Thursday, April 28, 2011

Make a Splash!

Backsplashes are the most exposed place in your kitchen. We often think no one really notices...but they do! Your back splash is the focal point in your kitchen. Sometimes it even sets the design and theme for the rest of the room.

As kitchens cement their role as the central gathering place in the home, they're taking on more vibrant, energetic colors. "The kitchen is absolutely a key place for color," says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, one of the premier color forecasters in the country. "It's the place where people gather, so it's apt to have some mixing and matching of colors to create high energy."

Bold Is Beautiful Since most appliances are basic black, white or silver, people are adding bursts of color on other surfaces. "Most kitchens have minimal wall space, so it's a good place to splash some bold color and make a statement without overpowering the room," says designer Jamie Drake, author of New American Glamour, whose clients include Madonna and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"We're seeing bolder colors that complement stainless steel, as well as the darker cabinet colors that are in style," explains Becky Ralich Spak, senior designer at Sherwin Williams. "Aztec clay colors — such as copper, henna and ginger — as well as gold tones, are popular options."

According to Jamie, bold colors are starting to show up in some unexpected places. For instance, you might frame a stainless-steel sink with a burnt orange or fire-engine red countertop, or inlay hot pink or chartreuse tiles around coffee-colored cabinets. "People are viewing kitchens that have too much of any one color as flat, so more color is definitely the way to go," Jamie says. http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/discover-the-latest-kitchen-color-trends/index.html