Monochromatic kitchens are often kitchens consisting of one colour, however, there is some leeway here when it comes to shades and tones. For example, it would work to have grey mixed in with a white kitchen and it still be considered monochromatic.
There are many options to play around with when it comes to monochromatic kitchens. You can really push your ideas while keeping the core of your kitchen design in the monochromatic category.
Here are a couple of design ideas to borrow or work from when designing your new monochromatic kitchen.
Play with Texture
So texture can add great depth and richness to the overall look of the kitchen while also keeping shades and tones in keeping with the monochromatic style. Texture can manifest itself quite well within the use of different materials; polished or unpolished stone surfaces for counters, wood for floors, doors and shelves – you can even mix and match materials, also add in a third type like metal accents for taps, lights and more!
The second layer of texturing is something we briefly touched on and that is the finish you give to the material of choice. Matte and glossy work well independently together for stone and metal as do different paint types and varnishes for wood.
Different shades of grey
For many grey might seem like a dull or boring colour; lacking the sleek elegance of black or the pristine delicacy of white but it is in fact one of the most versatile colours to utilize in a kitchen. When you think about it, grey really runs the gamut on everything between black and white. This gives you a lot of shades and tones to play with across the spectrum.
You can mix dark greys with light greys, dark greys with darker greys and light greys with lighter greys. Seriously, the number of options you have available with grey is amazing. Considering that most stone surfaces naturally come in grey, the same goes for metals and even some woods then you have a whole heap of aforementioned textures to play with too.
If in doubt go all white
All white is a classic kitchen staple; it’s subtle, elegantly simplistic and has a classy and timeless feel. As always, you can play with textures in a white kitchen. We recommend mixing glossy finishes with matte finishes for the best results. White stone surfaces finished with glossy coatings are both functional in terms of cleaning spills and stains whilst matte floors and walls add layers of depth. An extra tip here, though it may class as cheating, is to mix in some off-white, cream or light grey tones.
Top tips
- Use textures that complement each other when crafting the perfect monochromatic kitchen.
- Utilise shades to create a kitchen with design depth that doesn’t stray from the monochromatic theme.
- Dont be afraid to think outside of the standard black and white kitchens, monochromatic can work with any colour realistically and the only limit is your imagination (and budget) when it comes to kitchen design.
- Think practically – though you should give in to your desires a little bit here it is also good to be aware that kitchens need to be functional and also that they will get messy. Don’t use materials and colours that will become stained or outright ruined over time.
