Keep it light with white

If you’re worried that all-over dark blue will be overwhelming in your kitchen, balance it with half white cabinets. Limit navy blue to the base cabinets, where their position below eye level will stop the colour feeling too prominent.

Complement them with white worktops and upper cabinets. The white will brighten the space, and the clean split between the upper and lower cabinet colour creates a striking contrast.

Exuding both calm and class, a white and navy kitchen is a great idea for a timeless look that never goes out of style.

Make a kitchen island feature

Another idea for styling navy blue in a two-tone kitchen is to create a feature kitchen island that really draws the eye.

A bold kitchen island works best against a contrasting tone, so white, ivory or light grey cabinets with a white worktop will work fantastically as the backdrop for a navy island.

Alternatively, you could invert the theme with blue cabinets and a white island, including an extra flash of blue in the panelling under a breakfast bar seating area.

Introduce wood

While the blue and white combo is crisp and contemporary, wood textures give navy blue a more traditional feel. Light, honey-toned woods like oak bring out the warmth of blue for a welcoming feel that’s perfect in a farmhouse kitchen.

A hardwood floor goes great in a navy kitchen, and you can complete the look with wood worktops or a wooden dining table. Other natural-toned textures like stone or exposed brick also complement navy and wood.

Complement with metallics

Navy blue matches almost any metallic tone, from silver to copper to gold! A touch of shine adds extra luxury to a contemporary navy blue kitchen - perfect if you want to add extra modern twists to your space.

There are several ways to go - silver cools the blue, while more yellow/orange toned metallics like gold, brass or copper have a warming effect that can add more depth to navy tones.

So, how do you style metallics in a navy kitchen? Build up your theme of metallics in small but numerous places, such as taps, lights, cabinet handles and splashbacks. Add to it more with kitchen accessories like appliances, vases and fruit bowls.

Black and blue

For those with more dramatic taste, black and blue can be a show stopping combination. Most effective in larger kitchens with plenty of natural light, black and blue is a glamorous modern kitchen theme.

Consider a black gloss worktops with navy cabinets, matched to fitted appliances. Or for a more playful look, we love black geometric patterns on the walls of a navy kitchen - either in a large kitchen splashback or a feature wallpaper.

Painted walls

It doesn’t have to be all about the kitchen fittings! Navy can be a great complimenting wall colour for a variety of kitchen shades.

If you have a white, grey or cream kitchen, navy walls can help add some depth to an otherwise very pale palette and provide a striking outline for your cabinets.

In a smaller kitchen you’ll want to avoid too many dark surfaces, but a feature wall around a window or above a key feature will really make the blue pop.

The marble effect

For a bang on-trend kitchen, marble is the perfect companion for navy blue. Marble brings elegant sophistication to any room, and when paired with navy blue and metallics results in the ultimate Instagrammable kitchen.

The rise of marble’s popularity is in part due to its increased accessibility. Convincing imitations mean you no longer have to splash out on real marble if you’re on a limited budget; instead you can buy marble effect tiles, laminate or vinyl for a fraction of the price.

Try out a marble effect laminate worktop, a marble tile splashback, or vinyl marble flooring.

Create kitchen zones

For a different approach to dividing up different coloured units, consider using colours to create different zones in your kitchen.

Isolated pillars of full height navy cabinets can create a striking effect in one corner of a kitchen, such as for an integrated fridge freezer, oven, or floor-to-ceiling cupboard.

Tall blocks of units give a neat, streamlined appearance, which you can build on further with handleless cabinets and flat, un-embellished cabinet doors.

Inspired by our navy kitchen ideas? Find your nearest retailer and start designing your dream kitchen today.