Kitchen Paint Color Selection

Your personal taste and decorating style will have more to do with your kitchen paint color selection than anything else, but there is still some advice you can use to help create the mood of your kitchen using color. Certain colors evoke certain feelings, and the way you use color in your kitchen can impact the “feel” of the room.

Before you can start making your kitchen paint color selection, you need to take a moment to consider kitchen paint. The kitchen gets more wear and tear than any other room in the house in most cases. Dedicated cooks know how often splashes and splatters make their way on the kitchen walls.

The school of thought used to be that you had to select a semi-gloss or high gloss paint for your kitchen, so you could wash your walls without damaging the paint. Further, gloss paint protects the walls from moisture, another problem in hot and steamy kitchens.

According to certified kitchen and bathroom master designer Kelly Morisseau, however, these rules don’t apply to modern kitchens. If you have a backsplash behind your stove that adequately covers that wall and if your kitchen is well ventilated so that steam and moisture do not build up, you can choose a matte finish. Most new homes will easily meet these criteria. You can learn more on Kitchen Sync.

Now the fun part can begin – the color selections! Again, keep in mind that there are no rules regarding which paint colors to use in your kitchen. The most successful color choice is the one that you love. There are some things you can keep in mind that may make it easier for you to narrow down your color options, however:

Before you begin, answer the following questions for yourself:

• How is your kitchen used? Is it the heart of your home? Do guests gather there? Is there a dining area? Or is the room more functional – someplace to do the cooking while the gathering and enjoying your meals happens elsewhere in the home?

• Does your kitchen have a clear design style that will influence your choice of paint colors?

• Will you be painting/replacing your cabinets and appliances, or do your paint colors need to work with what you have?

These answers will help you determine the mood you want to create in your kitchen as well as the color groups you should work in.

A great deal of research has been done into the way colors affect mood. Some facts to consider when you are coming up with your kitchen themes are:

• Red is thought to increase appetite. Restaurants often paint their walls red because of this fact.
• Blue and green are cool and calming colors. However, blue may cause people to lose their appetites, since blue foods rarely occur naturally. Green on the other hand may stimulate appetite because of the abundance of green foods.
• Yellow is though to speed the metabolism, but people also have more arguments in yellow rooms. Babies are also believed to cry more in rooms with yellow walls.

Black, a powerful color, is best used as an accent color. White creates the impression of sterility but can also dirty easily. Black and white combined can create a very modern look for your kitchen. Neutral colors, such as taupe and beige, have less impact on mood and emotion.

The color wheel can be your friend when it comes to choosing the best color combinations. Complementary colors are across from each other on the color wheel and blend well together. The same holds true for analogous colors, which are three colors that lie in a row on the color wheel. You can also break up your colors by using different shades of the same color.

To learn more about using color in interior design, visit these other LoveToKnow articles:

• Basics of Color Design
• Home Decorating: Paint Colors
• Slideshow:Interior Paint Color Combinations
• Interior Design Drawing Tools and Color Wheels
• Colors to Paint a Room

• Country Style Decorating Ideas
• Bathroom Design Pictures
• Interior Paint Color Combinations

• Country French Style Basics
• Common Themes for Teenage Bedrooms
• Designing for Small Spaces
• Basics of Color Design
• Asian Style Interior Design