Add Color to Your Kitchen

Whether it's a big dose (hello, cabinetry!) or small touches (think fun accessories), color can do amazing things for a kitchen. So add your favorite hue to the hardest-working room in your home and enjoy your kitchen more.
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Choose Colorful Cabinetry

Cabinetry accounts for about 60 percent of your kitchen's surfaces, so installing cabinets in your chosen shade will inject a huge splash of color. But if new cabinets aren't in the works...

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Paint Cabinetry

If buying colored cabinets is out of the question, try painting existing cabinetry. It's an economical choice that allows you to add a personal element to your kitchen. In this cottage-style space, the cabinets, along with the beaded-board backsplash, are painted a minty green, a sweet color that's tempered by black hardware and stainless steel.

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Interior Color

In an all-white kitchen, painting the interior of glass-front or open cabinetry makes a dramatic background for kitchenware and collectibles. Here, a bold shade of blue is the perfect backdrop for the red, white, and blue dishware.

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How to Paint Cabinets

With a little prep and a few tricks, you can be on your way to freshly painted cabinets. Watch and learn the secrets to success.

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Doorway to Color

When is a door more than a door? When it's painted a fun, fresh color and becomes a statement feature. Paint the door between your kitchen and pantry or mudroom a standout color to give your space a custom look. Plus, a darker color hides dirt and grime better than standard white.

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Create a Colorful Focal Point

For dramatic effect, you can't beat this kitchen wall tiled in vivid apple green. The wall divides the kitchen from the living room -- it draws all eyes to the small galley kitchen area and sets off the sleek stainless-steel vent hood and range. Modernist chairs, covered in coordinating green fabric, bring the color into the dining area, tying the two spaces together.

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Cut a Rug

Or just lay one down. Runners work well between islands and perimeter countertops. Go for a material that's easy to clean and can withstand plenty of foot traffic. Be sure to use a non-skid pad to keep the rug in place, a safety must-have in a busy kitchen.

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Spice Up White

You don't need to give your kitchen a complete remodel to add color. A few decorating updates can do the trick. Here's how to pick the right colors for your space, plus how to be strategic about your colorful additions.

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Use Your Collections

Easily add personality to your kitchen with colorful dishware and collectibles on display in open cabinetry. The mix of yellow, orange, and blue brightens this charming country kitchen and allows practical elements to provide a starting point the room's color palette.

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Sit a Spell

With plenty of colorful options on the market, we'd be remiss not to mention barstools as an easy way to add color to your kitchen. Pick up a few accessories in a matching color and you have the makings of a mini-facelift.

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Add Character with Color

Nothing highlights a unique piece like color. Painted in effervescent green, this wall of open and closed cabinetry becomes a focal point of the kitchen and shows off a china collection to stellar effect.

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Consider the Art of Subtlety

Punchy brights and rich jewel tones are impactful, but subtle tones can be just as eye-catching. Soft pastels keep a white kitchen elegant, but with interest, and wood tones add visual texture and read as a higher-octane neutrals. Think if the ceiling or island in this kitchen were just painted gray, you'd miss the beautiful texture of the knots and graining.

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One-Hit Wonder

An infusion of a single color can make all the difference. Before color was added to this kitchen, it was safe and serviceable but lacked pop. With a fiery red wall and windows accented with patterned Roman shades, the room grabs your attention. The color scheme comes full circle with red knobs on the island and matching shades on the pair of chandeliers.

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Use Colorful Fabrics

While fabrics aren't as flush in the kitchen as they are in, say, a bedroom, there are still a few opportunities for injecting a kitchen with fun fabrics. Add pillows to your banquette or cover dining chairs in a fresh fun pattern.

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Pick Colorful Kitchen Appliances

Why not look to appliances, both large and small, to infuse your kitchen with color? Manufacturers continually add new tints to their appliance palettes. If you're not in the market for new but want an update, numerous companies offer both pre-tinted and custom kits that can transform your boring or beat-up fridge with a blast of saturated color.

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Install a Colorful Tile Backsplash

A tile backsplash has been the mainstay of kitchen design for decades -- and rightfully so. Easy to install and easy to clean, it also provides a highly durable backdrop.

Go to the next slide to see how to install a backsplash.

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DIY It: Tile Backsplash

See how to tile a backsplash with our step-by-step how-to.

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Make Creative Color Choices

Consider adding visual contrast in unlikely ways. In this kitchen, spaces within the coffered ceiling received a dose of gray-blue paint, infusing the space with color without overwhelming the senses or altering classic styling.

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Make It Simple

When adding color to your kitchen, don't overlook the beauty of nature. For the price of a pound or two of apples, oranges, limes, or lemons, you can surround yourself with vivid and fragrant color. If your grocer has a florist's stand, add fresh flowers, too.

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Hang Colorful Artwork

Jazz up your kitchen with lively artwork. If a professional painting isn't in your budget, consider vintage posters for a large yet economical splash of color. For a more personal touch, hang a grouping of family photographs, or frame some of your children's more colorful artistic productions for a vibrant and charming display.

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Stick to the Walls

If you want to experiment with an unusual color in your kitchen, limit yourself to surfaces that can be altered easily so you can make changes later. A bold wash of citron green covers the back wall in this cottage kitchen, adding a fresh spin to the classic white scheme.

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How to Paint a Room

Painting is one of the easiest ways to bring color to your decor. Here's how to paint a room like a pro.

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Add Color with Wallpaper

Whether it's on the walls or along the backs of cabinetry walls, wallpaper packs a one-two punch: color and pattern. Pull out colors from the wallpaper and use them as accents in accessories, fabrics, light fixtures and more.

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Pick Colorful Countertops

Manufactured countertops made from quartz-surfacing or recycled materials can be produced in any color imaginable. Add a splash of color to a serving area or island with a colorful countertop.

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Dress Up Windows

Add a pop of color and pattern to your windows with fun treatments. Keep in mind that complex window treatments, like Roman shades, need to be professionally cleaned, but cafe curtains and certain valances can be tossed in the wash to eliminate cooking smells and the inevitable kitchen splatters.

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Light in Color

For a one-stop upgrade, replace basic pendants with colorful counterparts. It will add a pop of color to a space where there can be a void of visuals, such as above an island.

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