know how to use this to your advantage and make the eye to believe that there is more space than actually there, especially in a small kitchen, in which space is a valuable asset.
We asked three designers to share their kitchen cabinet colors that they use for exactly this purpose. These colors will be more spacious and therefore more pleasant to cook and maintain.
- Sara McDaniel Simply Southern Cottage and Minden Stasy is a designer and renovation expert who specializes in historical houses that often contain small kitchens.
- Heather Kirk is the founder of the Kirk Riley Design based in Seattle, a boutique studio that specializes in vintage renovation work as part of the region's craftsman, in the middle of the century and Tudor houses.
- Laure from Saab is the founder of Saab Studios, a Dallas Design Studio. It has a background in architecture and interior design.
1. Blass yellow
Light jump bright colors like light yellow, which visually push away from them and create a feeling of openness. This is the most important reason why designer Sara McDaniel loves Simply Southern Cottage to apply pale yellow color to cupboards. That and it's just a happy, joyful color.
McDaniel loves to combine yellow cupboards with soft blue and green tones to create a complementary color palette that is pleasant for the eye. In her book there is the formula to integrate a feeling of airiness into a small kitchen, yellow cupboards, paired with crystal nodes and quartz worktops. The end result is a timeless, nostalgic look that never feels tight.
If she works yellow on cupboards with the color, she has a starting point. “I always have a satin finish by default because I think it has exactly the right amount of shine to reflect light without being distracting or too brilliant,” she says.
2. Warm, white
Warm off-white is the neutral alternative for light yellow. And if you apply it to cupboards, a small kitchen feels larger for the same reasons. In order to really take full advantage of the ability of Warm White, to make a small kitchen appear larger, designer Lauren Saab from Saab Studios recommends not only applying it to her closets.
“If you want your kitchen to look bigger without falling down a wall, you first paint everything with the same warm white,” she says. “If you paint the cupboards, walls, the cladding and even the ceiling in the same soft warm white, the entire kitchen feels more spacious. There is no visual stop and start. It just flows.”
And yes, the warm under tones are important according to Saab. “Strong, cold white ones often fell into small kitchens,” she says. “They may look clean at first, but they often get cold or even bluish under the lamp, which makes everything feel a little hard. A warm white solves that. It gives them lightness without the iron.”
3. Rich Green
In contrast to the popular opinion, dark colors can also create the illusion of more space. While bright colors reflect bright colors, dark colors absorb it. This can make it difficult for her eyes to see exactly where the room begins and ends. However, there is a dark color that designer Heather Kirk von Kirk Riley Design particularly loves that use kitchen cupboards, and this is a rich green.
“Look at Mother Nature if you want your kitchen to feel bigger,” she says. “Painted in rich greens, can visually expand the room and reflect the view beyond their windows.”
Kirk recommends combining forest green cabinets with gold tones and dark metals on the devices. She also always has a satin finish for green cupboards because it is durable and low-maintenance. High creative surfaces usually show fingerprints, especially on dark cupboards.
4. Light ocher
If you want to give your cupboards a little personality without overwhelming your small kitchen, Saab suggests going with Light Ocker.
“If you want to integrate color, a light ocher is the ultimate to keep this extensive feeling,” she says. “It feels warm, especially in kitchens that don't get much natural light.”
For a support, she suggests combining light rockers with ivory and pulling in a few pops with warm walnut or pale terracotta to add some earthiness. Unserved brass trains also bring out the wealth of light ocher, and a slightly slept marble or creamy quartz gives softness and keeps the entire pallet extensive.
5. Weathered sand
This warm color, which is located at the interface of Tan and Beige, is the true definition of an erdton. And according to Saab, it brings exactly the right amount of depth into a small kitchen. In combination with a warm, creamy white, it will not destroy the room. “It adds contrast, but still keeps the room connected visually,” she says.
In order to stay with the earthy color scheme, she suggests combining weathered sand with sage green. For the finish, warm beige color tones offer more flexibility than other colors. An egg shell or satin both end well because they reflect the color without becoming too shiny.
Conclusion: Select the color strategically
When you work with a small kitchen, the right color for your kitchen cupboards varies due to the natural light you get and your personal preferences. If you select your color on purpose, you can feel a small and cramped kitchen much more open and airier, and it is a cheaper alternative to conversion or supplement. Colding a few of these colors is a great starting point.