Top Ten: the best colourful kitchens

The kitchen in Sophia and Simon Cook’s self-renovated Edwardian house in Croydon is the sort that makes us smile. Sunshine yellow plywood units and green tiles are a cheerful yet hard-wearing choice, robust enough to stand up to the demands of family life. “The colour in the kitchen all started from the green range cooker I’d always wanted,” Simon told us when we visited the couple for our My Modern House series. The bright tones – oranges, yellows and greens – inform the palette used throughout the other downstairs rooms.

Green and white floor tiles bring an element of fun into the kitchen-dining area of this Victorian terraced house in Bethnal Green. “The diamond pattern tiles were inspired by the classic chequerboard style tiles that my grandfather had,” actress Daisy Lewis told us when we visited as part of our Open House series. Soft pink walls, aluminium units and Italian stone worktops stop the floor from feeling too busy, giving the space a calm yet playful feel. “I really don’t like seeing clutter, so there’s open shelving at the top for glassware, but the units below hide everything else,” Daisy said.

The blue and grey units in this open-plan kitchen and living area in south London are made from recycled chopping boards and milk bottle tops. Aesthetically, the units offer an enlarged version of the speckled grey terrazzo tiles that line the floor. Exposed brick and concrete walls give the space a raw and textured feel, as do the red steel girders overhead. “My love of pop art and graphic culture is reflected throughout the house,” architect Mat Barnes told us.

In this east London house by architect Chris Dyson, the expansive open-plan kitchen and dining area is an exercise in using primary colours. Two of the kitchen walls are painted in a bright cerulean blue, leading to yellow furniture and painted steel girders in the dining area. The stainless steel units and counters are a subtle choice, combining functionality with a pared-back, industrial aesthetic. A polished-concrete floor runs throughout the space, extending to the patio outside to create a seamless link between indoors and out.

Making the most of the triangular footprint of this house in Crouch Hill, the kitchen sits at one end of the ground floor, with one of its wall on a diagonal. Glossy dark green tiles line the walls, bouncing light around the room, which pours in through the windows and skylights. The tiles are balanced by the softer palette of the white units, wooden countertops and raw stone floors. Unglazed internal windows with coral-hued surrounds give a view into the living area, while also bringing light into the space.

Artist Morag Myerscough’s kitchen, which occupies one end of the expansive L-shaped living area in her Hoxton home, combines yellow-painted cabinets with black walls and bold geometric motifs. A mixture of fitted units and freestanding pieces, such as the sideboard and dresser, give the space a layered feel, while the glazed wall units and open shelving below create a sense of openness. “Each bit of the house has a different language, which makes every corner feel interesting,” Morag told us when we visited for our Open House series.

A wall of tomato red units make up grocers Ian James and Nick Selby’s kitchen in their flat in Hackney. The storage potential is maximised by taking advantage of the high ceilings and building the units right up to it. Handleless units are a good choice, as they prevent the block colour from being interrupted by different materials and finishes. An island, topped with the same stainless steel countertop used for the other units, provides additional storage and incorporates the sink.

Occupying part of the top floor of a David Adjaye-designed house in Clerkenwell, the units in this kitchen are painted in a pleasing spectrum of lilacs and purples. Stainless steel countertops stop it from feeling overwhelming, with walls of floor-to-ceiling glazing filling the fifth-floor room with light. Appliances such as the hob and cooker are seamlessly integrated into the units, giving the space a neat, streamlined finish. “I think the bold colour palette of purple, green, orange and blue really enhances the light here and gives the house a sense of fun,” said Della Burnside when we visited.

A bold yellow galley kitchen provides an unexpected pop of colour in this otherwise pared-back flat in Canonbury. The kitchen is positioned in the middle of the lower-ground floor, with no direct light, so yellow is a clever choice, almost giving the illusion of sunlight. Underfoot, polished concrete floors spread across the entire floor, reflecting the light and bouncing the yellow colour around the rest of the white-walled space. The units are bespoke, incorporating a fitted cooker and providing storage.

Designer Jason MacLean also opted for a yellow kitchen at his single-storey modernist house in Camberwell. The walls, countertops, units, handles and ceiling are all painted in the same bright hue. “The colour just suits the house so much,” Jason told us when we visited the house as part of our Open House series. “We work with fashion and interiors studio Eley Kishimoto on a lot of our projects, and some of the kitchen units are clad in a one-off pattern by them called ‘Sun Loving Bollards.’”