Embracing Color in Today’s Kitchen Design

We spoke to Cambria Style featured designer Mark Schubert of M2 Design Lab about how he transformed a Chicago kitchen and dining area with panache. In this expanded look at that conversation, he explains more about what led him and his clients to decisions that include a bold green color for their upper cabinets and contrasting Cambria designs on the countertop and island.

A Verdant Vision: Green as a Timeless Neutral

Cambria Style: Mark, tell us how you started to reimagine this space as a colorful kitchen.

Mark Schubert: The clients came to me because they really wanted to renovate their duplex condo in the West Town neighborhood. This space was the kitchen and great room, which we changed to a kitchen and dining room, because they do have a full-size lower level that is more of their family living area. We actually gutted this space almost completely—the walls, the ceilings, everything came down, and we did a whole new layout for the kitchen.

What led you to use this vivid green on the cabinets?

They’re very much nature enthusiasts. They like being outdoors. The couple actually got married in Colorado. The backdrop was the mountains. It was gorgeous. So they really wanted to bring that nature indoors, but in a contemporary way. So, when we first started talking to them, they knew that they wanted to do colored cabinets, and they wanted to stay away from a white kitchen. So we leaned into the green tone for the cabinets.

Why was it important to you to bring color into this kitchen?

We do a lot of white kitchens. People think white kitchens are safe. And what we’re seeing is that the white kitchen does just become kind of monotonous over time. I think choosing a color for your kitchen is really going to push those boundaries and make it feel more elevated—and even if you didn’t work with a designer—shows that you did have some design expertise within your renovation. It doesn’t necessarily need to be green, but look at this kitchen: the green with the dark cabinets, it feels very timeless. Twenty years from now, this kitchen is going to still look amazing and stand the test of time.

Creating Contrast with Cambria: Select Complementary Quartz Designs

What was the discussion that led to Cambria’s Colton for the perimeter countertop and Cambria’s Charlestown for the waterfall island?

They liked the amount of movement in these options, and they were very open to my suggestions about contrast throughout the space—with that dark Island and the lighter perimeter countertops—as it lets the island stand out a bit more from the rest of the kitchen. And when you walk into the space, it draws you in a lot, that island being so dark and dramatic with the lights above it.

Why did you also use Colton for the backsplash?

We carried it up the backsplash to keep it a little bit more contemporary and modern in the space. But also, they had a tile backsplash before, and really disliked cleaning it. So I did push them, “Let’s just do the quartz up the back.” And they were very happy with my suggestion.

When you are choosing a surface with a client, what would make you recommend Cambria?

We sit down with any client when we’re doing a kitchen, a bathroom—anything where we have a stone surface that is getting used every day. We like to go through and just ask the clients: what are their expectations out of their stone? And some of that is: do you want to seal your stone every few months? Do you want the maintenance required with it? Do you want something that’s more scratch- or stain-proof? Marbles are very soft. So we go through all of the different aesthetics of the different various stones out there, and then based on their replies, we’ll say, “It sounds like you’re leaning towards a quartz,” or sometimes, “I know this is for Cambria.”

How to Help Clients Make the Best Choices: Tips for Working as a Team

How do you help clients choose colors and patterns that create a cohesive aesthetic?

When we start a project, we send out a questionnaire to our clients. Do they want more of a custom-built cabinet? Do they want fluted cabinets? We want to listen to them. And then as we go through that document and start building upon their design, we take those elements and those aspects that they really want to focus on and bring them to the forefront of the design.

How does this project reflect what’s going on in design right now?

The colored kitchen isn’t going anywhere. It’s really become very popular over the past few years, and we’re seeing more and more of our clients request that. And even just in the design industry, a lot of people are renovating more with color and are not afraid to use it in their spaces. I love to see that, so I really hope that does stick around—whether it be more subdued colors or more bold and saturated colors. To me, it gives your space more of a personality and more of an environment than just a sterile home. We see the white kitchens with the gray walls and white trims, and the first thing a designer thinks is, “Okay, so this is a builder basic house. Let’s get some personality in here.”

When you’re using Cambria, do you tend toward their classic designs or are you interested in what’s new?

I’m actually building out an office space right now, and one of the designs that I selected from Cambria was the Inverness Stonestreet™, which is like a dark gray, but the veining actually is slightly debossed, so it actually makes it feel more like a natural finished stone.

Starting and Finishing Strong: Ensuring a Good Renovation Result

What advice would you give to someone starting the renovation process?

Make sure that you connect every single one of your people—contractors, builders, trades, designers—from the start. That’s going to make a very successful project. When I come into a project after the renovation has already started, maybe after the demo has already started, there usually ends up being more issues that pop up. Because as a designer, we’re working with the builder, the contractor, and the client to really fully flesh out an entire design for you before a hammer hits a wall.

And when it comes to this green kitchen project, how did the results compare to your vision?

When we were starting this project, the clients said, “I want this space to feel like a chef’s kitchen but also like that chef’s table at a restaurant.” Just adjacent is their dining room, and we did this big, 60-inch round table. One of them likes to cook constantly. And so he said, “I really want to be able to present my culinary expertise to my friends and family—like an expo kitchen but in a more residential setting.” So we really kept coming back to that phrase: chef’s table. And that’s what we are pushing throughout this entire design: let’s make this feel like an elevated chef’s table at a restaurant, like a private dining room with a kitchen in it.