The colours and textures of your kitchen’s products and materials will work together to enhance its overall style. 
Colours influence how large or small the kitchen feels, while texture adds contrast and interest.

Within the USA design industry, two of the major groups responsible for determining what colours the public will favour next are the Colour Marketing Group (CMG) and the Pantone Colour Institute

Red expresses excitement, high energy, warmth and vibrancy. It is the strongest of all colours. It is a very stimulating and active colour. It would be a beautiful colour for an entrance hall or foyer. Warm reds are also inviting and intimate in the dining room.

Green represents nature, growth and relaxation. It is a soothing colour and may remind us of rebirth. Green goes with almost any colour and in its darker and more neutralized shades can be used as a neutral. A green kitchen feels fresh and clean.

Blue reflects a calm, restful and relaxing 
environment. Blue is one of the most popular colours and tints of 
blue will make a room appear more spacious.

Orange symbolizes spirit, warmth, comfort and action. Orange would be pleasing in a family room, or kitchen/family room but, an extremely vivid shade of orange can be tiring when used over a large surface.

White implies virtue, purity, cleanliness, spaciousness and innocence. White rooms tend to be very dramatic 
and create a feeling of quiet luxury; many kitchens are still absolutely superb in various shades of white.

To find out more about color and how it can be used in your home, order "Choosing Color For Your Home & 60 Color Schemes". Only $4.95 for the full download or $9.95 for a CD.

Of course, there are many different shades and tints of each of the previous colours and each will have it's own distinct personality. Designers should base their colour selections on how their client feels about a particular colour. One person may be energized by a room filled with bright vivid colours, another person may find the intense hues tiring.

Lina Hoffman in her article "The Psychology of Colour"  states that:

Colour is an essential ingredient in our environment. 
It communicates emotion, creates mood, and affects your energy. Colour has an emotional impact that can delight you or distress you. It is almost impossible to separate the seeing of colour from the "feeling of colour" because so much of what you see is based on what you feel. Colours evoke both pleasant and unpleasant emotions. Your reaction to a particular colour will be influenced by your personal experiences. Certain colours will remind you of certain people and events. You may associate colours with certain scents.

Vivid colours stimulate people to activity. Colour has been known to increase productivity in industry, to speed recovery time in hospitals, to cause you to overeat.
The passage of time can be over or underestimated depending on the colour of a room. Time is perceived as moving more slowly in a red room and more quickly in a blue or green one.

Visually red represents nearness and warmth; blue distance and coolness. The eye actually sees more warm colours than it does cool. Light bright colours expand size while dark cool colours contract. Colours that get our attention the fastest are the ones at the warm end of the spectrum.

Lina's article is no longer available on the Web, but there are many, many excellent articles on the "Psychology of Colour" [color] via your favorite search engine. For example Google.

Colour and Physiology

Colour effects us physically. Different colours cause reactions in our bodies and minds.

Red is stimulating and blue calming. Bright red and yellow increase blood pressure and muscle tension. People feel warmer in a red room and cooler in a blue room of the same temperature. Blue rooms decrease blood pressure and lessen aggressive feelings. Studies have shown an increase in fertility in blue rooms.

Different values of pink have different effects on peoples emotions: light dull pinks cause calmness and decreased pulse while the deeper pinks have the opposite effect.

Orange is an appetite stimulant.

Peaches brick and coral colours have a slightly less stimulating effect than bright orange.

< Brown also stimulates appetite especially when combined with peach or strawberry pink.

Violet depresses appetite.

Colour and Climate

We often choose colours to decorate our homes that are close in temperature to the ambient temperature of our environment; for example cool blues are preferred in the hotter regions and reddish colours in the cool South 

However, colour preferences do change with temperature extremes. If it is hot (over 30 degrees Celsius, most people prefer cool blues. If the temperature is in the 60s or cooler, red is the first choice.

Colour is a powerful force in our lives, especially for artists. Colour affects our minds and bodies; it can change our moods and feelings. Surround yourself with colours that you like.  Don't try to stifle your creativity and basic feelings about a colour, you won't be able to fool yourself for long.

In our showroom we display examples of a Green Kitchen, a White Kitchen and a Orange-pastel Kitchen, to illustrate the style, texture and mood of these predominant colours, tastefully enhanced with contrasting bench tops and/or kickboards.