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A Contemplative & Cloudy Sky: Gray Kitchen Design Ideas
White is historically regarded as a tailor-made color for kitchens with good cause. It provides space in your home with a great degree of lightness, works well in combination with all varieties of fixtures or appliances, and delivers an unassuming, calm atmosphere in what is otherwise a busy hub of your home–the kitchen.
Related Topics:
- Wall Trim Colors at Home
- Black Window Frames and Beyond in Modern Home Design
- Creativity with Cabinet Colors
Recent examples of designers’ work is showing that the use of gray is expanding these benefits into neutral shades. It is evident that gray kitchen ideas exhibit the same benefits as white, while also furnishing a greater versatility in transitioning colors. Combining white walls with gray kitchen cabinets, for example, yields exceptional serenity while improving the color march from white to color pop elements.
Consider Gray for Your Next Remodel
Something about grey works just perfectly for kitchens. The color teeters between a relaxing neutrality and an exciting warmth, managing to provide the best of both worlds. Of course, depending on what shade of grey you choose, your kitchen could be closer to one end or the other.
It is the perfect color to choose for your kitchen remodeling project, whether you want to contrast brighter hues on your floor or fabrics, create textured variations in your kitchen space, or create an exciting yet relaxing space. One area where it has become common is in kitchen cabinets. More and more homeowners are opting out of the popular all-white or wood-brown cabinet styles to try out grey painted kitchen cabinets.
One common reason why homeowners avoid grey is the color’s association with dullness, modesty, and boredom. However, any other color scheme can also be given these attributes. It all depends on how you mix and match. In our round up of grey cabinets below, you can see how different colors and textures are used to create an amazing style with grey cabinets being a big part of it. If you are not so sure of your mix-and-match skills, a talk with an interior designer might provide some guidance.
How to bring the look home? It’s all about finding the right tone. In the case of the bathroom above, one with underlying notes of cream in the marble floor. The key to gray is to incorporate complexity in it towards warmth, and avoiding the gray leaning towards an inhospitable chill.
Gray always provides a classic, sophisticated, and clean base against which elements like art, textiles, wood, and metal look fantastic. Whether a home is modern, traditional, or somewhere in between, gray comes through as a great choice.
If a color doesn’t seem exactly right for the space, don’t be afraid to customize. In the kitchen above, the antique white cabinets went perfectly with the brown back splash and wooden floor–but something was missing. The gray island established a much-needed gradient that completes the picture. Previously, elements of red and purple dominated as color splashes which simply clashed too much without contributing to the serenity of the space.
Balancing out the darkness of an off white and mood lit kitchen with gray is simply too easy.
Top 5 Reasons to Employ Gray Kitchen Ideas
1. Gray cabinets don’t show dirt like white cabinets
White cabinets are nice to look at, and they’ve dominated the design landscape for a long time. But as someone who has white cabinets in their own kitchen, I know that they have a big drawback: Every smudge or stain or droplet of liquid stands out against the white. Gray cabinets are a bit more forgiving.
2. Gray cabinets won’t make a space look heavy or dark
If you want to hide dirt, or make a big style statement, you could opt for black, which is becoming an increasingly popular choice for kitchen cabinets. One downside of black, though, is that it can make a room feel heavy and dark, particularly in a space that has both upper and lower cabinets, as most kitchens do. If you love the look of black but are worried that your space doesn’t get enough light to pull it off, gray is a nice compromise.
3. Gray is pretty versatile
Although some may think of it as a boring or neutral color, gray actually contains multitudes. A bluish gray is suitable for a space with cooler tones, and on the other hand, there is what’s called French gray, which has warmer tones and can read almost olive. French gray pairs nicely with warmer colors; for more of a statement, you can also find grays that tend slightly towards other colors, like green or purple.
4. Gray cabinets look good with a variety of countertops
You often seem them paired with marble or solid surface countertops, which is no surprise, since those are two very popular choice for countertop materials, but gray cabinets also pair beautifully with butcher block or even laminate, if you’re looking for a budget-friendly solution.
5. Gray cabinets will stand the test of time
You see gray cabinets in a lot of Scandinavian kitchens, and Scandinavians are certainly known for being on the cutting edge of design. But gray cabinets have actually been around for quite some time, and their popularity shows no signs of slowing. I think one reason for this is their versatility: They’re not too trendy for a traditional kitchen, but still unique enough to hold their own in a contemporary space. So if you’re thinking about remodeling your kitchen and want a color that’s stylish that will stand the test of time—gray might be just the ticket.
