This vanilla coloured kitchen is one of my favorites. This galley kitchen's highlight is the back splash! That chocolate coloured back splash tile, that is so long and stacked, packs a punch. The granite , called "Sunset Gold" whilst it is not a true beige, you can get away with it's range of yellows, beige and salmon pink. ( If it were too beige , it would simply disappear as being the same colour as the cabinets and that would be boring! ). The pewter colored knobs add the contrast to the cabinets, and this stainless is also reflected in the appliances and faucet, ensuring the tie in between materials.
The use of chocolate and mid brown is evident in this kitchen. From the living room you can see where the mid brown stain of the maple meets the darker brown laminate floor in order to create interest - keeping it the same can not always work. This same relationship of floor and cabinet colour occurs inside the kitchen as well - with the use of a very dark chocolate ceramic floor with a lighter grout colour. The granite counter is "Baltic Brown" which utilizes the colours found in the floor , and in the cabinets, but also adds green which is a nice contrast against the taupe brown of the kitchen. The splash was chosen to reflect some of the colours found in this granite. In this case, the back splash could have been a better choice, however, budget restricted this choice.
The Black and white kitchen above is so dramatic and modern, the splash, yet to be completed , can be either a white or black tile. In this case it will be a smoked mirror which will ensure this kitchen is dynamite. Note that the charcoal floor tile has light off white grout which accentuates the contrasts even more. The cabinet handles are long and are needed this length when the cabinet door is flat or nearly flat.
The more conservative kitchen here above, uses clear mirror to its advantage, whilst the granite has a very strong relationship with the burgundy colour of the cabinets.
The modern kitchen of white wash maple stays neutral with the use of the beige tumbled marble back splash and giallo ornamental granite. The cabinets when white washed, can sometimes take on a "pink" hue as the red of the north american maple comes out underneath, so be careful when using white washes in cabinets or floors. White wash can be applied to white oak or a whitish maple to alleviate this problem. In this kitchen , semi smoked glass in the upper cabinets has been used successfully to highlight an otherwise very light set of upper cabinets.(Note, the amount of glass is balanced well ). The charcoal grey colour of the glass insert relates well to the stainless appliances, faucet and grey colour within the granite - so it all ties in.
The last pantry photo goes to show how much extra storage you can add to a breakfast room. The pantry, wall to wall, is essential , to create the extra storage that is often missing in a condo. This Breakfast room pictured, looks like the cabinets were customized to the space, yet it was created with modular kitchen cabinets to match the existing kitchen. What a presence it has made !
