Project Lily: A Kitchen with Warmth and Contrast
We brought navy cabinets, light uppers, brass hardware, cream herringbone tile, and a beautiful professional-style range together in this Winnipeg kitchen.
Georgia Home Design
Winnipeg, MB
Project Lily began with a beautiful opportunity: one long cooking wall and clients who were ready to embrace colour. We used deep navy below, light cabinetry above, and warm cream tile between them to give the kitchen contrast without losing its welcoming feel. The professional-style range sits proudly at the centre, exactly where it belongs.
We selected and installed the backsplash with Task Reno, and Shray Doors supplied the cabinetry. This is a finished kitchen, and one we especially love for the way a few confident choices all support each other. The earlier wall had warm wood cabinets and a metallic subway tile. The completed run is the two-tone wall you see here.
View the full Project Lily post on Instagram
Giving the range its moment
The stainless Wolf range sits at the centre of the run, framed by broad drawer banks below and tall shaker cabinets above. We tucked a low-profile stainless hood between the upper cabinets so the range could remain the visual anchor. The balanced arrangement gives the wall a calm sense of order and keeps pots, utensils, and preparation space close to the cooking zone.
We kept the navy on the lower cabinets, where it grounds the room without closing it in. The light uppers reach nearly to the ceiling and reflect daylight as well as the warm under-cabinet lighting. A simple ribbon of white counter gives the two cabinet colours a little breathing room.
Finished kitchen
The tile that brought it all together
The backsplash was the piece that needed to connect everything. We chose a glossy cream rectangular tile and laid it in a herringbone pattern. The warm colour sits beautifully beside the crisp counters, pale uppers, navy bases, brass pulls, and natural wood floor. Small variations in the tile catch the light across the long wall, while a close grout colour lets the pattern stay soft.
Behind the range, we centred the herringbone beneath the hood. The diagonal lines meet the cooking zone evenly and continue across the counters on both sides. Careful alignment matters with this pattern because the eye goes straight to the range, and even a small drift would be most noticeable there.
Warm under-cabinet lights bring out the glaze and texture while illuminating the full depth of the worktop. The tile gets to be the decorative layer we wanted, but it is also a durable, easy-to-clean surface behind the busiest parts of the kitchen.
Balancing bright and bold
Slim brass pulls repeat across both cabinet colours. Their warmth softens the navy doors and keeps the pale uppers from feeling cool. Stainless steel on the range and hood adds a practical third finish, while the red range knobs bring in one small, joyful accent.
The placement of colour solved the central design question for us. A full wall of navy could have felt heavy across such a long run, while an all-white kitchen would not have had the depth our clients wanted. Keeping navy below and light cabinetry above gave us both richness and brightness.
The cream tile, brass hardware, and wood floor are the bridge between those two halves. Together, they make the whole cooking wall feel warm and complete rather than like a stack of separate selections. Against the earlier wood cabinets and metallic tile, that shift is easy to see: same range, a much calmer wall around it.
Project Lily is polished, but it still feels approachable, practical, and ready to be cooked in every day.
More detail on this room is available in Kitchen Herringbone Backsplash.