10 paint colours for a north-facing kitchen

A warm white whose warmth comes from pink rather than yellow — for a north-facing kitchen where cream isn't wanted. The cold light brings it back to a soft, clean white without ever greying it, and it flatters everything in wood or brass. The white to choose for cabinets in natural wood or grey.

A soft, golden cream yellow, a notch beyond Lots Road: more a colour than a white. In a north-facing kitchen it is sunshine painted onto the walls — the cold light sobers it just enough that it never looks bright yellow. It is the colour of country kitchens, and it goes wonderfully with greens, deep blues and wood.

A pale green leaning to yellow, the colour of a lime tree in spring — classed for east light, it holds very well facing north thanks to its yellow share, which offsets the cold light. It is the green of a north-facing kitchen you want fresh and cheerful rather than deep: on cabinets or walls, it looks like a garden through the window.

A muted, earthy mid olive green — the green of our most photographed kitchens, and one of the few mid greens to hold facing north. Its share of yellow and brown keeps it warm under blue light, and it needs no sun to be handsome: deep in the morning, deep at night. On cabinets beneath cream walls it is the English kitchen par excellence.

A deep brown claret, the red of the Huguenot houses of Spitalfields. In a north-facing kitchen it is the warmest accent colour there is: an island, a dresser or the base units in Huguenot beneath cream walls warm the whole room, and the cold light sobers it into the red-brown of old leather. A kitchen you want to stay in for dinner.