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How many times have you stepped into a condo or townhome in downtown D.C. and thought it looked fresh, unique, simplistic, and elegant? If you would use these words on someone's home chances are they have a lot of contemporary designs built into their home.
If you’ve read our latest blog on Contemporary flooring ideas, you’re probably familiar with what a Contemporary kitchen looks like. However, just in case you’re a new visitor, I’d like to explain what we consider a contemporary design before we start with the ideas.
A contemporary kitchen can mean a lot of things to different people, but to us, a Contemporary Kitchen will feature metallic accents throughout the kitchen combined with neutral colors and a minimalist feel to the cabinetry and appliances.
I know you’ve read phrases like neutral colors and metallic accents and it can be difficult to even know what the terms mean. In short, metallic accents normally mean little touches of silver throughout your kitchen in the form of stainless steel appliances, door knobs, cabinet handles, and even touches of silver inside different flooring options, such as Silver Pearl Granite.
When we think about neutral color combinations, we’re mainly talking about white, gray, and beige. Each of these colors pairs incredibly well with black to provide a minimalistic feel to the room with eye-popping contrasts. As we go through our ideas, you’ll notice a lot of styles feature these color combinations. Hope you enjoy the blog!
The easiest way to identify a Contemporary Kitchen is the simple black and white color patterns throughout the kitchen. There is nothing like a Thassos White Marble Countertop combined with a matte black finished cabinet set.
What Would I Do With Thassos White Marble and Black Cabinets?
If you’ve never heard of Thassos White Marble, it’s found in Greece and features a beautiful snow white tone. The white in the marble is bright and is highly reflective, especially from natural light. I would position the reflective white marble where I knew it would be hit by the natural light of the sun.
Thassos White Marble may be one of the most beautiful and elegant marble stones you can have installed in your house. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most expensive marbles you can find at somewhere between $80-$125 per square foot.
Are you interested in learning about ways to get the biggest bang for buck in kitchen remodels? If so, our Top Kitchen Remodel Ideas for at Least a 60%+ Return on Investment (ROI) blog is a great place to start.
I chose Matte as the finish because you don’t need your cabinets to reflect light with the white marble and silver accents in the stainless steel appliances. A Matte Black Slab Cabinet Set with a full overlay is one of the most contemporary designs you can have in a home.
Having the Slab hardwood cabinet set with a full overlay provides more storage room because the cabinet is built without a vertical frame to add strength to the cabinet shelves. It’s sleek look provides a larger feel to kitchens and can be a great way to open up a small kitchen.
One of the most overlooked aspects to a contemporary kitchen is the addition of silver on white and black. There are many ways to add silver accents to your kitchen, but none being more prominent than appliances, door knobs, cabinet and drawer candles.
I used stainless steel on my handles for all cabinets to add that pop of contrast that is so famous with a contemporary kitchen. I love the way the glossy hue of the silver looks against custom hardwood cabinets. Adding a touch of silver can really improve the contrast in your kitchen that offers elegance and new color accents. The best part about it is it’s not very expensive to add small accents throughout your kitchen.
Beige is a neutral color that is often used in industrial and commercial buildings because it’s easy to match with almost anything. Just like white and gray, beige can be a great way to add warmth to your kitchen. If you look at most contemporary kitchens, they don’t offer the warmth of a Farmhouse or mid century modern home.
Beige is a color that you really have to be careful with because you can make a room look old and small if you go with too dark a tone. Using our award-winning interior designers could really help you find the right color tone to match with your cabinets and countertops.
Combining beige paint with something like a Mahogany Louvered Shaker cabinet adds a darker, creamier chocolate tone to the room. The visible grains inside the Mahogany with the slight dark cherry red hues offer an elegance that has to be respected. I especially love the horizontal wood flaps that add character and substance to the cabinets.
One of my all-time favorite combinations is adding rustic pendant light fixtures with modern full overlay frameless cabinets. Frameless cabinets are another main staple in contemporary kitchens. Frameless cabinets are perfect for smaller kitchens because they add more space with the room saved by not framing the cabinet to the box.
There are many different light fixtures to choose from, but one of my favorite light fixtures to combine with a hardwood cabinet is a brass rectangle box pendant light. I never would have thought that brass could offer such elegance and contrast to neutral colors, but our contractors at Monumental surprise me all the time with the things they can come up with.
Having the rectangle box light fixture suspended from the ceiling on a white marble or butcher block countertop will look absolutely stunning to anyone stepping foot in your kitchen.
The cabinets will provide the optimal space for storage, while the rustic lighting will draw attention from the glossy brass as the bulbs reflect the light creating an almost optical illusion with the contrast in color..
We work almost exclusively in the D.C Metro area and NOVA, so we understand how to get the most out of small spaces. Many people underestimate the amount of space you can save with the design of your cabinets.
Have you heard about concealable cabinets? Before you start to think of concealed cabinet hinges, I’m actually referring to hiding appliances, such as refrigerators, freezers, trash bins and microwaves.
One important consideration you need to make if you’re wanting concealed cabinets is to ensure you’re highlighting the custom work of the cabinetry. A concealed cabinet in your kitchen can make your kitchen feel smaller with so much wood, but only if you choose the wrong color or cabinet design.
Being able to walk into your kitchen and not have any of your appliances in sight, except your stove top opens the room up in a big way. I’d use white cabinets with a satin finish to add more light to the kitchen with the glossy satin finish.
Many contemporary kitchens try to encapsulate a sleek minimalistic design to highlight the elegance of the materials used. One of the more breathtaking combinations is glass cabinetry, glass countertops, and with black frames and boxes.
I know you’re probably thinking, what if I drop a pan on my countertop and shatter it like a broken drinking glass? Fortunately, there are higher grades of glass that we use in our manufacturing that are thick enough to withstand heavy weight and high temperatures.
Calacatta Marble is one of the most expensive stones on the planet with only a handful of quarries worldwide in Italy. The white and gold swirls in the stone add elegance, prestige, and are absolutely breathtaking contrasts of black, white, and gold.
Contemporary homes in 2022 seem to be jumping out with a lot of glass features to the kitchen with the famous metallic accents on each appliance. One combination that our contractors have discussed is installing glass-front cabinets with glass refrigerator/freezer doors.
Many customers in the D.C. Metro areas have started to really like the ability to see into their kitchen, including their refrigerator and freezer without opening them. Monumental can show you how to design your kitchen to properly highlight the elegance of the glass while not taking all the attention away from your granite countertop.
A black Titanium Granite countertop paired with white glass-front cabinets and appliances is the perfect contrast to provide a smooth, clean aurora to your kitchen. The white, gray, and silver waves of granite flow through the Black Titanium Granite like a river of stone throughout your countertop or flooring.
Surrounded by a deep black tone to the granite, the waves of white, bronze or gold can be mesmerizing with the right lighting. Black Titanium is very expensive at $75-$105 per square foot. However, if you’re looking for a breathtaking contemporary kitchen, a Titanium Black Granite COuntertop with glass and metallic accents would do the trick.
We ask that you give us a chance to show you some of the incredible ways we can improve your D.C. Metro Area or Northern Virginia (NOVA) home. We’re a family run company that prides ourselves on providing the best service to our community. We look forward to hearing from you!
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