Kitchen Design
Sexy Color Touches for Neutral Kitchens
Bring a little vavoom to a practical palette with small but colorful updates to your kitchen's backsplash, walls and fixtures
Sure, you chose your color palette wisely, doing your kitchen up in smart, timeless and sophisticated neutrals. But now those planes of ecru, ivory and ice are feeling a little ho-hum, and you're ready to add some personality. Keep the sophistication (and your investment) by augmenting neutral cabinets and countertops with a color or personality-rich detail or two. Here we look at more than a dozen smart neutral-based kitchens that include sexy color or details and that'll inspire you trade in ho-hum for hubba-hubba.
A wall of white cabinets and counters nearly disappears when played against ruby-colored back-painted glass. The discreet robin's egg blue on the island keeps the palette modern.
A turquoise back-painted glass backsplash commands all the attention in this otherwise clean and simple white kitchen.
Tile Backsplash
Potentially ordinary white cabinets and countertops seem more sophisticated paired with an eye-catching tile backsplash that's extended from countertop to ceiling. A single isolated wall like this is a great place for a special material, as it creates a focal point and can reduce the expense of pricey details.
Potentially ordinary white cabinets and countertops seem more sophisticated paired with an eye-catching tile backsplash that's extended from countertop to ceiling. A single isolated wall like this is a great place for a special material, as it creates a focal point and can reduce the expense of pricey details.
This striking Cuban Heritage Design handmade cement tile backsplash is best shown off against an otherwise simple and neutral kitchen, where its personality can shine. The swing-arm wall sconces are a handsome and unexpected way to light a kitchen counter, too.
Pale blue and white encaustic cement tiles, extended full width and to the ceiling, lend a cheery chicness against the backdrop of white cabinets.
Wallpaper
This mostly white kitchen's personality comes via scene-stealing hand-painted wallpaper that's sealed to protect it from wear and tear. (Admittedly, those chandeliers are no shrinking violets either.)
More: Wallpaper in the Kitchen: Is it a No or a Go?
This mostly white kitchen's personality comes via scene-stealing hand-painted wallpaper that's sealed to protect it from wear and tear. (Admittedly, those chandeliers are no shrinking violets either.)
More: Wallpaper in the Kitchen: Is it a No or a Go?
Paint
These glass-front cabinets with mint paint at the back make for a sweet kitchen feature. If you don't have any glass-front cabinets, you could have a pair or two made. Alternatively, you could just remove the doors from one of your upper cabinets boxes and paint the back for a special display.
These glass-front cabinets with mint paint at the back make for a sweet kitchen feature. If you don't have any glass-front cabinets, you could have a pair or two made. Alternatively, you could just remove the doors from one of your upper cabinets boxes and paint the back for a special display.
Envision this kitchen without the orange paint. Nice, but a bit boring. While paint is an obvious choice for spiffing up a kitchen, few images illustrate the power of paint so well.
Lighting
Lighting is another element for which you can easily exercise your style whims. The designer of this light-filled kitchen augmented its white cabinets and counters with fresh-looking large-diameter shades that can be easily swapped out.
Lighting is another element for which you can easily exercise your style whims. The designer of this light-filled kitchen augmented its white cabinets and counters with fresh-looking large-diameter shades that can be easily swapped out.
This handsome but basic all-white kitchen is adorned and transformed with a dramatic chandelier from Restoration Hardware over the island.
This sleek kitchen employs sparse but fearless use of color with not just one but — better still — a series of bold orange pendants to lend some serious personality to an otherwise stoic space.
Tell us: How will you spice up your kitchen in the new year?
Tell us: How will you spice up your kitchen in the new year?
The backsplash is one of the best places to switch up your kitchen's personality. Due to its limited expense and installation time, it can be a great place to indulge in, say, the color of the moment.
This kitchen's white cabinets and gray countertops play second fiddle to a cheery grass-green back-painted glass backsplash. Smart too, to tuck it behind the range, as the glass makes for easy cleanup of sauce splatters.