How to turn your home’s kitchen into your dream kitchen

Colorful statement kitchen

Dream kitchens
Aged brass brackets hold up reclaimed wood shelves by the sink. A valance over the sink, bottom left, reflects colors in the attached family room.

Photograph by Marc Mauldin

Why we love the look
Kitchens benefit from the same happy colors we enjoy in other areas of the house.

About this kitchen
Interior designer Kerry Howard pulled colors from an adjacent family room to liven up homeowner Dan Staley’s kitchen remodel. Canary yellow and navy blue were accent colors in the other room, with walls painted Sherwin-Williams “Sea Salt.” In the kitchen, Howard notes, “the valance over the sink is a combination of all the colors and adds just enough pattern.” A gray tile backsplash also complements the palette that carries over from the adjoining space.

Statement door
“The sliding door leads into Dan’s office, and I didn’t want it to feel rustic in any way, so I decided to have it painted a high-gloss navy color,” says the designer. The custom door is the work of NLB (No Longer Bound), a North Georgia rehabilitation program whose industries include building custom furniture for designers and homeowners.

Dream kitchens
Blue accents enhance this otherwise neutral kitchen. The designer recovered some retail bar stools in a similar indigo color.

Photograph by Marc Mauldin

Blue too
A custom blue cabinet houses the coffee station and microwave behind doors that recess. “With one side of the kitchen having the painted navy door, I wanted that cabinet to help balance the other side,” says Howard. “The kitchen is in no way symmetrical, but by using the navy in both places, it helps even out the weight of the room.”

Dream kitchens
Photograph by Marc Mauldin

Mixed metals
Most of the cabinetry is light gray, so Howard used a variety of finishes on plumbing, hardware, and metal fittings to provide contrast. The custom-designed hood features brushed brass straps. “I didn’t want the space to feel cold, so I added the reclaimed shelves by the sink with brushed brass brackets to add a little vintage feel,” says the designer.

Budgeting
If you love color but are concerned about the financial commitment, invest in vibrant window treatments, cushions, or decorative accessories. The barstools, which are from CB2, originally had black leather cushions, but Howard reupholstered them with navy leather.


Resources
Interior design: Kerry Howard, KMH Interiors, kmhinteriors.net
Sliding door: No Longer Bound Furniture, nlbfurniture.com
Wall color: Sherwin-Williams “Sea Salt” SW6204, sherwin-williams.com
Cabinets and custom hood: Design Galleria Kitchen & Bath, designgalleria.net
Barstools: CB2, cb2.com
Rugs: Cost Plus World Market, worldmarket.com
Backsplash: Floor & Decor, flooranddecor.com


This article originally appeared in our Fall 2017 issue of Atlanta Magazine’s HOME.