Aubrey Nelson
If you visit Pinterest or Houzz you’ll be smacked UPside the head with inspiring white kitchens, yet given no guidance as to how to actually CREATE one. Now there are MANY ways to do white kitchens, including glazing, 2-tone, and other wild and wonderful ideas. But today, we’re going to focus on the 3 foundation palettes that white kitchens revolve around…
A low contrast kitchen is simple and relatively seamless as there isn’t a huge shift between the colour/depth of the cabinets, countertop and backsplash. In the above kitchen, even though the backsplash and cabinets are both white, the bevelled edge of the tile adds a bit of visual interest. Notice the subtle shift between the soft gray tones of the countertop and backsplash with the white cabinets, with the veining in the backsplash and countertop adding a bit of interest.
While the backsplash in the above kitchen stands slightly off of the countertops, it’s still a passive, lower contrast combination. The perfect example of a low contrast palette with soft, off-white cabinets.
Slightly darker grout on the backsplash – this will show off the pattern of the tile layout
A unique tile layout on the floor or backsplash (ie: herringbone pattern) Shiny cabinet hardware and plumbing fixtures (polished nickel or chrome) The medium contrast kitchen offers some shifts between products so that there is a combination of either:
A few things to note with the kitchen above (which happens to be my old one, I even cleaned off the empty wine bottles and KD boxes for you – yay me) The backsplash is more in line with the colour of the cabinets, while still pulling a few of the creamy tones out of the countertop BTW – I also saved major bucks by doing an affordable, but AWEsome laminate on the perimeter countertops and quartz on the island While the accent tile and countertop aren’t particularly DARK, they do make quite an impact when paired with clean white cabinets, particularly because both the countertop and tile have a lot of variation and action in them.
The medium contrast kitchen above shows you how you can still create a striking, strong look without having to go super dark. There is a really nice balance between the softer, slightly more medium-toned contrast of the backsplash and countertop with the stronger island colour.
Medium contrast palettes tend to have some visual interest already, so you don’t need to go too far to finish things off! The white cabinets (that are also glazed) are in striking contrast to the black granite countertops and slate toned flooring. Notice that the backsplash is a mix of both light, medium and dark tones, which is a great way to transition a high contrast look. Keep the countertop pattern simple (compared to a busy granite or quartz with a lot of veining)
Now, of course, there are many other things that go into creating a beautiful room, but hopefully, these tips and ideas will get you off on the right foot!
