Material Things – How Materials Define Your Kitchen

Whatever your style, materials are an all important part of the perfect kitchen. Choosing your materials is one of the primary factors that affect how your kitchen both looks and feels, so the decision needs to be given the weight it deserves! You want to build a harmonious space whose various colours and materials all complement each other, so it needs some serious thinking in advance.

The Old World Style Of Traditional Kitchens

The materials for traditional kitchens tend to be traditional themselves – it’s only logical! Stone and woods are frequent finds, as they’re natural, timeless elements. Just those two words, though, encompass a lot of materials between them. With stone, you’ve got granite, marble, limestone, while woods can include maple, cherry and oak – and that’s just a sample. Because of its rich colour and ability to retain heat, wood is excellent for warming up a space both visually and physically. Cabinetry in traditional kitchens are most often made of wood, and they’re a useful element if you want to create a more stylistically daring transitional kitchen. Cabinetry is the cornerstone of your kitchen, and the most visible and used element of it, so various shades of wood can give it any number of characteristics: for example a formal elegance or a rustic, homely feel. It all depends on which woods you use. Meanwhile, rugged flagstones, slate or salvaged wood are all popular choices for flooring (which is another defining element of any kitchen).

Choosing Materials For Contemporary Kitchens

On the other hand, laminates and gloss materials for cabinetry lend themselves to a contemporary or designer kitchen, with synthetic materials like lacquer or acrylic providing counterparts to the more organic materials of traditional kitchens. Glass, marble and stainless steel are other common elements of contemporary kitchens. The colour schemes of contemporary kitchens traditionally use lighter materials and tones to make the space look roomy and expansive – glass, for example, is an eternally useful tool, and is often used in contemporary kitchen cabinetry. Meanwhile, poured concrete or resin floors are commonly used for the flooring, giving kitchens a more modern, edgy feel. (They also work pretty neatly with underfloor heating, so that’s another point in their favour!) Lots of materials in contemporary kitchens tend towards the brighter side, which is one of the key defining features of contemporary kitchens, and again helps with that expansive feel. Graphite shades from stone materials can help give the room a solid impact on your visitors, and many contemporary kitchens use these materials in conjunction with a single flash of vibrant colour from gloss cabinetry or backsplashes, for an eye-catching effect that few traditional kitchens are able to match in quite the same way. (Not that that’s a bad thing – each to their own!)

The Material That Matters

When it comes right down to it, materials are much like any other element of kitchen design – they have to be chosen and deployed carefully to stop the space from looking ugly or slapped-together. Our interior designers can provide any help or advice you need on how to choose the best materials for the kitchen you want – you can book your free design visit. On the other hand, if you’re still thinking things over you can contact any one of our designer kitchen showrooms, and we’ll be only too happy to help over the phone in any way we can

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