Make It Feel Like a Living Room

“I always try to treat kitchens like any other room and bring in as much upholstery as I can that is functional,” says interior designer Betsy Wentz. One way to do that is to replace dining chairs with an upholstered bench on one side of the table. 

Interior designer Allison Babcock suggests bringing in a banquette upholstered in a fun fabric or opting for upholstered kitchen chairs or barstools. Either choose a performance fabric or have the fabrics treated with a sealant so they are stain-resistant and more durable.

“People are afraid to put upholstery in their kitchens, but don’t be,” Wentz says. “You can use vinyl on your barstools, and you can wipe them down all day long.” She even advocates for upholstering light fixtures. In a client’s all-white kitchen, Wentz had the shades on the light fixtures over the island covered in a colorful fabric. “It adds just a little something that is not sterile and makes people want to pull a chair up and spend time in the kitchen,” she says.

Add Something Vintage

“If you're going for white, how are you bringing in elements of interest?” is what interior designer Jess Cooney suggests you ask yourself. “Usually the best way, in my opinion, is with vintage pieces, one-of-a-kind pieces, stones (for countertops) that are unique and worn already.” You can also bring in vintage countertop accessories such as canisters or bowls, or even artwork, which Cooney doesn’t hesitate to hang with a tiny nail poked right into the backsplash grout. 

Mens also suggests floor runners, which she often sources from Etsy. “I always love a vintage runner because they wear like iron, they have color, they have personality, they're comfortable under your foot,” she says. “They're so forgiving. You can spill anything from blueberries to red wine, and they’re wool, so you just scrub them with Dawn dish soap."

Set Up Dramatic Contrasts

Because a white kitchen is such a quiet backdrop, creating contrasts in both style and materials is crucial to keeping the space interesting and inviting. “Sometimes people think everything has to go in the same direction, and it’s actually opposite,” Cooney says. “If you’re going to have this really fresh white, you want something a little aged next to it to play off of it, just to give that juxtaposition and intention to the space, creating a lovely tension and making it a little more unexpected.”

One of Cooney’s go-tos for giving a kitchen full of white cabinets a sense of age is to mix in wood elements, such as a reclaimed oak floor or another aged-looking surface, such as large limestone pavers. She also likes using Zellige tile for its irregular, handmade look as well as unlacquered brass hardware that develops a patina with use. 

Babcock agrees. “Unlacquered brass is always beautiful,” she says. “It’s like a living finish. As long as you don’t mind that they sort of tarnish over time. To me, that’s part of the beauty of it.”

Put Color In Unexpected Spots

Everybody knows that paint can be transformative, but kitchens often don’t have much wall space to work with. So, how can you use paint to your advantage in a kitchen? The answer might be either over your head or under your feet.

In a white kitchen she recently designed, Babcock painted the floor in an eye-popping chevron pattern in shades of blue. And in her own creamy white kitchen, Mens painted the ceiling a dramatic matte black, a bold move she was unafraid to make because she knew it would be easy to change later. “An unexpected element goes a long way in a white kitchen,” she says. 

Of course, paint isn’t the only way to bring a surprise hit of color to a white kitchen. The idea of painting a kitchen island in a bold color that contrasts with the perimeter cabinets has been around for a while, but lately, Wentz has been seeing a new twist: tiling the end of the island where people sit. It not only brings in color and the texture contrast of tile, but it also saves the island from shoe scuff marks. “It adds so much dimension and interest,” she says. “It’s so fun and it’s something you could probably do yourself.”