fun challenge! I would do some more image research and reading on "unfitted kitchens" (even though yours would be technically "fitted" ie. attached to the walls)

What is the age and style of your home? Without some guardrails of style or era of pieces I would worry this would be A Lot of Look and resemble a flea market more than an organic and stylish whole.

The other thing that works about this inspo pic is color. Your inspo has a more or less 3-tone color scheme, 4 if you include black, and they are analogous colors, that is close to each other on the color wheel. You need to make them different but still harmonious. If you plan to paint some or all of them it might be easier to manage bc you can change them to your color scheme.

My condo is an attic storage that was built in 1938 and converted to apartments in 2005. When they converted it, they didn't do much to the kitchen except add a fridge, stove, sink and cabinets. It has a sloped ceiling, exposed wood beams and exposed bricks. I bought it because I like things that are unusual and offbeat.

I'm thinking of a colour palette something like this.

Lovely, for me personally though, it's a bit strong. It's two pairs of complementary colors (opposite sides of the color wheel) which I think would also be particularly tricky to make work.

Maybe wood tones could play the role of the red and yellow in your swatch. Wood tones with sage green are heavenly.

Are you attracted to the kind of old world and rustic appearance of the photo? Or is it more about colors for you?

I'm so glad you said strong, because that's exactly what I'm going for. I'm attracted to old world textures and I love for things to look handcrafted instead of unsettling straight lines and bare surfaces. But old world colours are usually too toned down for me. I like rich, vibrant, bold colours that just grab you.

Find the right Kitchen Designer. Something like that can go horribly wrong, and end up thrift store garish, instrad of thrift store chic, if you aren't careful. Restraint needs to be practiced.

In a small space, there is no room for error. Every inch counts.

Guidelines? hire a top end kitchen designer and expect to spend a lot of money. I dont think an amateur can pull this off.

Do a search on here for unfitted kitchens, there were a few posted years ago, and some of them were really cool. Also check out Johnny Grey, his kitchens are bold, unique and lovely, very inspiring. https://www.johnnygrey.com/

@lakeaffect_gw Oh my God, your link! Those are the best kitchens I've ever seen in my life. That pink, green and terracotta one when you first click is an absolute dream kitchen.

So glad you like Johnny Grey's work, I do as well, and the pics are really inspiring. I'll try to post some pics of my unfitted kitchen later today, I painted some of the cabs and walls in June, but it's not fully put back together yet, and won't be till fall, summer is too important to spend inside.

I saw this sample kitchen on sale on facebook marketplace and thought of your post. I think that with some paint, you could have a similar style to the inspiration picture.

Our kitchen wing is from 1790 no one was able to understand what we wanted so we did everything ourselves. Check out DeVol kitchens for some inspiration

I noticed that each of the cabinets have round black knobs and black hinges. That tall unit on the farthest right in the inspo pic appears to be a paneled fridge, which keeps the wood vibe going, and the wooden countertops keep it from looking too modern.