Cream kitchen ideas for every style and budget

Cream kitchens are by no means a new phenomenon, but gone are the days when opting for a neutral kitchen meant settling for less character.

In fact, with some handy hints and tricks, a cream kitchen can actually provide the perfect base for you to express your personality with accessories, furniture and wall décor – not to mention the fact that it can easily be styled and re-styled as trends change.

What colour goes with cream kitchen units?

Cream kitchens are the perfect foil for accent colours. It provides a neutral canvas for shades like blues, pinks, deep greens, grey and even black and whites to stand out from.

For more kitchen colour inspiration, check out our guide to using green in your kitchen decor, 15 sophisticated pink kitchen accessories to transform the heart of your home and the best blue kitchen ideas to transform your space.

Cream kitchen ideas

So, whether you like traditional, shaker style, ultra-modern or luxury-look décor, a cream kitchen might just be the option for you. Take a look at our cream kitchen ideas gallery, or keep reading for our tips on how to style a cream kitchen.

If you love the look of a farmhouse country kitchen, with its shaker kitchen units, take inspiration from the cottagecore trend and mix wood, brass and rustic ceramics to give a cream kitchen an inviting, homely feel.

Although the cottagecore trend is all about embracing furnishings and trinkets that remind us of the pastoral past, adding metro tiles (or painting your existing tiles with a light cream shade) can keep your space looking fresh whilst still creating a warm, country look.

Often, many of us are convinced that we want an ultra-modern, sleek kitchen, but find that the effect of high-gloss, handle-less cabinets and white walls sometimes seem a touch too cold and uninviting.

The good news is that it’s totally possible to achieve a modern, minimalist kitchen that still feels warm and homely – the key is to go monochrome, but mix textures.

Pair soft cream walls with tactile cream tiles to prevent your space from looking flat, adding accessories of the same tone. Use light wooden surfaces like plywood to introduce a relaxed Scandi feel, and finish the look with polished chrome accents. Add marble accessories and some sprigs of eucalyptus for a high-end vibe.

If you like the idea of using cream in your kitchen scheme, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you should choose traditional cream units with colour-coordinated appliances, features and flooring.

Instead, achieve a bespoke look by using cream as an accent colour, teaming a cream island with dark cabinets, or vice versa.

If you're not looking to get a new kitchen fitted, you can easily achieve this multi-tonal look by adding in a piece of cream freestanding kitchen furniture, and use neutral-toned accessories, such as rattan lighting and studded bar stools, to enhance the effect.

If you're looking to create a rustic look in your kitchen, linen effect wallpaper in a warm hessian shade is a great way to add character - it's perfect for giving modern properties and new builds a bit more of a lived-in feel, whilst still keeping a space looking neutral and clean.

For a really rustic feel, add antique effect tiles and an old-fashioned brass tap. Take it one step further and use floating shelves to display Pinterest-inspired glass jars full of kitchen essentials.

A cream colour palette lends itself perfectly to ‘soft industrial style’, a new trend which sees pale metallic tones combined with light surfaces to create a bright and airy space, with an industrial edge.

To achieve this look, style light cream walls and matte cream cabinets with sturdy, rustic furnishings – think metal and leather bar stools, dark wooden flooring and split face tiles.

To finish the look, make a feature of industrial-style pendant lighting with exposed bulbs and wire.

Gloss kitchen units are guaranteed to look great in any kitchen, but they’re particularly effective if you’re working with a small or dark space, thanks to their reflective qualities.

If you do decide to opt for a gloss finish but you want to keep the look relaxed and contemporary, try minimising the amount of reflective, glossy appliances and accessories that you choose. Matte splashback tiles can help gloss cabinets to stand out, whilst natural or painted wooden accents (such as the panelling pictured above) can give a standard gloss kitchen a relaxed, Scandinavian-style twist.

If you love the cream kitchen look, be sure to check out our guide to Japandi style and Scandi style too.

More kitchen ideas:

• How to give your kitchen a brand new look on a budget
• Kitchen decor colours 2021: four looks by Farrow & Ball
• Kitchen tile ideas for every style and budget
• Five ways to maximise your kitchen storage