There is something energising and uplifting about a kitchen with colourful cabinetry.
There’s a few ways you can go about achieving this look; but first, some advice.
Don’t start by choosing colour first. Maybe this sounds counterintuitive, but the actual colour should be the LAST thing you choose. Let me explain.
Think about how you want to feel when you’re spending time in your kitchen. Do you want to feel energised and inspired to create an exciting culinary masterpiece, or do you want the kitchen to be a calm haven that soothes you after a busy workday?
Once you’ve decided on the intended feel, you’ll need to consider other constraints — such as existing kitchen elements and your budget — that will help determine the best type of joinery for you. Only then you can go for your life and choose that perfect colour!
From laminate to two-pack, here are the four main ways to achieve coloured kitchen joinery.
Laminate
Laminates can get quite technical and there are a lot of options. Generally speaking, what laminate actually is, is a thin sheet of surface material made from laminated decorative / coloured paper, and a clear hard wearing top.
This decorative paper is laminated onto a thin base layer, resulting in a sheet material only a few millimetres thick, which is then usually supplied to a cabinetmaker to adhere to the kitchen cupboard exteriors.
Laminate suits kitchens with smooth cupboard fronts (no routed or shaker profiles). Since it is somewhat rigid, and cannot be wrapped around edges, laminate needs to be cut and applied to each cabinet surface separately, with joins on every edge.
Your cabinetmaker will either adhere your chosen laminate onto your kitchen surfaces after the cupboards are built, or, they might start with the laminate already adhered to a substrate board (either MDF or chipboard) and build the cabinetry using this material to start with.
Laminate is probably the most affordable way to create coloured kitchen cabinetry, and there are some really beautiful colours and an enormous range to choose from. Laminate is also one of the most hard-wearing and robust surfaces for kitchen cupboards – it doesn’t easily mark or chip, and is super easy to clean. Always a win!