What’s the first thing you do when you are about to redecorate a room in your home? Grab the magazines right? Would it still be considered designing if you duplicate the look of a room from a magazine? I say no – it’s not.

Here’s a fairly generic photograph taken from House Beautiful of a white kitchen. You’ve chosen this picture because you are remodeling your kitchen and you like this look. So what do you do? Do you paint your kitchen white, get white cabinets, white window treatments, red stools and put those cute little gray shelves on the wall? Yes, if you’re a homeowner, no if you’re a Designer.

So what’s my point? My point is this. If you’re a homeowner and love the look of this room then yes – duplicate as much as you can because THIS is your guide to getting the look you want for your kitchen. If you’re a Designer, to copy a photograph is a cop-out. Anyone can do that but a good Designer will encompass the look you’re trying to achieve without being a copy cat.

What would I do to get the look of this kitchen without being a copy cat Designer? Looking at this room you can see the main color scheme is white with red accents and a touch of gray. I would leave the white cabinets (this would so not be my kitchen, remember, it’s for a client) add a Nickel Blend mosaic backsplash from Daltile …

… a touch of red in the pendants from IKEA …

White plantation shutters similar to these. Using white fabric for a kitchen window is a very poor idea. Note: White is a bad color to choose for a kitchen if you’re Italian  (gravy making is a mess LoL)

… and a soft white counter top from Silestone just so the kitchen doesn’t look so hospital like …

I would continue to add some red accents here and there for color but lean more towards the gray and nickel as the main “color” of this room.

So there you have it! My take on a very white kitchen. Anyone can choose white on white on white – you don’t need a Designer for that. However, using a photograph from a magazine and calling it your own – THAT is the way to go!