Go deep, dark green in your kitchen

Complement it with warm tones.

Green is a happy partner with earthy tones, which bring out its warmer side. A variety of shades can complement a bottom-of-the-pond green, like strong orange and soft terra cotta, barely there beige and ochre.

Consider by the power of small accessories in helping to build a colour scheme.

Tie in the floor.

Patterned floor tiles indoors remain hugely popular, geometric ones can be a nice twist on the more traditional encaustic tile designs that have led the way.

For a more contemporary look, opt for details such as flat-fronted, handleless cabinets and a slightly less historic shade of green. Instead of having a vibrant floor, you also could try hanging a large, framed abstract print or advertising poster in complementary colours.

Highlight the history.

The historic look is another emerging kitchen trend, and inky green is the perfect shade if you want to hark back to simpler times. Black and navy are two other popular options, but there’s something about British racing green that instantly conjures up the past.

Pair it with marble countertops or backsplashes to enhance that built-to-last feel, and choose your lighting with care. Vintage originals or thoughtful reproductions with a gentle industrial edge will top off the downstairsat- Downton-Abbey effect.

Boost your room design with art.

Art can enhance a kitchen and can cement references to any era you might be tapping into — whether Colonial, midcentury modern or anything in between.

Flirt with gray.

Picking a shade that borders on deep gray is another way to use green in a modern space, as gray has such contemporary connotations.

There’s a convention in kitchen design when using two colours of cabinet that the lower units are dark, while the upper ones are the paler shade. However, a reversal of the unspoken rule can work in a large airy kitchen with a high ceiling. In a small room, you may find that having a dark top section and a pale lower section gives you the feeling that the walls are falling in on you, so research carefully before committing to a colour scheme.

Go for all over.

Intensify your chosen green by painting all your woodwork in it too. The effect can steer the kitchen into homey, rather than smart-classic territory, and it works wonderfully.

Stick to a strip.

Perhaps you already have your kitchen in place and fancy just a refresh? Or maybe you’re not up for committing to green as your cabinet colour? You can still let the colour shine in your cooking space, and a greentiled backsplash is one way to do it.

If you have wood accessories or features in a pale stain, consider sprucing them up with a new stain (always try out stains and coloured wood oils on an outof- sight patch first, regardless of the shade pictured on the label).

Play with a trio.

Mix up a selection of greens to create depth in your design. To find compatible shades, try picking three from a paint colour card. Try them out on sheets of paper, and tape them on different walls and surfaces around your kitchen to see how each looks in the light and how well they work together.

Wow with a feature wall.

Look around your kitchen space to see if you have a full-height wall you could paint. If you don’t, you could choose one floor-to-ceiling cabinet to turn green, and tie it into your design with a narrow backsplash in the same shade. You could use tiles for your backsplash if you can find ones in exactly the same green, or paint the backs of cut-to-size tempered glass to match.