Cooking in color: Crayola-bright kitchens buck white standard

Some like it hot, but when it comes to kitchen design, most of us dont dare to boldly go where no one has gone before. A little edgy with backsplashes, maybe. A lime spatula or even a KitchenAid mixer in raspberry, why not? But an aqua fridge? Or a radiant orchid range? Seriously?

Seriously. This is not for the design timid. This is about the anti-white kitchen, that classic that remains most picked, in spite of what design editors may want.

White is not at all what Pasadena, Calif., homeowners Karen and Brian Frid-Madden wanted. They envisioned an almost Alice in Wonderland-like gathering place for their two small daughters. They are also huge fans of the work of Mexican architect Luis Barragn (known for expansive planes of color even on the facades of buildings), so color fit right in.

Barragn used color to augment his mastery of space and light within his designs, said Elina Katsioula-Beall of DeWitt Designer Kitchens, who worked with the Frid-Maddens. This, coupled with the theme of bringing the outdoors in by using the cabinetry to evoke fuchsia flower beds, gave us a unique starting point.

For the design, Katsioula-Beall teamed a neon palette with iridescent tiles, silver painted backsplash and stainless steel, which she says absorb the vibrant hues like tinted chameleons as the play of light passes over them.

Dramatic accents

Some may think it a cacophony of color. Others may be more comfortable with monochromatic splashes of bold hues. New York-based Miles Redd has a few high-gloss apple green kitchen cabinets in his design repertoire, making for haute drama in tight spaces.

In the past year, though, a move out of safe neutrals was not limited to cabinets, custom or not. Faucets, sinks, refrigerators and even ranges were introduced in astonishingly unexpected hues. Last years Pantone color of the year, Radiant Orchid, was repped in ovens by Dacor and a range by BlueStar. Now thats some commitment. But no worries if youre not jazzed by the purple family; BlueStar offers more than 750 color and finish selections.

Chicago designer John Wiltgen has never delved into brights in the more permanent parts of the kitchen. Instead hes paved backsplashes with expressive geometric patterns and popped in bright accessories. In his own home, he did wrap an entire kitchen wall in embossed snakeskin-like leather; still, its a muted gray.

Were doing two white kitchens right now, Wiltgen says. One is for a transplanted San Francisco couple who were remodeling for two years and then got transferred here. They hope to stay put, but they dont want the design to affect resale value.

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Cooking in color: Crayola-bright kitchens buck white standard