Adding Finishing Touches to Your Kitchen Interior

Changes to backsplashes and cabinet colors are certainly effective ways of refreshing a kitchen interior, but often it’s the smaller touches that bring together an entire space – these finishing touches are known by designers as focal points.

Our 2019 Nashville Idea House features a kitchen clad with corrugated shiplap roofing material typically found on barn roofs that adds texture and warmth.

Table of Contents

Focal Points

Focal points in any room serve to draw the eye, whether in the form of art pieces, accent lighting areas, built-in shelving units or fireplaces. Their purpose should be to enhance and complement rather than compete with the design aesthetic of each space they occupy.

Kitchen focal points can range from decorative items like an eye-catching island or striking ceiling to design features like an impressive stainless steel mantel hood or complementary backsplash.

Accenting focal points effectively means choosing accents with specific functions in mind; using color and texture to draw the eye in is also crucial. A boldly-patterned wallpaper or texture paint can draw the eye in, drawing attention away from other areas in a neutral or monochromatic color palette. A painted island in an eye-catching shade may serve as another visual focal point; its hue matching up perfectly with countertop and appliance hues provides another visual highlight; similarly patterned rugs or artwork can bring life and pattern into otherwise monotone rooms.

Form

Once upon a time, kitchens were just functional spaces designed for food preparation with little decoration or sense of home. Nowadays, however, they serve as social gathering points as well as being spaces to prepare and cook meals.

Textured elements can add depth and comfort to a kitchen, from beadboard panels around islands or peninsulas to molding on cabinetry, furniture style cabinets and reclaimed wood accents that help create an inviting kitchen atmosphere.

As part of an effort to add nature into a kitchen, adding live plants such as aloe vera and weeping figs adds biophilic qualities that purify the air and help reduce clutter. Clearing away countertops of appliances also creates an easier, less distracting and relaxing atmosphere where cooking delicious food becomes the focus.

Color

Color can add depth and vibrancy to your kitchen interior design, helping guests feel welcome when visiting. Selecting an inviting palette can create a warm environment in which guests will be at ease and comfortable.

Pale gray paint provides the ideal base to complement various kitchen materials, from natural wood floors to stone countertops. Plus, this timeless shade will remain fashionable as trends come and go. Pairing pale gray cabinets with warm toned hardware like brass can help transition their appearance between traditional or transitional settings.

Bright kitchen paint colors can instantly liven up a space. Yellow is a highly-energizing hue that creates an optimistic and appetizing atmosphere, perfect for creating appetite. Pairing yellow with white and gray accents has proven effective here, as seen here in this kitchen designed around its owners’ inherited ceramic collection.

For an understated effect, use dark green paint on an accent wall or cabinet for an organic aesthetic in your kitchen. Its earthy tone evokes health and wellness while pairing nicely with natural wooden elements to give an organic vibe to any space.

Texture

Texture plays an integral part in setting the atmosphere in any kitchen design space, from warm or rustic materials like natural wood and exposed brick, to metallics or man-made plastics – it can make an enormous impactful statement about its mood and atmosphere.

Layer in texture through freestanding furniture such as tables, islands and larders that contrast with or complement an existing cabinet layout. Fabric seating such as comfortable upholstered stools is another effective way of adding textural variety while adding comfort.

Texture can also be created through color, as warm tones appear to float toward our eyes and give the room the impression it’s higher than it really is. Small details like lighting fixtures, cabinet door knobs and pulls and even sinks all contribute to creating texture by providing contrasts in size, shape and finish that add depth and dimension.