The Always pan creator and Our Place founder's stunning kitchen effortlessly mixes coloured appliances and cookware - it's all down to this easy tip
Shiza Shahid explains her trick for choosing the perfect colour combination for your kitchen
![Our Place founder, Shiza Shahid in her blue kitchen in her Los Angeles home](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WCL968BHt5he7KPEnMuoWn-415-80.jpg)
In the past few years, the sheer amount of available colourways of kitchen appliances and cookware has become truly impressive. But as a result, this can lead to overwhelm when deciding what shade of toaster to invest in or what saucepan colour to get. So how do you choose the colours of your kitchen appliances and cookware to create a cohesive kitchen colour scheme?
In part, you can credit Our Place, the cookware brand that stormed the industry five years ago with its colourful iterations of the bestselling Always Pan, for starting the kitchen trend of introducing more colour variety to appliances and cookware. ‘When we started Our Place the kitchenware industry was devoid of colour – with almost all other appliances and pans being black and stainless steel,’ says Shiza Shahid, co-founder of Our Place.
‘We brought colour to the space as a way to elevate every kitchen and inspire creativity in cooking. Our colour palette is a tapestry of elegant and nuanced shades, like a well-loved heirloom.’
Realising her dream blue kitchen idea, complete with beautiful Spanish tiles in her Los Angeles home, Shiza has the formula for picking the right kitchen colours down, using only particular colours from her brand’s collection to complement the overall colour palette. And she’s shared her secret and a look inside her stunning kitchen with Ideal Home.
Shiza Shahid’s advice on choosing appliance and cookware colours
Until recently, Our Place was solely a cookware brand. But since the launch of the Our Place Wonder Oven, a countertop oven with air frying, toasting, roasting and other functions, the brand is now a kitchen appliance brand too. And of course, Shiza incorporates most of her company’s products in her own kitchen, the Wonder Oven and Always Pan included.
‘My kitchen is a beautiful blue Spanish tile so I complement it with our Blue Salt Wonder Oven. And then, I mixed it up with a Lavender Perfect Pot and the Titanium Always Pan Pro adorning my stove. I love our colours, and they work so well together,’ she says.
But this formula can be used in any kitchen. ‘To create a cohesive and stylish kitchen, harmonise larger pieces, like the Wonder Oven, with the predominant colour of your kitchen. For instance, in a neutral kitchen, a Steam Wonder Oven will exude effortless elegance. Then, showcase your personality and taste with contrasting pieces. Choose cookware in unique hues like Sage or Spice to add a vibrant pop of colour,’ Shiza explains.
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She adds that Our Place offers a 100-day free trial so if you’re not sure you like the colour you chose or if you don’t think it works with your kitchen, you can swap it for another colourway free of charge.
Even Ideal Home’s own kitchen expert and Content Editor, Holly Cockburn agrees with Shiza’s advice, 'When it comes to choosing a colour for your kitchen appliances, you'll need to weigh up both longevity and your kitchen aesthetic. You likely won't want to replace large built-in appliances so play it safe by coordinating the colour of these with your kitchen, as they will stand side-by-side for longer.
'When it comes to smaller appliances that cost less and might be replaced more regularly, there's so much more scope to make a statement with a contrasting colour palette or a statement finish. Less commitment financially makes it much easier to be brave, so have fun with it!'
In light of that, you might notice that when it comes to the very large appliances, like the oven and stove and the fridge, Shiza opted for a neutral stainless steel finish, which is very easy to pair with pretty much all colours and which she then matched with the Titanium Always Pan.
Get the look
Sometimes, all you need is a little pot to make your sauces or make hot drinks (milky chai, anyone?). And that's exactly when this incredibly pretty and cute as a button Mini Perfect Pot comes in. And if you want to follow Shiza's lead, it's the Lavender colourway you'll want to snap up.
As we at Ideal Home got to have a hands-on experience and a demo of the Our Place Wonder Oven from Shiza herself, we can all attest that it not only looks great but it works. It can replace your oven, your toaster and even your air fryer. It's a versatile appliance this one.
If you're looking for the best saucepan set then look no further. The professional chef favourite, the Titanium Always Pan Pro, is joined by the Perfect Pot (essentially the pot version of the regular Always Pan) in this two-piece set. You don't need much more than that.
Hopefully this has inspired you to embrace colour and colour layering in your kitchen, whatever shades you end up going for.
Sara Hesikova has been a Content Editor at Ideal Home since June 2024, starting at the title as a News Writer in July 2023. Sara brings the Ideal Home’s readership features and news stories from the world of homes and interiors, as well as trend-led pieces, shopping round-ups and more, focusing on all things room decor, specialising in living rooms, bedrooms, hallways, home offices and dining rooms. Graduating from London College of Fashion with a bachelor’s degree in fashion journalism in 2016, she got her start in niche fashion and lifestyle magazines like Glass and Alvar as a writer and editor before making the leap into interiors, working with the likes of 91 Magazine and copywriting for luxury bed linen brand Yves Delorme among others. She feels that fashion and interiors are intrinsically connected – if someone puts an effort into what they wear, they most likely also care about what they surround themselves with.
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