This retro-style kitchen was decorated around its magnificent refrigerator that is so immediately redolent of the 1950s. The base units were painted the same color and while, with the exception of the storage units, the kitchen is unfitted, the room has a contained feel because the turquoise is continuously used from the base unit round to the refrigerator. The strong color is only used at a low level, with the wall cupboards and open shelving above painted white. This keeps the room as spacious as possible because the cool white reflects light, making the walls appear to recede. Red is used as an accent color to lift the room. Note the way it has been applied in varying blocks, from the waste bin to the small splash of color supplied by the taps and with the slightly larger group of red cups. If the crockery had been scattered around the area, it would not have had the same impact.

The kitchen occupies the minimum of space, but it still supplies all the facilities needed in a working kitchen: the practical stove, the dishwasher, sink, storage and the refrigerator. Also, the layout falls into the 'triangle principle' where all the important elements - sink, cooking area, and fridge - are contained in a triangle.

A simple checkerboard design has been created using the black and white tilwes, blending the area between the black work¬top and the white units. The black continues through the units, on the handles and down to floor. In contrast, chrome kitchen utensils hang from the window frame, ensuring they are always at hand, and as chrome is very much in keeping with this retro style, the theme is continued with other kitchen accessories.

If the decorating colors had not been limited so religiously to the core colors of turquoise, red, black and white, the end result could easily have been overpowering and messy. Instead, the kitchen is both compact and stylish.