6 tips to make your modern kitchen warm and inviting

When you’re renovating or refreshing your modern kitchen it’s easy to end up with a slightly cold, sterile space – especially if you’re going for a minimalist look.

But if you follow these six tips any kitchen can feel warm and inviting, like home should. 

1. Try textures

If your kitchen is all perfect white tiles, stainless steel fixtures and stone benchtops it can start to look a little flat. Adding texture can help you avoid that. You could use natural wood for your cabinets or benchtops, throw a rug on the floor if it suits, or perhaps undulated tiles for your splashback. Undulated tiles are slightly uneven, which gives an interesting natural look. 

2. Introduce colour

Every kitchen should have a little colour, but it can be hard to know how to incorporate it. Our advice is to choose a wall or a feature (or a few) and make sure it matches the rest of the colours in your kitchen.

For example, the Abey Piazza range in copper is a beautiful coloured sink, best matched with matte blacks, light colours, and other warm metals. It’d look great against a white tiled splashback with matte black taps, cupboard handles and fixtures. 

3. Use natural materials

One of the best ways to warm up any kitchen is to simply use natural materials. Granite sinks by Schock are a lovely, warm alternative to stainless steel that are similarly durable and easy to clean. Wooden benchtops look amazing paired with most fixtures and fittings, and if you’ve got room for a plant, they can be a great way to add a little life to your space as well (just remember to go for a plant that loves humid conditions like peace lilies and snake plants). 

4. Open shelving

If you’ve got beautiful old cast iron pans, colourful cook books, and nifty gadgets to display then open shelving can be a great way to add a little personality to your kitchen design. Just remember when installing yours – open shelves tend to look better understocked, rather than cluttered.

5. Use multiple light sources

One of the mistakes we see most often in kitchen renovations is cold, sterile lighting. Luckily, it’s easy to avoid. Simply install warm instead of cool LED light bulbs, consider installing a dimmer, and use multiple light sources throughout your kitchen.

For example, you could have a soft LED accent lighting strip underneath your cabinets, LED downlights in key work areas, and a pendant light (or lights) over your kitchen island. 

6. Choose fittings and fixtures carefully

Your kitchen sink, mixers, taps and accessories can be the difference between your kitchen design feeling cold and sterile or warm and inviting – so choose carefully. It’s always better to see everything in person before you buy.

To browse a huge range of kitchen fixtures and fittings and get free advice from a kitchen design expert, visit your nearest Abey Selection Gallery.