Ask yourself, of all the kitchens you’ve ever graced with your presence, how many stand out in your memory as flat-out amazing? One, five? None!?

The truth is that even beautiful, well-designed, and expertly crafted kitchens often aren’t outstanding enough to make them permanently memorable. Let’s put a stop to that right now!

Here’s a design tip to help you make your kitchen the one that stands out, etched in the memory of all who cross its threshold.

Add a Splash of Color!

A few examples:

Subtle Outside, Colorful Inside!

I’m a huge fan of glass doors on upper cabinets, even if it’s only on a few of them. This little trick takes that idea to a whole new level!

Add a touch of color to the interior of your upper cabinets and contrast that with a relatively subtle exterior color on the cabinets and you’ve got an inspiring design in the making!

The really exciting thought is how easy it is to change that color, especially if you only do a small section of cabinets.

It’s easy because you really can’t see minor imperfections in the paint inside a cabinet with glass doors and stuff in it. So you have this cool option of switching out your color from time-to-time.

I can see the look on my mother-in-law’s face now. “wasn’t that red last time I was here? I’m losing it…”

Create a Colorful Display

Ok, so let’s be real. There is no way this is going to work for all the cabinets in an actual kitchen in a real house with real people living in it. But that doesn’t mean the idea is bad.

Look at this picture, it’s really just a small section of cabinets, probably in a little piece of wall off to one side of the main kitchen. If you’ve got a space like this, it’s perfect for creating a display.

Think of it as living art! It’s worth doing just for the fun of shopping for the best looking water bottles and cans of beans! Is there a way to work Oreos into this?

Beadboard Blues

So let’s not mince words. Beadboard ROCKS! I’ve used beadboard in every imaginable place in a house and it always looks good. Inside of cabinets, bathroom walls, stairwells, you name it.

One of the most common and great looking places to throw in a little bit of beadboard is the front of an island or high-bar. People do it all the time.

Don’t you want to be different? Aren’t we looking for that one-in-a-million memorable kitchen?

Then add a splash of color! Paint that beadboard front a blue, or a red, or a green. Any color that works for your design. And like the inside of the cabinet above, it’s easy to change.

Redfrigerator?

No? Then, how about some blue-ish, aqua-ish awesomeness? Like this:

This kitchen has a bit more than a “splash” of color. It’s more like a gatorade bath after the superbowl win. Too much? I think it would be perfect with a more subtle wall splash tile.

I love the appliances and that’s the idea I’m sharing here. Vintage look appliances like this are available now from a wide range of manufacturers. Some companies, like Big Chill Fridge, have made a name for themselves doing nothing but colorful vintage look appliances.

Not quite as easy to change colors on this one though, so make sure you’re sold out heart and soul before taking the plunge!

Paint The Windows!

If the refrigerator gets to be colorful, then the windows should get the same opportunity. This is non-discriminatory coloration. It doesn’t have to be a crazy bright color, you can go a little more subtle, like this picture:

You know how some guys can’t stay focused when a pretty girl walks by? I have that problem, but with open beams. I forgot what we were talking about…

Oh right, the splash of color in the windows! How creative and fun is that?

You would normally think that this is only possible with wood windows and it’s true that the process is a bit easier with wood. But the truth is that you can buy paint formulated for metal or vinyl at most any home center type store today. So if you have aluminum or vinyl windows, I wouldn’t let it hold you back.

Paint Beams or Soffits

Soffits and support beams the kids who always get picked on. Many a remodeling project has been started with the simple goal of getting rid of that ugly soffit*. Maybe the soffit just needs a little encouragement. Anybody ever think of that? How about a nice new outfit to make it feel better…

I’m telling you what, that looks good. It might not be your personal style, but you have to admit its nice and it pulls off a contemporary look without being stark and unwelcoming.

Not everyone has a steel I-beam in the kitchen, but lots of people have ugly soffits or structural beams wrapped in plaster or drywall.

If that includes you and you’ve been wanting to banish the offending bit of architectural malpractice, maybe this will change your mind.

Color Inspires!

One thing all of these kitchens have in common is that they are inspiring! They serve two purposes. One is the function of a kitchen and all which that entails, the other is the function of invigoration! That’s what makes a space memorable. It makes you feel great to be in.

Give it a try!

The photos for this post can all be found on my Idea Kitchens board on Pinterest, where each can be traced back to it’s original source.

*In this context, the soffit is the solid box that’s built either to lower the upper cabinets down or to conceal ductwork, not to be confused with exterior soffit in your overhang.

Is it just me, or does everyone look at the ceiling when they enter a new room? I never miss the ceiling details and if you’re looking for a place to start remodeling, I think you should take it from the top!

False beams are a super detail that can be done in most homes. Sometimes called “boxed beams” these are usually not “structural”, meaning they don’t hold anything up; they’re for looks! And they do look good!

It’s pretty common to see these beams done as shown in these photos. The construction consists of four main components:

1. Framing Lumber (not seen)
2. “1-by” Side boards
3. Crown Molding
4. Another 1-by on the bottom

Sometimes, as in the picture at the top, you’ll see these beams “supported” by columns. While often not needed to hold up the roof, the columns look great and add room definition.

There are times when both the beams and columns are structural, so know for sure before you ever take something that looks like this out!

Construction of false beams is fairly simple. I’ve done a quick drawing to show you the parts involved and how they are arranged. Take a look:

Notice that I didn’t show anything about attachment. There are any number of methods for attaching the various parts. If I were doing this job, I would use an air nailer and trim nails, along with a good quality wood glue.

The attachment to the ceiling, on the other hand, is important. It might be helpful for me to tell you at this point that the top 2×4 has to be attached to the ceiling before the beam is built! There are a few ways to do this:

• Attach the 2×4 to solid framing in the attic using lag bolts or large screws.
• Add some blocking or “dead-wood” in the attic for this purpose if none is present.
• Use large toggle bolts. Just be sure to use a sufficient number to carry the weight of your beam!
• DO NOT rely on drywall anchors designed for use in a wall such as plastic expansion anchors or EZ-Anchors. You don’t want this hitting you in the noggin!

Add some v-joint material to cover the ceiling (or use bead board) and you can really kick it up!

Use graph paper and draw out your room to scale so you can mess around with alternative beam arrangements. I prefer symmetry rather than the look in the picture above…but I guess I could live with this kitchen anyway!

Important note: The drawing I did is just one way to do this. The wider your beam gets (notice that the beams in the picture are wide) the less sense it will make to use a solid 2-by along the bottom edge of the beam. You can build up the frame of these things pretty much however you want to, just keep them straight and square and be sure it’s all attached well to the ceiling!

Boxed-Beams

Difficulty: Moderate – While not a project for a complete beginner, this really isn’t that complex. This is especially true if you are going to paint your work, because goof-ups can be covered-up! You’ll need some good tools and ladders!

Time Frame: Short – An average Kitchen could be done in about 40 hours with two people working. This would include the painting time involved. You should at least prime the material before you put it up to reduce overhead paint work.

Cost Range: Medium – A job like this requires no structural work, no drywall work, and only requires painting of the material you’re installing. As such the cost can be well contained. That said, it depends on who you hire or if you DIY it! The materials involved for an average kitchen would generally be less than $500.00

Think Inside the Box!