Choosing the Right Color Scheme for Your Luxury Kitchen Remodel

Picking a color scheme for your new luxury kitchen can be a mind-boggling process. We’ve been designing and building custom kitchen renovations and additions in South Florida for over two decades, and during that time, we’ve seen countless homeowners paralyzed with fear and unable to move their projects forward because they are afraid they will select the “wrong” colors.

When you take a methodical approach to the issue, you may be surprised at how naturally the decisions fall into place. Here are some suggestions that have proven helpful for many homeowners as they embark on a luxury kitchen renovation.

Should You Let Your Designer Pick the Colors?

Sometimes, clients will ask a designer to pick the color scheme because they believe the designer has better taste or judgment. While this may be a great situation for a designer who is prepared to recycle something they did on a previous job, it is not ideal for a team like ours, which is focused on customer satisfaction and bringing a client’s vision to life. Color preferences are such a personal issue that we recommend that you start with at least one color you like or want to work with. It could be from:

• A stone or other material that you want to incorporate in flooring or counters
• The paint color of an adjacent space
• A wood that you want for your cabinets or floors
• A favorite piece of artwork that you want to incorporate
• The tone of a large or small appliance  

If you don’t have a current favorite and you don’t need to worry about complimenting the existing colors in surrounding areas, this is a good time to visit some showhouses and showrooms or even think carefully about the details you like in the homes of friends and neighbors. You can certainly look at portfolios posted online by kitchen contractors or project books displayed by suppliers but remember that the colors may not be reproduced accurately, and a printed or online image does not give you a true sense of how the color will catch the light and appear to your eyes.

Once you’ve chosen a starting color, your designer can help you pick other colors based on that core choice. Or, you might find that once you’ve identified an essential color, it becomes easier to choose additional options to go with that color.

Avoiding Endless Possibility Paralysis

You might ask your designer for three color palette options based on the core color so that the options are not overwhelming. Then, when presented with three, you might find yourself leaning toward one but want to make a few adjustments. Or you may reject all of them and ask for other recommendations. Narrowing your field of choices makes it easier to focus and evaluate each choice without distraction. In this way, you break down an overwhelming task into decisions that are more manageable.

Working with Samples to Build Your Color Palette

If you’ve found an element you love or a basic color that you feel will provide the right foundation for your kitchen, get a large sample of it. This might be a floor tile, cabinet door, countertop remnant, or painted piece of posterboard. A two-inch square of wood or paint swatch smaller than a pack of gum won’t give you a full sense of how the color will fit with other materials. Many times, a supplier will let you borrow a large sample for a short period of time because they know how important it is to understand your potential color scheme before making final choices. If you already have a relationship with a contractor, they should be able to help you obtain good-sized samples.

Consider Orientation

As you prepare to compare the sample with potential choices for other materials, be sure that you are orienting it in the direction it will be once installed in the kitchen. For instance, if you pick a stone or porcelain counter material with markings and you want to see how it looks with different cabinets, hold it against the top of the cabinet door with the pattern oriented the way it will be when laid out as a countertop. Also, try to hold the pieces together at the angle they will be once installed. The counter and cabinet materials will not be seen side by side but at a 90-degree angle. Though this seems like a small difference, the reflection of light at various angles can really change the look of a color.

Add Perspective

While you will work with elements of your kitchen up close, such as when you step up to pull the right spices out of a cabinet, most of the time, you will be seeing features of your kitchen from more of a distance. Things look very different when you stand six feet away as opposed to six inches away. That means you should consider your color comparisons both up close and from a more distant perspective. 

Have someone hold your potential counter material at a right angle to your potential cabinet door so that you can step back and see how they look together from four feet, eight feet, and more. You want colors that look good together as you enter the room and as you get closer.

Try to Match the Lighting

Both the natural and artificial lighting in a space have a huge impact on the way colors appear in that space. Before making final decisions about your color palette and choice of materials, you should see what they look like in the setting where they will be installed. This is another task that is much easier to manage once you’re already working with a contractor, but it can be done on your own as well. 

A contractor can help you replicate changes that you will be making with the lighting in the room so that you can see not only how the colors look the way the room is now but also how they will look in your remodeled kitchen. Consider the type of lights, particularly if your renovation includes LED fixtures where you cannot change the tone by switching out light bulbs. If your contractor will be adding or expanding windows to enhance your view, they can help you approximate the changes so you can see how the materials would look with the additional daylight.

When You Want a Contractor Who Creates Custom Designs, Work with Marcela Montoya Remodeling

At the end of the remodeling project, even when you choose all your own colors and materials, if the design of your new kitchen is based on a builder’s standard template, your room will still have a cookie-cutter feel, and it may not function optimally for your household. To get a truly custom kitchen that works for you and reflects your personal style, you need to work with a contractor who designs kitchens individually to fit the specific needs and characteristics of your home. At Marcela Montoya Remodeling, our team always creates designs from scratch so we can provide exactly what you want. We work with you to help ensure that you’ll be pleased with your choices for materials and colors in the short term and the long run. When you’re ready for a new kitchen, we invite you to schedule a free design consultation by calling 954-900-9992 or contacting us online.