How To Juice Up A White Kitchen

When an oh-so-crisp-and-clean room feels too crisp and clean, just add punches of pattern and color, like this Nashville family did.

- Jennifer Berno Decleene

New builds get a bad rap for being blah: They’re pretty, sure, but sorely lacking in spunk. That’s exactly what Kerry and Cullen Roberts had to contend with in the kitchen of the five-bedroom Nashville, TN, Colonial they bought to more comfortably fit their family of five. “We were sold on the open layout, and how bright the kitchen felt in all white—but we love color and pattern, and it wasn’t us,” says Kerry. The couple called in designer Gen Sohr, who didn’t see the plain—just the promise: “An all-white kitchen was the ideal blank canvas for layering in the happy hues they love,” she says. Gen started with the bright, citrusy fabric for the windows’ Roman shades, which set the palette for the rest of the accessories. When all was said and done, the couple didn’t have to crack open a single can of paint for the space to take on a whole new look. “It’s still a white kitchen, only way fresher and m