Trim & Proper: The Case for Eclectic Kitchen Design
Have your cabinets been begging you for an update more than that old phone you still have? Updating your phone is easy – you pick the one you want and you’re done. Updating your cabinets, however, can feel a little more tricky. The options are endless, and as you begin to picture what your new cabinets may look like, it’s easy to feel the pressure of how those choices will extend throughout your home. Read more to learn about how to incorporate different finishes throughout your entire home.
Is darker wood going to clash with the carpet in the living room? Are your new white cabinets going to clash with the wood trim throughout the rest of your home? Suddenly, your kitchen update begins to feel less like an isolated project and more like the beginning of a multi-phased journey of updating your entire house. Whoa whoa whoa, calm down. Lucky for all of us, home design has taken an eclectic turn for the better and mixing finishes has become very popular, giving both you and your design choices room to breathe. So take a deep breath, and let’s walk through how to create the kitchen of your dreams without getting too caught up in everything matching perfectly.
A common concern when it comes to kitchen updates is that the newer features will make the rest of your home seem outdated, or worse, they will clash. When it comes to design, the goal is for all of the spaces in your home to flow well together – that doesn’t necessarily mean they have to match. With tons of finishing and customization options, those nightmares you’ve been having of upgrading your cabinets and realizing your house looks like a decades-themed model home can be put to rest for good.
The main thing to remember when designing your new kitchen is to choose options that help carry your style throughout your home. Existing or new backsplash, flooring, trim, hardware, decorative accents, lighting fixtures, etc can all be taken into account to help your new kitchen blend with the rest of your home. Focusing on these smaller details is a much more realistic and affordable way to bridge the gaps between where your home is currently and where your home is headed whenever taking on a new design project.
If you’re wanting to brighten up your kitchen to a bright neutral but the wood stain or species living in the rest of your home is dated and warm, you could tie the rooms together by bringing those brighter tones into the adjacent rooms by way of furniture, decorations, or textiles.
For example, maybe you want to update your kitchen to white cabinets but the trim throughout the rest of your home is a darker wood. Picking a cabinet finish that has warm undertones and pairing it with brighter neutral accents throughout your home will help create a cohesive feel.
In our example on the right, these clients chose to brighten their kitchen with a nice bright upper cabinet color, and create contrast with darker warm bottom cabinets. The color of brass hardware they chose helps tie both the bottom cabinets and the bright upper cabinets to the golden oak trim throughout the rest of the home, and leaves room to update the interior of their home to any number of paint colors they might choose as their style changes in the future. They also chose lighter dining chairs to create a cohesiveness with their new white cabinets.
Rather than worrying about whether or not you should update the rest of your trim to match the new cabinets, you can focus on the small, more affordable improvements that could make your home cohesive in the future. Maybe this looks like upgrading to lighter dining chairs, maybe this means getting some lighter curtains for the adjacent living room to bring the white of cabinets into the next room – the options are truly endless.
Another popular twist on mixing finishes is incorporating an island or hutch that looks more like an accent furniture piece than an extension of your cabinetry. Mixing perimeter and island countertop material and colors is also on trend and can be a great way to create cohesive movement in your home.
In conclusion, your dream kitchen is your dream kitchen. Updating your kitchen should be an exciting journey, not one filled with anxiety and fear of regretting your choices. Whatever update you choose, whether you break the mold and choose a bright cabinet color, decide to go with a contrast of lighter cabinets with darker trim, or keep to a classic look with all matching wood stain and grain, there is always a way to carry those bigger design focal points throughout the rest of your home. So have fun, be as bold as you want to, and don’t be afraid to mix it up!
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