Bespoke Painted Kitchens
What is a Bespoke Painted Kitchen?
Bespoke kitchen design is very different to buying an off-the-shelf kitchen, whereby the kitchen is chosen from a menu of cabinetry styles, colours and finishes to create a kitchen within set parameters. A bespoke kitchen means that you can choose everything from scratch and even have particular styles and finishes created for you. The finished design will be unique and personalised to your family and your lifestyle. The beauty of bespoke painted kitchen cabinets is that any colour can be chosen and from any paint company.
What are the Benefits of a Bespoke Painted Kitchen?
A custom painted kitchen combines quality craftsmanship with highly personalised style to create a space that is beautiful and practical. Bespoke kitchens are made to last a long time which is kinder to the environment. The higher initial cost is outweighed by its longevity, the enjoyment you will gain from a well ordered kitchen and the value it will add a to a home when it comes to sell.
A bespoke painted kitchen offers the added advantage that it can be repainted over time as styles and tastes change to create a completely different look. Scratches and chips can also be easily touched up to keep the kitchen looking pristine, which is ideal if there are smaller children or pets in the house.
How to Select the Perfect ColoUr & Design for Your Bespoke Painted Kitchen
The beauty of custom painted kitchens is the almost endless choice of colour. Either follow current kitchen trends or create a unique style. Depending on the design of the kitchen, opt for one colour for all of the cabinetry or choose a range of complementary tones.
If the kitchen design has both fitted and free-standing furniture, it can be fun to paint the freestanding elements a different shade to give a ‘pop of colour’ to the room. This works particularly well on larder cupboards and dressers to really make them stand out.
Alternatively a mixture of painted and bare wood can create a lovely contrast with the natural grain of solid wood providing warmth and character to a kitchen design.
To follow the current kitchen fashions, look at the plentiful supply of cabinet paint colour trends on the internet. Many of the paint companies also publish their ‘colour of the year’ with complementary tones which can be used for accessories and soft furnishings.
The appliances chosen are also an important factor in choosing the perfect colour for kitchen cabinetry. Stainless steel will match most paint options but if black or coloured appliances have been chosen, then a complementary paint colour will create a more homogenous overall appearance.
Choosing Paint Colours for Your Kitchen
Choosing the right colour for your kitchen can be a daunting task as there are simply so many colours available. The first thing to consider is what style of kitchen you want to create. Pinterest and home interest magazines are a good source of inspiration as a starting point to narrow down your choices.
For more neutral schemes, companies such as Farrow & Ball and Little Green Paint offer a wide range of shades from stark white through to creams, beige and stone tones. Little Green Paint’s range are particularly useful as they provide an option for pale, light and dark within the same tone so the whole palette can be used for cabinetry, walls and skirtings.
For vibrant and darker shades, take a look at Fired Earth and Benjamin Moore, both of which offer a huge array of different shades and heritage options. To get an exact match to a wallpaper or soft furnishing or to find a particular tone, B&Q’s paint mixing service is very useful.
Creating a Neutral Kitchen Design
A neutral colour scheme provides a clean backdrop to a kitchen design and allows greater choice for appliances, accessories and soft furnishings. Neutral shades on cabinetry are timeless and classic, they will also pare with any type of appliance and door furniture.
To prevent a neutral scheme from looking boring, go for a layered effect, with different tones for cabinetry, walls and ceilings and introduce warmer shades with curtains, lamps, throws and cushions.
Use interesting door furniture for your cabinetry and mix up your metals with stainless steel and brass handles in different shapes and sizes.
Opt for natural looking floors in wood or stone as a durable and low maintenance backdrop and go sparingly with colour, using warm neutral tones and pops of colour for accessories.
Neutral paint colours are also more forgiving than darker colours, so scratches and scuffs will be less visible, giving greater longevity before touch ups are required.
Colourful Kitchen Design
Colourful kitchens can be warm and inviting and it’s fun to play with colour, especially if there are younger children in the house. If you want to provide greater longevity consider keeping the majority of the painted cabinetry fairly neutral and just use colour on particular pieces such as a dresser or larder.
Alternatively go for a full wash of colour on the cabinetry but keep the worktops paler and more neutral in tone to set off the colour and provide contrast. In our Warnborough project, we used striking Deep Green Blue Grey by Marston and Langinger for the cabinetry, with beautiful white Carrera marble worktops and brass hardware and taps, creating a vibrant take on a farmhouse kitchen.
Colour can also be injected into your kitchen design through appliances, such as a fabulous AGA centrepiece, now available in Farrow & Ball shades.
If you like to change your kitchen appearance every few years, then use colour throughout soft furnishings and accessories which can easily and more affordably be changed. A neutral kitchen can be quite dramatically altered with a brightly coloured sofa or bistro chairs, lots of jewel coloured cushions or some fun lighting.
Tips & Tricks
For Getting the Most Out of Your Bespoke Kitchen Design
Choosing a Kitchen Designer
Once you have decided on the style of kitchen you would like to have, take a look at some different kitchen company websites to get a feel for the type of business you want to work with. Be aware that though many companies advertise bespoke design, in reality most will still just offer a range of options to choose from, rather than fully bespoke tailored design. Book an initial consultation and visit a Showroom to get a feel for the craftsmanship and level of flexibility on design.
Accessorising a Bespoke Painted Kitchen
One of the main benefits of a hand-painted kitchen is that the classic and enduring design works with both traditional and contemporary styling, modern and period homes. Accessorising a painted kitchen is easy as almost any design will complement it. For a longer-lasting scheme use neutral flooring and worktops as a backdrop and introduce colour and texture through smaller appliances, soft furnishings and lighting.
A bespoke kitchen should be both beautiful and functional. A classic hand-crafted and custom painted kitchen will provide many years of enjoyment and remain timeless.
The Design Process
A good kitchen designer will work with you to create a unique bespoke design which looks at the detail of how you and your family live, how you cook, and what storage requirements you need. Bespoke design will look at the minutest details of your cabinetry plan, architraves, skirtings, lighting plans appliances, worktops and flooring to ensure that the kitchen layout is efficient and completely stunning.
Choosing Appliances for a Bespoke Kitchen
A bespoke kitchen is made to last and so too should your appliances. Consider the way you cook and entertain and choose your appliances accordingly.
Premium refrigeration such as the Sub Zero models offer larger capacity which is useful if you do a lot of entertaining, and they ensure that food is always maintained at the right temperature. For efficient cooking, choose one of the latest freestanding state of the art range cookers such as AGA or Wolf or go for sleek side-by-side ovens such as Miele’s wi-fi controlled range.
For easy entertaining, opt for a dual zone wine fridge, so drinks are always at the right temperature, a Quooker boiling water tap, which can also dispense chilled sparkling water and serve the perfect cup of coffee with an integrated coffee machine.
Appliances now are not just functional pieces of equipment but are beautiful as well, so you can allow them to take centre stage. Choosing the right appliances for your family will make life easier and your kitchen more efficient.
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