How to Choose Kitchen Wall Colors (with Pictures) | eHow

Do some investigative work. Take about a week poring through design magazines or online sites and choose 10 of your favorite kitchens. Cut out the pictures or print them from your computer. You'll notice that you have a tendency to choose the same palette and style.

Step 2:

Figure out your own design style. Every room can be characterized as modern, Country French, English traditional, Spanish hacienda, pop era kitschy, whatever. Go online to a design center site (see link below), or a search engine box, and type into it the kind of kitchen you've decided you're going for---for example, American retro. Look at what comes back. If you agree that it is a good match or has potential, note the colors used. You're not a copycat---it's research.

Step 3:

Ask yourself what are your favorite elements in your kitchen. It could be your black granite countertops, your Polish stoneware collection, or the antique French country table. Either pull colors from the stoneware, for example, or, with the granite, choose an opposite color for pop.

Step 4:

Take a photograph of your existing kitchen. Keep this as a reference when you go to shop.

Step 5:

Decide on three colors that you've narrowed it down to according to your room's theme, favorite objects, and the mood you're going for. For example: Country French or Italian kitchens often feature warm, sunny colors like golden yellow, sponge-painted orange, and earthy reds---used to reflect the accouterments that are part and parcel to their design and a sunny climate.