Kitchen Design : Color, Texture, and Pattern

The choice of colors, textures, and patterns adds impact to your kitchen's design. Colors affect the perception of space, control light reflection, and evoke an emotional response. Color also emphasizes or camouflages architectural features. As you consider surface colors and textures, it's wise to remember that you have to live with your choices the year around. Bright red or yellow cabinets may add warmth to your kitchen in winter, but they can become overpowering when the summer sun pours in.

Since the quality of light influences the appearance of color, try to select colors under the type of light you'll use in your kitchen. If you plan to use several colors and textures, make up a pattern board of various materials to judge their compatibility.

Scheming with color

The size and orientation of your kitchen. your personal preferences, and the mood you want to create all affect the selection of your color scheme. Light colors reflect light, making walls recede; thus a small kitchen appears more spacious. Dark colors absorb light and appear to bring objects closer. Use of dark colors can visually lower a ceiling or shorten a narrow room.

When considering colors for a small kitchen, remember that too much contrast has the same effect as a dark color: it reduces the sense of space. Contrasting colors do work well for adding accents or drawing attention to interesting structural elements. If you want to conceal a problem feature, it's best to use one color throughout the area.

Depending on the orientation of your kitchen, you may want to use warm or cool colors to balance the quality of light. While oranges, yellows, or colors with a red tone impart a feeling of warmth, they also contract space. Blues, greens, or colors with a blue tone make an area seem cool—and larger.

A light, monochromatic color scheme (using different shades of one color) is usually restful and serene. Contrasting colors, on the other hand, add vibrancy and excitement to a design. A color scheme with contrasting colors might be too overpowering unless the tones of the colors are varied.

Another possibility when choosing colors would be to include bright, intense colors as accents for furnishings and accessories that can be changed without too much trouble or cost. In any event, your taste, your desire to tie the kitchen area to the rest of the house by using similar colors or textures, or your selection of a favorite wall covering or cabinet style around which to base your color scheme may narrow your choices.

Texture & pattern—for definition

Textures and patterns work like color in defining a room's space and style. The kitchen's surface materials may include many different textures—from the shiny tiled backsplash to rough oak cabinets, from matte wallpaper to glossy enameled sink, from quarry tile floor to plastic laminate countertops.

Rough textures absorb light, dull colors. and lend a feeling of informality. Smooth textures reflect light and suggest elegance or modernity. Using similar textures helps unify design and create a mood. 

Pattern choices must also harmonize with the predominant style of the room. Though we usually associate pattern with wall coverings or a cabinet finish, even natural substances such as wood, brick, or stone create patterns. Natural substances generally work well with all textures and colors,  even though they add their own qualities.

While variety in textures and patterns adds design interest. too much variety can be overwhelming. It's best to allow a strong feature or dominating pattern to act as the focus of your design, choosing other surfaces to complement rather than compete with it.