Cool Tones Are Having a Moment

After a few years dominated by warm, earthy palettes, summer 2026 is bringing the temperature back down, visually, at least. Soft blues, sea greens, and crisp whites are popular across kitchen renovations, evoking the feeling of coastal mornings and shaded courtyards even in kitchens which are nowhere near the water. There’s something instinctively cooling about walking into a kitchen finished in Ocean Wave or Petrol Blue tones; the colour does some of the work that air conditioning used to do alone.

This isn’t just an aesthetic preference, it’s psychological. Cool colours are associated with calm and spaciousness, which matters in a room that tends to get hot, busy, and a little chaotic during summer entertaining. Pairing a blue or green splashback with white cabinetry and natural wood accents creates a kitchen that feels airy without feeling sterile. If you’re drawn to a more dramatic look, a deep Petrol Blue against crisp white surfaces gives that same sense of cool sophistication, just with more contrast and personality.

Browse the full Elegance collection to see how these high-gloss cool tones look across different finishes. The takeaway: this is the season to let your walls breathe a little colour, even if your cabinetry stays neutral.

Texture and Nature-Inspired Finishes

Alongside the cooler colour story, there’s a parallel trend toward texture , surfaces that feel organic rather than purely glossy and graphic. Matt, textured finishes inspired by earth, air, water, and fire are appearing more often in kitchen mood boards this year, bringing a tactile, grounded quality to spaces that might otherwise feel slick or clinical.

Alusplash’s own Elements collection leans directly into this, pairing dramatic blues and greys with calming greens and browns. It’s part of a broader move toward biophilic design: bringing the calming, restorative qualities of nature indoors, something that feels especially relevant in the room where we spend the most energy.

This pairs beautifully with the summer instinct to bring the outdoors in. Potted herbs on the windowsill, a bowl of stone fruit on the counter, woven baskets for produce, these small, natural touches read even more intentionally against a textured, nature-inspired backdrop.

If your kitchen currently leans glossy and modern, even one textured wall panel can soften the whole room and tie it more convincingly to the greenery and natural light flooding in through open windows.