8 Ways to inject colour into the kitchen

Here are our top tips for injecting a splash of colour into your kitchen:

Colourful kitchen cabinets

Dual-tone colour schemes

Painting kitchen cabinets

Adding splashes of colour

Bright kitchen flooring and rugs

Bright kitchen walls

Add colour with soft furnishings

Dial up your dinnerware

The kitchen acts as the perfect canvas for colour, offering endless opportunities on both a small or large scale.

Inject colour into the heart of your home for maximum impact with our 8 colours in the kitchen ideas. From simple touch ups to maximalist changes, read on to savour some of our best tips for implementing colour in your space.

Colourful kitchen cabinets

Whether you’re remodelling your kitchen area or just refreshing it, implementing coloured cabinets can completely transform the look and feel of the space.

Choosing the right colour for your kitchen cabinets is a big decision, which is why we have 21 kitchen colours to choose from.

So whether you’re looking for natural tones, subtle hues or statement colours, there’s something to suit every taste.

Explore all kitchen colours

Kitchens with lots of light are well suited to bold and darker colours. Implementing bright kitchen cabinets in a more enclosed room will help to create the illusion of a bigger space.

Choosing bright greens, blues and yellow colourways help to really grab your visitors attention. Blues help to create a relaxing nautical atmosphere, gorgeous green colourways bring the outdoors in, while rustic red colourways help to warm up your kitchen space.

Remember: punchy bright hues are impactful, but muted pastel shades can be just as eye-catching.

Explore some of our carefully curated colour options below.

Dual-tone colour schemes

Why pick one colour when you can have one, two or even three? Dual-cabinetry alludes to an ultra-modern retro feel within your kitchen space.

Consider pairing olive green with a soft white to exude a spa-like atmosphere in both traditional or contemporary spaces - great for teaming with warm wood tones.

The cool combination of blue and white hues helps to create a mellow, relaxing aesthetic. For a balanced application of colour, choose one colour shade for the lower cabinets and keep the above cabinets in white or natural wood.

Painting kitchen cabinets

If buying painted cabinets is out of the question, painting your existing kitchen cabinets is an easy and cheap way to update your space.

Not all cabinets can be painted – wooden Shaker cabinets can be, however cabinets with a laminate construction or gloss finish will prove more difficult to paint.

You’ll need to keep in mind that painting kitchen cabinets will likely take a lot of time and it’s essential that you prepare your cabinets correctly before painting to achieve an uber professional, lasting finish.

Begin by removing and labelling cabinet doors and drawers to prevent runs and drips, you will then need to remove the handles and cover the surrounding areas to prevent any spillages.

Avoid attempting to save time by refurbishing your cabinets when they are still in place - this will likely result in mistakes or poor wearing.

Cleaning is essential to remove all likely built-up kitchen grime – start by using a degreaser. Once the doors are clean and dry, you will then want to prepare and key the surface to help the paint grip, using fine grip paper.

Once you have achieved a matt surface, begin applying a primer coat. This will help conceal any stains or graining and help with the adhesion of the final coat.

Once the primer is dry, it’s important to sand the surface again before applying the paint. Wait 24 hours between applying the second coat and another several days before reassembling your cabinets.

Adding splashes of colour

If you don’t want to commit to all out bright cabinetry, consider introducing a bright accent colour through your kitchen island or end panels. This allows you to experiment with a smaller dose of colour, before making a bigger commitment.

An easy way to incorporate colour into your kitchen subtly is through colourful tiling. Play with patterns and textures, and create contrast in your kitchen with colourful tiles. Colourful tiling works exceptionally well for splashbacks, offering a chic yet practical setting.

Bright kitchen flooring and rugs

The kitchen floor can often be forgotten about – make the floor matter. Flooring is actually the perfect opportunity to add bold colour.

Rugs offer a low maintenance option, helping to section the room in open plan spaces, as well as providing warmth underfoot. When picking a rug, opt for a material that is easy to clean and can withstand plenty of foot traffic.

Bright kitchen walls

Add colour in unexpected places – colour doesn’t have to be reserved solely for cabinetry, soft furnishings and appliances. You can refresh any room by injecting colour on the walls or ceilings.

Consider painting small sections of a wall to create a feature focus, this works particularly well even in a small kitchen space. Adding an accent colour is a stylish and contemporary attribute to your kitchen space.

Great options for a feature wall include open shelving or a wall with architectural features to help transform the whole look and feel of the space.

An accent wall from the hall going into the kitchen or the far wall adjacent to the dining area can add an extensive injection of colour into your kitchen space.

There’s plenty of choice when it comes to bright kitchen wall colours – from breezy ocean blues and earthy greens to pastel pinks and muted sage greens.

Add colour with soft furnishings

Neutral kitchens are rife with colour opportunities and if you’re looking for a low commitment way to interject colour into the hub of your home, consider implementing colour through soft furnishings.

This can be as simple as incorporating a new rug, adding patterned pillows to your banquette, and covering dining chairs with a colourful pattern.

Dial up your dinnerware

Refreshing your utensils, crockery and small appliances with colour is a quick, easy and low maintenance way to implement colour in your kitchen space.

Begin by choosing an accent colour from a nearby room, then match your dinnerware and utensils with it. You should also consider finding new ways to keep your dinnerware on show, rather than always keeping it tucked away in a cupboard.

Consider going bold for a contemporary or retro kitchen, and opt for strong heritage tones for a traditional kitchen.