apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Most of my kitchen storage is open shelves and I try to coordinate what's on the shelves with the surrounding decor. I don't put too much effort into it but when there's a color choice I pick what looks best in the house. Also, I have matte china in an beige color because it's what looks best in the living/dining room area.

Absolutely! My small appliances, etc. coordinate not just with my kitchen but with my living room and dining rooms which adjoin the kitchen.

Yep! My kitchen stuff is all red.

My boyfriend wanted something at C&B that was green... and I put my foot down until he found one in neutral colors (black, steel).

-Ruth

I don't like to coordinate to the point where everything HAS to be one colour. I buy pieces that I like and that are unique. I've saved old enamled pots and pans that my parents gave me when I first moved out. I like to collect handmade pottery and so I just pick the glazes that make me happy as opposed to making sure everything matches.

It's a haphazard design style... if you can call it that!

my kitchen stuff is all red too! when i got married i registered for a red kitchen aid mixer (because i was obsessing over 'nigella bites' on the style network). consequently, all of our small appliances and many of my utensils, serving bowls & platters, and kitchen gadgets are now red. the red theme has gotten extended to other rooms because we have lived in some very small homes where it was better to have a unifying color.

Most definitely! I can't paint my walls, so I add color through things like the hand towels and the tablecloth. Most things that I have on the counters or on open shelves are my colors - bright orange (kitchenaid!), lime green (pie dishes), yellow (enameled dutch oven), and a little turquoise (enameled skillet).

No way. There are far too many fun colors in kitchenware to limit yourself to just one, and mixing and matching leaves you with a fun palette.

YES! My kitchen theme is green and orange and it all started with a bright orange le Creuset tea kettle that an old boyfriend gave me as a gift over 10 years ago. The kettle still works great and is very happy mixing with all the other orange and bright green items in the room!

sunny yellow and tourquoise

plus some other shades of blue and green.

We're going to redo the kitchen and are leaning towards a simple palate of white, stainless, frosted glass, and some butcher block, so I can let my bright equipment and dishes, etc stand out. Yay!

I wish I could...but too much of my kitchen stuff consists of hand-me-down items, so color coordination is tough. I do try, though, to group items of similar colors near to one another, so that little spots of color can look coordinated.

I have a Red Kitchen with Dark Brown Cabinets and white counters - so most everything is Red, White, Stainless Steel or clear glass though I can't resist popping in some Navy Blue here and there too.

I wish I could decide on a color, I'm getting ready to buy a le crueset set and its really not something you can just change your mind about and rebuy later. Unless you're rich, that always helps.

What do you guys think, should I just play it safe and get white?

Everything is coordinated, but not restricted to one color. We use a mix of 4 upbeat, fruity colors.

It revolves around a 50's kitchen table and a few pieces of Fiestaware I inherited. From there, our kitchen has become a play of sunny lemon, grass green, mild orange and grapefruit-red accents. The walls are white, which doesn't make the black cookware we use seem out of place. But every addition we make to the kitchen is indeed within the palette we've set out. As we have a mostly open kitchen, I find things appear disorganized, or at the very least, unharmonious, otherwise.

I used to live in a studio and the kitchen was my livings/bedroom. There was No storage space so I would always buy cute canisters or jars that could display every day items like the oil etc. Also I would hang all the Utensils so I would buy them in cute colors that would match the oven mitts and decor.

I've tried to do cobalt blue, but there's kind of a hodgepodge. I couldn't resist a million colors of fiestaware. But hey, my apt is a hodgepodge too. I guess in that sense, they coordinate.

A little off topic, but does anyone know where that red couch on the bottom right hand corner image is from. It's perfect for my living room!
Back on point: I usually keep white or silver in the kitchen and buy a pop of color on special pieces that way I can do any color I want but it won't feel overwhelming.

yes. I have the big pieces in neutrals (big appliances are white and small ones stainless) and my dishes are white. then I add in pops of color in other places--a couple of those little le creuset mini shaped casseroles and a utensil crock with brightly colored silicone spatulas. which is basically what I do in the rest of my place too--the furniture is all fairly neutral and then the pops of color come from the art and accessories.

itsmikethomas--I went with the blue le creuset. I really liked a lot of the other colors but I knew that I would still be happy with the blue in fifty years. I basically looked around my apartment and my wardrobe to see what colors I usually gravitate to. the blue, along with being a color I like, is neutral enough to go with lots of different things while not being too overpowering or too bland.

My kitchen has some awesome turquoise and black tile, and since any paint colour (other than a neutral) would compete, I decided to start buying all my kitchen stuff in red. It's so very fun looking

yes!

I go with stainless appliances and small appliances (ie: stand mixer, food processor) and then I try to keep it to either stainless or black pots and pans. I also have a few Le Creusets that are in Dune. As for the rest (jars, cups, plates, bowls, etc) I like to keep them either white or glass.

absolutely! i have a super small kitchen and since some things must be left out, and things need to do double duty, it all goes with my living room decor, which has one of those tacky "windows" into the kitchen, ick. (i rent). since some items go stove to dining table (which is in my living room) they just have to look good. nothing is allllll one color or alllll matchy matchy, but it all coordinates and is all pretty enough to be left on the counter if need be.

i use red accents. a lot of the stuff in our kitchen is still hand me down from parents who took our moving our as an excuse to buy new appliances and if they aren't broke...

i guess i'm lucky in that the place we are renting was renovated by owner occupiers before us so we have great storage in the kitchen even though its quite small.

Short answer - YES...Long answer - Our tiny kitchen has white metal cabinets, blue-grey formica counters and white, blue-grey and taupe flooring. The appliances are also white. Indigo is my favorite color, so some things are cobalt, some are indigo and white, dishes are white with blue and and a bit of brown trim, and kitchen tools in various shades of blue. I love handmade pottery, and have no problem finding thins in the color range that works for me. I also use a bit of warm tomato-ey red as an accent color, to keep things from looking too cold. My best find was the Sharp "Half-Pint" microwave I found for $12 at the local Goodwill in...cobalt blue!

The art and potholders/towels/tablecloth coordinate, but other than that, only the teapot remains out and so it is a bright, cheery red.

TO: itsmikethomas.......IMO, LeCreuset is more "fun" to collect if you buy pieces individually, looking for a bargain at TJMaxx, thrift stores, and ebay. I have red, orange, grey, and blue pieces.

If you do decide to buy a set of one color, just pick your favorite.....if you change your mind a few years from now, it will have a really good resale value on ebay.

Personally, I don't care for the white (dune). The brown, though, is really beautiful if you want a neutral.