Warm Minimalist Kitchen Design – How To Get The Look

Warm minimalist kitchen design may not be a style you’re particularly familiar with but it’s one that’s been quietly growing in popularity within the interior design space over the last few years. Fusing together the ideas and concepts of a few different kitchen design aesthetics to create its own style.

In this post, I’ll explain what warm minimalist kitchen design is as well as how to get the look for your kitchen design project.

Let’s get into it!

What Is Warm Minimalist Kitchen Design?

Warm minimalist kitchen design is a relatively new kitchen design look and aesthetic. It incorporates the design ideas and principles from a few different kitchen design styles to create its own particular look.

It uses the principles of minimalist design at its core but introduces elements from Scandinavian, Biophilic and Modern Mediterranean design styles to give it a warmer, softer and more natural aesthetic.

The key elements to a warm minimalist kitchen design are:

  • Minimalist design principles
  • Warm colour palette
  • Natural materials
  • Light (warmth)
  • Soft, subtle and natural textures

Warm minimalist kitchen design brings a little bit more character, comfort and cosiness to a clean and functional kitchen.

If you weren’t a fan of the often cold and stark look of minimalist design but liked the idea of a clean, functional space, then a warm minimalist kitchen design could be exactly what you’re looking for.

Warm Minimalist Kitchen Design – Nicolaj Bo

Minimalist Kitchen Design

When talking about warm minimalist kitchen design it’s important to understand one of the core elements to it, minimalist design.

Minimalist kitchen design is not just about having an empty white box for a room. Although it can often feel that way. It’s about being intentional with what you include in the space and is often broken down into the idea of quality over quantity.

However, it’s not just about being intentional with what physical items, ornaments and nicknacks you add to your kitchen but also the number of different design elements, colours and textures.

Minimalist design is often characterised by its simplicity, clean lines and clutter-free look. It is a design style without ornamentation and over-decoration. You tend not to see any detailing on cabinet doors or moulding but instead have slab-fronted (often handleless) cabinetry with minimal and simple design.

It strives to strip things back to the bare essentials and only include that which is most necessary. Both in terms of physical items and their aesthetic choices. This is why you’ll often see and associate empty-looking kitchens in a monochromatic (usually white) colour scheme with minimalist design.

I like to think of it that the bones of the kitchen adhere to this minimalist design principle, it then uses these other elements on top that create the warm minimalist kitchen look.

Minimalist Kitchen Design – Nicolaj Bo

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Warm Colour Palette

A warm minimalist kitchen design uses softer, neutral and (you guessed it) warmer colours as its foundation. It will often use earthen tones such as beige, terracotta and soft browns to introduce that feeling of warmth.

Popular warm minimalist kitchen design colours:

  • Off Whites (warm)
  • Beige
  • Taupe
  • Greige
  • Light Brown
  • Light Terracotta
  • Putty
  • Moss

It typically uses lighter, neutral colours as its base but that doesn’t mean it can’t introduce some darker richer tones throughout as well.

Warm minimalist colour palette – Nicolaj Bo

A warm minimalist colour scheme tends to stay clear of brilliant whites and cold greys. Instead opting for creamier off-whites or softer light brown puttier undertones that help to bring the colour palette across to the warmer side.

Warm minimalist colour palette – Nordiska Kök

Natural Materials

Another key concept of warm minimalism is using natural materials within the design to bring a sense of nature and warmth to the kitchen.

Using materials such as wood and natural stone can be a great way to introduce that feeling of nature. Using real ‘organic’ natural materials is a cornerstone of biophilic design that warm minimalism takes inspiration.

Natural stones such as marble, limestone and quartzite with warm, earthy undertones and colourings are the perfect addition to a warm minimalist kitchen.

The idea of bringing nature and the outside into the home is often championed as helping to bring harmony, warmth and comfort into a space. All of which are key principles to warm minimalism.

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Light (Warmth)

As with many kitchen design styles, light plays an important part in creating a warm minimalist kitchen.

Introducing lots of natural light into the room is a great way to help create a fresh and inviting space. Large windows, skylights of french (patio) doors can are perfect to achieve this.

In addition, any artificial light should be on the warmer side of the colour temperature chart. Ideally, 5000k or lower to help bring warmer and more candlelight hues into the room. Lighting that is 5000k + gets progressively bluer and colder in look and feel.

Kitchen bathed in natural light – Nordiska Kök

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Texture

Introducing texture to your kitchen is another important way to help make your environment cosier and more tactile. It can often be achieved with the use of natural materials such as wood and stone as elements of the kitchen cabinetry and countertop.

Including some beautiful hand-made tiles as a backsplash or creating a feature island or cooker hood using slatted (or fluted) timber are some other great ways to introduce texture to the kitchen.

Intentionally placing more decorative items with texture in the kitchen can really help to achieve this softer, cosier feeling. This idea is often associated with Scandinavian design and the concept of hygge.

However, it is not limited to just the kitchen cabinetry.

A natural woven kitchen runner, rattan bar stools or even soft linen curtains or blinds all help to bring texture into the kitchen to soften and warm the room.

Texture within kitchen design – Nicolaj Bo

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Is Warm Minimalist Kitchen Design Just A Fad?

There are so many kitchen design trends, and by their very nature, they will glide in and out of popularity over time.

Styles such as farmhouse, industrial, coastal, japandi, minimalist and biophilic, all evolve and appeal to different people in different properties in different locations around the world. And warm minimalist kitchen design is another addition and option to a very long list.

Whether any of them have ultimate staying power or are just fads can’t ever be truly known. However, in my opinion, it doesn’t really matter. If you like a particular look or trend, then it’s the style for you!

And if we didn’t have these different styles coming and going and nothing ever changed, it would be awfully boring.

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Final Thoughts…

There you have it! An introduction and breakdown of warm minimalist kitchen design.

Clean, sleek and functional but with a warm and inviting nature. It’s easy to see why the warm minimalist design style is growing in popularity over recent years.

What do you think? Will you introduce this style into your new kitchen project?

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Author

Michael from Kitchinsider.com

Michael is a kitchen designer from the UK. He's been designing and project managing new kitchen installations for over 10 years. Before that, he was an electrician and part of a team that fitted kitchens. He created Kitchinsider in early 2019 to help give people advice when it comes to getting a new kitchen.