Styles & colour
French country, Tuscan, farmhouse and contemporary kitchens, and how to build a colour scheme that works in real light.
- Contemporary kitchen design: clean lines, hidden storage and honest materials
What defines a contemporary kitchen — flat-panel cabinetry, integrated appliances, minimal hardware, induction cooking, quiet ventilation and durable surfaces — and the practical details that keep a minimal kitchen looking calm in daily use.
- French country colours: palettes drawn from ochre, lavender, olive and lime
The colours of the French country kitchen and where they come from — Luberon ochres, lavender, olive and sage, Provençal blues and limewashed whites — with five palettes and advice on finishes and testing.
- French country kitchen design: where the style comes from and how to make it work
What defines a French country kitchen — terracotta floors, limewashed walls, open storage, freestanding furniture and worn wood — where those elements come from, and how to adapt them to a working modern kitchen.
- Kitchen colour basics: building a scheme that works in real light
How to choose kitchen colours that work together: hue, value and undertone, light reflectance values, how daylight and LED colour temperature change paint, choosing sheen, and testing samples properly.
- Kitchen decorating solutions: changing the look without a remodel
Ways to refresh a kitchen without replacing cabinets or counters: hardware, lighting, paint, textiles, open shelves, art and plants, decluttering, and renter-friendly fixes — with what each costs in effort and what to check first.
- Kitchen design trends: what is changing, and how to tell a lasting shift from a fad
The directions shaping kitchens now — warmer materials and colour, back kitchens and sculleries, all-electric cooking, hidden storage, healthier materials, universal design and longer-lasting choices — with a method for judging which trends will age well.
- Kitchen window treatments: blinds, shades and curtains that cope with steam and grease
How to dress a kitchen window: what makes kitchens hard on fabrics and blinds, the main options from café curtains to roller shades and films, child safety with cords, heat near the cooktop, privacy and energy savings.
- The contemporary kitchen style: where it comes from and its main variations
Where the contemporary kitchen comes from — the Frankfurt kitchen of 1926, post-war fitted kitchens and minimalism — how contemporary differs from modern, and its main variations: minimalist, Scandinavian, Japanese-influenced, industrial and warm contemporary.
- Tuscan kitchen design: terracotta, plaster, wood and iron
What makes a kitchen feel Tuscan: the farmhouse origins of the style, terracotta and stone floors, plaster walls in earth colours, chestnut beams, iron and open storage — and how to adapt it without turning the room into a theme set.
