Kitchen Tips: How to select the perfect fittings to suit your personality and style

Maybe you’ve just settled on a kitchen reno design with the company you chose, or you’re looking to update your current kitchen without making grand changes like cabinetry or worktops. In either situation, this is a great time to think about finishing touches and styling options for your kitchen.

Hardware

Probably the most important of details as well as the easiest to change, is your hardware. Your handles can really change the look of your kitchen. A rounded burnished brass or nickel handle will add some depth and traditionalism to a more modern space, whereas a polished nickel or satin brass lacquered can bring modernity to a more classic shaker style kitchen cabinet and will reflect light gorgeously.

If you’re thinking of changing your hardware, specifically if you have pulls, make sure to take a look at the inside of your cabinetry doors and drawers and measure the space between the holes; this is your spread. Keeping the spread the same is recommended if you are after a quick and easy job, however if the pull you desperately want is smaller, bigger or you have decided a size up/down will benefit you, be aware that this will be a bigger job as you will have to fill the pre-existing hole, sand and paint over it.

If possible, go see your handles in store before placing your order. Seeing the hardware in person and getting a good idea of the finish and feel will help you finalise your decision.

We carefully selected some of our favourite handles and sell them in our Pantry! We have a wide range of finishes and styles to suit everyone’s style and almost all of our projects feature one of them.

Something we get asked a lot in regards to hardware is whether mixing metals is okay. Will a burnished brass handle look odd with a steel? The answer to that is definitely not! Mixing metals is very common in kitchen design and has actually become quite trendy. If you think about it, appliances are almost always going to be stainless steel, yet so many kitchens in the last few years have gone with brass knobs and pulls. If you think it’ll bother you however, go with a nickel or chrome and keep your sanity! If you want to learn more about mixing metals, read our blogpost ‘Guide to Mixing Metals’.

We tend to find that choosing handle finishes is either very easy for clients (they have already made up their mind) or quite confusing. If you’re having trouble picking, consider what colour or finish your cabinetry is. Look at the handles on your cabinetry the way you would look at jewellery on your skin-tone. Different colours and tones will bring out or suit different finishes better. Your designer will be there to help you with this if you’re unsure. You may find our blogpost ‘Guide to Mood Boarding and Colour Combinations’ helpful here as well.

Decorative Tiles

Another thing we have seen a lot more of in the last couple of years is tiled splashbacks. Whether your style is very clean, muted and minimal or bolder and perhaps more asymmetric, a decorative tile on a splashback or between cabinetry runs can makes a space look very put together and expensive. If you’re thinking of tiling the space between your upper and bottom cabinets, try tiling all the way up to the top cabinets. If you only have bottom units, tiling further the wall than you’d expect will add a certain grandness to your kitchen and pull the eye up.

If you’re planning a kitchen renovation and feel decorative tiles aren’t for you and would rather something more simple, we love seeing worktops continuing up the walls. You can go for a shorter upstand or continue the slab up to your upper cabinetry. If you don’t have upper units, depending on your ceiling height, you could even take the slab all the way up your wall, perhaps adding some open shelving out of the same material on top for a very seamless and modern look.

Lighting

Something you may have not thought about too much is your lighting, particularly pendant lights over an island or kitchen table. This is a great area to bring a lot of your personality to the space. You can match these to your hardware if you wish or you can mix your cool and warm tones which adds depth and design complexity to the space.

When thinking about pendant lights, this is a brilliant point to consider bringing some curves into your design. Your cabinetry, sinks, appliances and worktops all have something in common: they’re rectangular! Something that really elevates a room in terms of design and style is juxtaposition and balance. Bringing in some round shapes in a room with mostly angular items, will harmonise the space and soften it. This is something you can apply to your tiles, taps and/or handles as well. Maintaining a balance between straight, angular lines and curves is key. A gooseneck tap for example will soften a kitchen with more rectangular handles on the cabinetry.

Round shapes and curves are extremely popular in pendant lighting at the moment and you will be spoiled for choice! Look for inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram. (Where else does one find inspiration for anything nowadays?) We love Duma in Whitstable for lighting.