How to choose your perfect kitchen colour scheme

The first step in developing a kitchen colour scheme is understanding how and why certain colours complement one another. Don't worry, it's not as tricky as it sounds.

The biggest secret of great design is pretty simple – a colour wheel. You might think they're only for primary school classrooms, but colour wheels are great for helping you to understand what shades sit well together.

Another tried and true way of selecting a colour palette is by using an image from nature. A natural image, perhaps of something close up like a leaf, or a wide-angle shot of a shoreline, will usually produce five or six colours that will suit one another, and that will work in one room together.

The image above includes shades of blue, grey, violet, white and even soft yellow, to create a diverse palette

When it comes to interior design, there are three basic colour themes that rooms tend to embody:

Deciding which colours to use in your kitchen is largely down to personal choice. You might have a favourite shade of pink you're dying to splash on the walls in your home, or you may want to integrate yellow units because they remind you of your grandmother's kitchen.

Colours are strongly associated with mood. One way to narrow down the rainbow is to think about how you want to feel when you're in your kitchen.

• Energised: Vibrant colours and glossy shades of white are stimulating and can be perfect for a busy family kitchen.
• Calm: Neutral tones and pastels are soothing, ideal for creating a warm and cosy environment.
• Sophisticated: Smoky shades of grey and deep jewel tones are serious and cultured, just right for a kitchen that's central to a lot of dinner parties or gatherings.
• Quirky: Mixing unexpected shades and adding textured detail can result in a fun kitchen that reflects your unique personality.
• Urban: Using a stripped-back colour scheme with a loud feature colour is a great way to design a contemporary kitchen that is trendy and up-to-date.

Sometimes, seeing some inspiration can help you to figure out what kitchen colour theme is right for your space. Inspired by the changing seasons, here are some suggestions of colour palettes, alongside those shades in action in Wren Kitchens.

Pretty and pink

Blush pinks and stone greys make a harmonious colour match.

If you’re looking for functional elegance, our Milano Contour design is the perfect contemporary canvas for colour. For a pretty and practical space, pair Baker Miller Pink units with Cathedral grey. Complete the look with a Michelangelo Quartz worktop and warm oak tones to create a sophisticated space.

Painted Shaker kitchens are equally as elegant. Smooth Shaker Ermine units in Cotton Candy matt are made complete with a grey speckled Colonial White Quartz worktop. This sweet kitchen colour combination is pastel perfection.

Green with envy

Impress family and friends with a gorgeous green and grey kitchen.

The simplistic Shaker frame is a timeless style that works well in a variety of colours. Just recently, our Infinity Plus Shaker kitchen, featuring the on-trend shades of Jade and Soft Cotton, was crowned Kitchen of the Year 2021. This darker shade of green adds a fresh finish and vibrant pop of colour to the country-style cabinets. For the ultimate trendy finishing touches, incorporate soft stone greys and warm copper accessories.

Alternatively, create a soft and calming kitchen with light green and oak tones. Style-up Country units with the elegant shade of Drawing Room Green and pair with a Walnut Laminate worktop. This combination of colour will bring a touch of nature indoors.

Beautifully blue

Be confident with colour and go bold with blue when brightening up a light grey space.

Deep and dramatic tones of blue create a statement in the central hub of the home. For a kitchen that’s practical yet stylish, our handleless range is the one to choose from. Our palette of blue hues, including Baltic, Blueberry and Smoked Blue, will create a wow factor when combined with this sleek design. Finish the look with a Lunar Grey Quartz worktop or Metallic Silver Elements for an ultra-modern kitchen.

Here comes the sun

Create contrast by combining bursts of bright colour with contemporary greys.

At Wren, you can showcase your style with our sunnier shades. Our zesty blends of Piña Colada and Lemon Curd allow you to light up the most-used room in the home. You can display your on-trend taste, too, by adding a stone-grey splashback and stainless-steel appliances

These positive hues work wonderfully well on fuss-free frontals like our Contour Ermine kitchens. This unit style is available in any one of our six standard colours or our thirty unique colours so you can be playful and create the kitchen of your dreams.

Gorgeous greys

Grey is a versatile shade that works well with any style of kitchen.

In two contrasting tones of grey, our ever popular Infinity Plus Shaker design creates a chic and classy feel. For a contemporary twist on tradition, choose Cathedral and Slate matt cabinets with an off-white Quartz worktop. Style it up with metal accessories and further textured grey tones.

For a true handleless kitchen with charm, combine the sleek elements of Milano with elemental drama. Milano Contour in Castle Rock is brought to life with the grain-effect Italian Concrete element and copper-coloured accessories. This high-fashion kitchen is one of the most desirable styles in the market today.

Essentially any colour scheme can be applied to any room, but you should carefully consider the size, shape, and natural lighting in your kitchen before committing.

If you have a small, narrow or low-ceilinged kitchen with little natural light, any dark shades will make the room feel oppressive and unwelcoming. Therefore, your kitchen colour combinations should incorporate a light 'tint', as this introduces elements of white within the colour, making it brighter, even when there are touches of darker shades included.

Those with a large kitchen, which features lots of natural light and has a high ceiling, can more freely experiment with darker shades, as the amount of light and space the kitchen has will ensure the room still feels airy.

In fact, applying too much white to a kitchen of this size may actually make it feel quite sparse, meaning lighter shades should be balanced with warmer and darker tones – whether through your walls, flooring, cabinetry, or appliances.

While you don't need to commit fully to a themed kitchen with this route, knowing the styles and trends you'd like to emulate will help you to determine the colours you should use.

There are endless themes to choose from, but some popular choices include Farmhouse, Italian, Art Deco, Scandinavian and French. Each has colours associated with them, which can either be directly applied to your kitchen or used as a starting point for influence.

Wren Kitchens has a full range of design and decor guides that explain how to create a theme-inspired kitchen, for further inspiration.

Once you've determined the palette you'd like to emulate, the shades and tones that will work in your kitchen space, and a theme that gives you some guidance, you're ready to apply your chosen colour scheme to your kitchen!

The walls, floor and appliances you choose to include in your kitchen are just as important as the units and worktops, which can help to flatter your chosen scheme.

Many people choose to have white or cream walls, as these work well as a neutral backdrop to the kitchen. Other kitchen colour scheme ideas include a statement wall in a colour that flatters the room; a bright splashback on the wall to add a pop of colour, or even chalkboard paint to create a quirky finish.

Kitchen flooring is a big influencing factor in determining how your colour scheme will appear. Wooden floors add warmth to the room, which is ideal for those who prefer either traditional or natural designs. Meanwhile, both gloss and matt tiles are more modern and will help to give the room a contemporary finish. Marble countertops are another beautiful way to create depth in your coloured kitchen.

Choose a rich finish that contrasts against your units, such as pearly white against inky black, or liven up a tonal kitchen with a pattern that uses the same colours as the rest of your features.

Kitchen accessories and appliances can be a fantastic way to add colour to an otherwise plain room. If you've chosen a primarily white kitchen, a bright red oven will create impact, and transform the room from simply white into a more modernist design.

In case you're struggling to decide on the colour scheme for you, we've compiled a selection of example kitchen colour schemes to help inspiration strike.