Incorporating Blue Colors Into Kitchen Cabinets and Designs

For many years, even decades during previous generations, the conventional wisdom held that kitchen cabinets should generally be a natural or neutral tone. Cabinets, as some of the largest and most prominent design elements of any kitchen, were thought to be foundational pieces that should be relatively plain and leave room for more colorful accents in other areas.

At Swirl Woodcraft, we’re here to inform you that times have changed. While our custom kitchen cabinets are absolutely still available in a variety of neutral colors, we’ve also seen a big spike in popularity for several brighter and more adventurous color schemes in recent years. One of the top color types that’s gaining steam here: Blue shades, which hold several potential aesthetic benefits. Let’s look at the trends that have led to our current state, plus some tips on incorporating blue into your cabinets and choosing the right shade to complement the rest of the kitchen.

Emerging Trends

As we noted, neutral colors were the automatic go-to for kitchen cabinets for a long time – and still are for many people. In these situations, more colorful shades are generally used as accents and complementary elements.

But as modern design pieces like stainless steel fixtures, glass-heavy designs and others became more popular, so did some changes in cabinet trends. More homeowners became interested in brighter shades to create a more distinctive look, using cabinetry painted in different colors, including blue.

Incorporating Blue into the Kitchen

So how do you incorporate some blue into your kitchen cabinets and other areas? There are a few potential themes here.

In some cases, homeowners may feel that going all blue with cabinetry would be overdoing it, overwhelming viewers with a bit too much color. In these situations, you can use blue coloring in select areas – maybe only cabinets on your island are fully blue, for instance, while others on the main walls have blue accents mixed with neutral colors.

For some, though, a fully blue design is attainable using lighter blues. These add warmth to a kitchen and work well as an undertone, particularly if the kitchen receives plenty of natural light during the day. But as recent trends have shown, this area really comes down to individual creativity and preference.

Shade Choices

If you’ve chosen to include blue in your kitchen cabinets and color scheme, it’s important to get the shading right. Darker blues are known as elegant colors, but as we noted above, you may have to limit them to avoid overwhelming people and making the space feel too crowded.

As we also noted, lighter blues are great for warmth and a welcoming feel. This is particularly true in smaller kitchens and those with natural light.

For more on incorporating blue into your kitchen cabinets and overall kitchen design, or to learn about any of our kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities or custom woodworking projects, speak to the staff at Swirl Woodcraft today.