Soft shades of white and grey are amongst the most-loved colours to use in the kitchen. As are, at the other end of the scale, the bolder, more dramatic tones of deep green, inky blue, and nearly-black browns and greys. But what about the middle territory? Colours that are calming like a neutral but with more pigment? Colours like Flax Blue, our shade for spring 2019…
Flax Blue with oak
The characteristic of Flax Blue that our head of creative appreciates the most, is how it pairs with natural oak and lets timber be seen as a colour of its own. In this first, galley Henley kitchen pictured, you can really see what he means. Every cabinet is painted in hazy Flax Blue with a smooth run of full-stave oak as the work surface. The oak’s then repeated higher up with the single shelf in the wall cabinet. Oak flooring would have a similar effect, or using a combination of exposed oak cabinets and painted ones, as you can with Henley. Keep the rest of the colour scheme muted so that oak and Flax Blue are your kitchen palette’s core shades.
Flax Blue with neutrals
If you like the idea of using a combination of colours on your kitchen’s cabinetry, try painting a central area in Flax Blue, such as an island. This is a good idea if you’re keen to bring in colour, but only want a small pocket of it. Flax Blue suits a handful of neutrals particularly well. In our Chichester kitchen pictured, we’ve used Shell on the main run of cabinetry, making it the primary tone – though Saltor Snow would look just as restful.
Flax Blue on the walls
Remember that adding colour to your kitchen’s scheme doesn’t have to be kept to the cabinetry. Take Flax Blue to the walls instead; it’s worth considering as a way to update an existing kitchen too. It’s a look that’ll suit cabinets painted in white tones, or oak cabinetry like in our second Henley kitchen pictured. This is another way to put oak and Flax Blue in a room together and watch how well they get along. Darker cabinets can suit Flax Blue on the walls too, such as Walnut. If you’re unsure of whether Flax Blue walls will match your cabinetry though, just speak to a home specialist at your local Neptune store, and they’ll be happy to help.
Flax Blue with colour
And finally, if you’ve chosen to use Flax Blue as your only cabinet colour, like we did on our final Suffolk kitchenscene pictured, you might want to bring in another colour to your palette to provide some lift. Not everybody wants a colour scheme that’s entirely quiet and soothing, but happily, Flax Blue gets along well with a number of accent shades too. Depending on how much of your extra colour you want to bring into your kitchen, you could paint the base of a dining table or any bar stools and dining chairs. Or, add to your colour palette by putting down the paint pots and considering fabric. In our Suffolk kitchen, we kept to a paint scheme of Flax Blue and neutrals (each ever so tonally different, with Driftwood on the Charlecote island, Shingle on the Wardley bar stools and Snow on the walls), but brought in a stronger colour through the Roman blind. Because Mustard (and indeed, Rust) are two richer, earthier, warmer hues that are a match made for Flax Blue.