The spectrum of reds evoke just about every mood, from fiery to relaxed. Burgundy falls under the latter category and is an easy, delightfully comforting shade to live with. Which perhaps explains why it’s having a color moment.
Wine red may be associated with baronial settings, but it works surprisingly well as a prominent paint and tile accent in kitchens, whether contemporary or old world. Here are 10 standouts that make the case for cooking with burgundy.
Above: GRT Architects tiled an island in glossy deep red squares with dusty rose grout in an NYC Cook Space that Defies “One-Word Summaries.” Photograph by Nicole Franzen, courtesy of GRT Architects.
Above: From the UK’s Paper & Paint Library: a tranquil space that evokes a Dutch still life. The cabinets are painted Scarlet ‘n’ Rust in a finish called Architects’ Gloss, and the walls are matte Mink, a “pink-based neutral.” The Clean White ceiling works with the porcelain sink and the marble counter to balance the composition.
Above: Australian graphic designer and gallery owner Holly McCauley preserved her Queensland home’s existing kitchen but enhanced it with a burgundy-and-pink-checked backsplash. See more in A Laid-Back Cottage in the Hinterlands of Australia’s East Coast. Photograph by Amelia Rushforth, courtesy of In Bed.
Above: Little Greene, the UK paint company now available in the US, paired Arras, its richest red, with Rolling Fog-Dark, a warm neutral, in this two-toned space.
Above: Float Studio, a NYC firm known for designing inventive, homey offices, created this open kitchen for a Manhattan financial firm. The island and backsplash are finished with Canela Twist Glossy Thin Brick Tiles from Country Floors. Photograph by William Jess Laird, courtesy of Float Studio.
Above: Burgundy Meets Blush in the deVol Heirloom Collection Kitchen, a showroom at their Cotes Mills headquarters in Leicestershire, England. The cabinets and plate rack are painted deVol’s own Refectory Red; the walls are Dead Salmon from Farrow & Ball. The curtains are Textured Stripe Linen from Volga.
Also see burgundy cabinets in Kitchen of the Week: A From-Scratch deVol Design in a Victorian Lacemaker’s House. And N.B.: deVol has just opened an LA showroom.
Above: Another of Float Studio‘s specialities is designing test kitchens. At The Commons, Tasting Table’s former testing lab and event space in SoHo NYC, designers Brad Sherman and Barbara Giacoman custom designed the cabinets, which are faced with Forbo furniture linoleum and topped with Caesarstone in a color called Frozen Terra.
“That burgundy is very much a red, but it’s warm and neutral enough that it works well with the natural wood tones and food looks great against it,” Giacoman told Tasting Table. Photograph by Aaron Thompson, courtesy of Float Studio.
Above: Burgundy meets blue in an apartment kitchen on the outskirts of Warsaw by Mistovia, Marcin Czopek’s interior design studio. The tiles are from 41zero42 of Italy. Photograph by ONI Studio, courtesy of Mistovia.
Above: Bernheimer Architecture added a new kitchen to a Brooklyn row house using Ikea base cabinets and Reform’s Basis doors. The doors are finished with Forbo’s furniture linoleum— also used two images above—which is composed of 98 percent renewable materials, such as linseed oil, wood “flour,”pine resin, and limestone.
Above: Frances Merrill of Reath Design in Los Angeles updated a 1926 Mediterranean house in jewel tones. A memorable detail is this newly introduced bar sink with a curved marble backsplash and skirt of pleated plum handkerchief linen, $19.99 a yard, from Gray Lines Linen of NYC. Photograph by Laure Joliet, courtesy of Reath Design.
More kitchen palette inspiration:
