You may not have given it much thought, but your hardware plays an important part in the look of your kitchen. It’s sometimes easy to overlook as it’s not considered one of the big-ticket items. But as your kitchen’s hardware covers metallic elements including door handles and pulls and taps and light fittings as well as shelf brackets and socket covers, these details play a key role in the overall style and finish.

Furthermore, matching your hardware to your accessories can help you achieve a cohesive kitchen design. As with most areas of interior design, there’s more than one way to do this.

You can do it in a very straightforward way, through the use of a single colour or material. You could, for example, go for copper taps and cupboard handles coupled with a rail of copper pans and utensils. This theme can be enhanced with copper picture frames and light fixtures. This trick works equally well in traditionally-styled white kitchens and modern dark blue shaker kitchens. Alternatively, you may opt for matt-black taps, handles and sockets to match your matt-black appliances and bar stools. A choice that works well in industrial and monochrome kitchens.

It’s not the only way to match your kitchen hardware to your accessories. You could take an approach that considers the overall style of your kitchen. Brass taps and cupboard handles are a popular choice when you’re after a timeless, traditional feel to your kitchen. But that doesn’t mean you need to start adding lots of brassware to your kitchen for a cohesive theme. Instead you could couple it with other timeless accessories such as white crockery and wooden shelves and chopping boards.

You can go a step further when you’re matching your kitchen hardware and accessories by thinking about the aesthetic you’re aiming for in your home. A calming, Scandi aesthetic has a popular appeal with many homeowners. And achieving it in your kitchen can be very much down to getting the details right. For example, blending a sleek lever-style mixer tap, profile cupboard handles and clear glass light shades with natural wood furnishings and marble tiles.

If you’re ready start your kitchen styling but don’t know what details work together, you could create a mood board of images and samples to nail down your design.

Contributor
John McCallister - lighting expert: John is a qualified electrician and lighting expert with over fifteen years' experience. John specialises in intricate lighting projects for home extensions and loft conversions.