As spring approaches many homeowners are thinking about changes which can be made to spruce up their living space. One US designer says that adding some colour to a kitchen can make a huge difference to the look and feel of a room. Writing for Star-Gazette.com, Connie Edwards, director of design for American Woodmark, urges homeowners to follow some top tips which he says will help add character to a kitchen space. First, he recommends balancing the colour of the cabinets with that of the walls, suggesting that calm tones on the walls such as soft blue can contrast well with darker, cherry-coloured cabinets. Another simple solution for taking a kitchen from drab to dazzling is to mix cabinetry finishes and/or countertop colours, he writes.Mixing finishes and countertops is a sure-fire way to avoid the common colour mistake of matching everything. When everything in a room is the same colour, it becomes either too intense or too bland.Another way to add a splash of colour to your kitchen is to buy bright utensils such as toasters, kettles and coffee-makers.