Interior design books and kitchen showrooms will often use the idea of combining two or more different coloured kitchen cabinet doors to create a bold effect. Strong colours can be used to give the room a focal point and to create an interesting look. However, many of us who are trying to update our kitchens may feel a little overwhelmed about how to achieve this look.

You will have many questions. Like where do I put the bolder colour kitchen doors? What colours should I combine? What style or material of door works best? And can I use more than two colours? Read on for answers to these questions and more.

Strong colours like Legato Baltic Blue will create a wow factor for your kitchen
Legato Ultragloss Baltic Blue doors

Create a focal point

When you walk into a room your eye is often drawn to part of the room. This is known as the focal point and is can be highlighted with a different colour, a mirror or wallpaper. In the living room it may be the chimney breast. And in the bedroom it might be the wall directly behind the bed-head. This wall becomes the highlight of the room – needing little more than the colour or the wallpaper to do all the talking (pictures, paintings and other accessories are not needed).

You can create the same feeling in a kitchen. However you will need to work out where your focal point will be.

  • Choose kitchen cupboards which can be seen upon entering the room. Generally they will be opposite the entrance door or which can be seen from another room – for example in an open plan kitchen dining room.
  • Choose kitchen doors which are set apart or run in a line together
  • Choose all upper cabinets or lower cabinets – don't mix and match unless it is a full length floor to ceiling larder cabinet or a set of cupboards which are separated from the rest.
  • Pick a set of cupboards where the lighting in the room will easily highlight them.

Think colours

If your kitchen is already a bold colour, it may be a pointless exercise to pick out a focal point as the whole kitchen will be catching attention. It is best to choose a plainer colour and then use a brighter and bolder colour to act as the focal point. Good combinations might be white kitchen cupboard doors with black or purple highlights. Cream with blues or greens and even dramatic black with red.

Go modern

A kitchen with a set of focal point kitchen cupboard doors has to be modern. It is not a look which works with the muted tones of a wooden or traditional kitchen. It is best to approach this look with flat fronted kitchen doors in a high gloss or matt colours.

Don't mix and match strong colours

Always make sure that your kitchen cupboards all match in terms of the style and material. This is easy to do if you are buying replacement kitchen doors as you can choose from styles of doors which come in several colours. It should be very clear that the introduction of strong colours is intentional and not just the result of adding extra cupboards without replacing what already existed. The focal point should fit in perfectly. And it needs to be the same type and material of door for this to work.

More than one colour?

Absolutely – if your kitchen is big enough. A small kitchen could easily become overwhelmed if there are too many colours going on. A larger kitchen can be separated into zones using different colour schemes. The central island could be one colour while the cooking area could highlighted with  stronger colours. Why not try having all wall cupboards in a one colour, lower cabinets in an other matching colour, and pick out the focal point in a contrasting and bolder hue?

You will need to accept that adding a focal point to your kitchen will attract attention. It is not for the faint of heart, but who said that kitchens had to be boring?