Why we still love blue kitchen cabinets, and how to get them right

Conversely to what you might believe, blue is not always a cool colour, though it can read that way in the wrong light. A blue with a green or red undertone is always going to have a hint of warmth in it that a blue with a more standard grey undertone won't.

And in classic British light, blue-with-grey reads, well, much closer to the overcast end of the spectrum. Little Greene's Air Force Blue with its dark green tint and the red pigments in Graham and Brown's Benjamin Blue are ideal for British kitchens, staying warm even if the weather is anything but.

A classic modern kitchen combo is blue cabinets with an ice white worktop. Because if it works in the summer sky, when clouds drift across it, then it'll work in the home too, right? Wrong.

Because the iciness of a brilliant white not only makes whatever blue is paired with it recede and fade but it also draws out its coolest tones. This is the worst of all worlds. If you're set on white, opt for a creamy yellow-based off white, which looks particularly good on a tiled backsplash and softens the jump between the white and blue, making the whole space feel much easier on the eye.