Color is an essential element in any kitchen. It can capture your personality and set the tone of your home. Actress Diane Keaton's Bel Air kitchen uses a colorful approach to pattern and color to great effect.
Creating a vibrant kitchen color palette is different than approaching a more neutral scheme. If you want to go bold, you need to start with the color you want to stand out and then balance it with more muted complementary colors. In this case, interior designer Stephen Shadley set out to collect hundreds of vintage California tiles from swap meets, vendors, stores, and eBay to replace the existing brown tiles.
Keaton eschewed vibrant colors in his previous homes, instead using lots of bold blacks, whites and browns to accentuate the home's strong architecture and graphic elements.
Finally, combining equally vibrant ceramics, vintage textiles, and dishes, the colorful kitchen is a fun tribute to Mexican culture and life in California.
The trend towards open kitchens and incorporating living zones encourages playful and fun decor. Even in small kitchens, adding a splash of pattern or bold colour with bright vases, lavish floral arrangements or decorative tiles can help infuse the space with glamorous personality.
For those who want to stick with their kitchen for a longer period of time, there are patterned product ranges: Italian kitchen manufacturers such as Pedini and Scavolini offer collections featuring patterned glass, botanical motifs and doors with graffiti-style prints.
Meanwhile, the current interior design trend for kitchen tiles is Talavera tile, also known as Moroccan-inspired encaustic tiles or hand-painted Mexican tiles, which offer a truly one-of-a-kind finish. “Kitchens can be quite busy spaces, so if you add a lot of pattern, make sure to balance it with an equal amount of solid colors,” warns Bernard Otulakowski of Siematic.
When planning your color palette, first consider the room's size, design, and flooring. Large kitchens call for bold color choices. “Go bold with color, but don't be too hectic,” says designer and hotelier Kit Kemp. “For example, too much red can be off-putting, so you'll want to tone it down with something like custard cream. If you want to go easy on the color, choose an accent hue.”
Play around with the design until you find the right balance for the scale of the room. You don't want to overdo it on the room. Pick your colors and patterns carefully before you start, and prioritize them for maximum effect.
Check out Diane Keaton's style
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