Why you should be embracing green kitchens
Green is a colour associated with wisdom (think sage and you get the idea) and it certainly seems to ring true when it comes to picking a kitchen colour as the popularity of green kitchens has been on the rise for a while, with a sage green kitchen being the top of most people's colour wishlist. We're not talking about the walls here, but green kitchen cabinets – they've been featured in many a House & Garden house over recent years and we simply cannot get enough of them. So, whether you fancy a dark green kitchen or have more of a thing for an olive green or emerald kitchen, be inspired by these from the archive to paint your own and stop you being… well, green, with envy.
Chris Horwood1/11Sophie Warburton, founder of Host Home, kept the existing kitchen in her London house, repainting the units from a pillar box red to the calm green of Benjamin Moore's ‘Guacamole,’ an olive green with blue undertones. The tiles are zellige tiles in a colourway called ‘Pastel Sand’ and pair very well with the green kitchen cabinets. A pop of colour comes from part of Sophie's glassware and ceramics collection, with all the glasses from Host and mugs from Mud Australia.
Maree Homer2/11This emerald green kitchen in a 19th-century former whaler’s cottage in North Sydney might be too bold for some, but if you take away the pink walls and panelling, the colour itself is very charming. The paint used here is Dulux’s ‘Green Gables’.
Yuki Sugiura3/11The sage green kitchen has become steadily more popular and ‘Sage Green’ from Little Greene is a wonderful choice for green kitchen cabinets. Here, in Matilda Goad's house, it is paired with plaster-effect walls and red and white checkerboard zellige tiles to great effect.
4/11In her former farmhouse (she has since relocated to London), fashion stylist Louise Roe also used ‘Sage Green' by Little Greene on the kitchen cabinets. Against white walls and with light streaming in, it creates a fresh and bright kitchen scheme.
Simon Brown5/11The glossy black Aga contrasts with the olive green kitchen units and reclaimed chestnut floor in this north London artist's studio turned house by interior designer Caroline Holdaway. Black accents continue in the handles and rail above the cooker and work well to toughen up the overall aesthetic.
Paul Massey6/11A dresser by Plain English, painted in the company’s ‘Army Camp’ green, shows how to achieve a stylish dark green kitchen. Being the kitchen-cum-dining room of Rita Konig's farmhouse, you can expect that it works brilliantly. The room has three huge windows on the opposite side from the dresser, which stop the dark green feeling oppressive.
Andrew Montgomery7/11Often, a coat or two of paint can be all a kitchen needs to feel fresh and new. That was precisely the case in this bright green kitchen in Henrietta Courtauld's house, which Maria Speake had repainted in an Emery & Cie green to refresh the room.
Simon Brown8/11Charles Hurst, who often works with designer Caroline Holdaway, built this kitchen in Robin Muir's house. The island unit is painted in a matt green similar to 'Greengage' by Designers Guild, while the worktop is in English oak. It makes for a bright, jolly green kitchen, tempered by the cool neutrals and abundance of wood.
Tim Beddow9/11In the emerald green kitchen of Sarah Vanrenen's London house, an abundance of light from the garden brightens the tone and the pink rug on the floor provides a wonderful balance for the colour of the cabinets. The paint is not solid, but instead has brushstrokes visible which give a country feel to this green dream.
Christopher Horwood10/11An olive green kitchen takes centre stage in a former tannery overhauled by Howark Design. The paint shade is bespoke and has been paired with neutral panelling, a copper worktop and a zingy orange range (out of shot).
Alexander James11/11This house by John McCall is dramatic and does not shy away from colour. The green kitchen cabinets take centre stage against a soft terracotta wash on the walls by decorative paint artist Hughie Turner, devised to make the green pop.
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