Why Comparing Finish Samples Side-by-Side Is the Most Important Step in Your Design
You’ve likely spent hours curating ideas, selecting individual elements, and building a mood board that feels just right. You’ve made thoughtful choices, from cabinet colours to countertop styles, flooring options, sofa and drapery choices, fireplace tile surround, and you’ve even decided on the metal finish of your light fixtures. You may feel confident that everything will come together as planned.
Compiling and comparing physical samples is an essential part of the design process—and skipping it isn’t an option. It’s the part of the process that brings all your ideas into the real world and ensures that your chosen finishes truly work together. This isn’t just about visual harmony—it’s about avoiding costly mistakes. Even the most well-intentioned design can fall flat if finishes clash once installed. And once something is glued, grouted, or mounted, the cost of fixing or replacing it can be significant.
Photos can be deceiving. Lighting in showrooms can mask undertones. And even a slight shift in colour temperature can turn a ‘perfect’ pairing into design regret. That’s why gathering your samples—new finishes and any existing materials you’re keeping—is so important. Laying them out side by side gives you the clearest, most accurate picture of how your design will actually look and feel.
Think of samples as your design insurance. They help you catch mismatches before they become mistakes—and give you the confidence that your final choices will stand the test of time.
How to Confidently Choose Your Finishes: Compare, compare, compare.
With your physical samples gathered, the next step is to compare and refine—this is where your design truly takes shape. Begin by identifying your anchor finish: the one element that will set the tone for the rest of the space. This piece should carry the most visual weight, either through colour, pattern, or presence. It’s often your flooring, countertop, or cabinetry, but it could be any hard finish that stands out as a natural focal point, one that you are most attracted to.
Your anchor finish serves as the design leader—it provides clarity and focus, helping prevent the space from feeling chaotic or overly busy. Once it’s chosen, the rest of your selections can fall into place, supporting the anchor with complementary colours and textures.
Pro Tip: Even in a light, monochromatic palette, your anchor finish should introduce just enough contrast or texture to ground the space and give it depth. This balance between interest and harmony is what turns a collection of samples into a cohesive, beautiful kitchen design.
Trey Schatzmann via Unsplash
Step 1: Start with a Clean Slate
Find yourself a large white background—something like a poster board works perfectly. This neutral surface helps eliminate background undertones so you can see your kitchen finish samples clearly and compare them accurately.
Step 2: Lay Down Your Anchor
Begin by placing your anchor sample—the main finish you’ve already committed to or are building your palette around—onto the white background. This could be a countertop, flooring, or cabinetry sample.
Then, start bringing in the other samples (tile, backsplash, wood floor, etc.) and lay them next to the anchor. The goal is to see how they all interact with each other.
Step 3: Watch for Mismatches
Your eye will naturally pick up when something feels off. Pay close attention to undertones—these can be subtle, but they make a huge difference. Whites, in particular, can be surprisingly tricky, and can throw off the entire scheme.
Step 4: Eliminate
Set aside any samples that clash or just don’t feel quite right with the rest. It’s okay to trust your instincts here—if something looks even slightly out of place now, it’ll feel even more noticeable once it’s installed.
Step 5: Test New Options
For every item you set aside, try another sample in a similar style but with a slightly different shade or undertone. Repeat the process until everything feels balanced and cohesive.
Step 6: Take Your Time
You might need to revisit your supplier or showroom to find better-matching options—and that’s perfectly okay! Give yourself grace during this process. It’s much better to spend a little extra time now than to live with mismatched finishes later.
If you’re down to two very similar samples that both work, don’t rush your decision. Sometimes, you just need to step away and come back with fresh eyes. Sleep on it. The right choice often becomes clear after a little space and time.
Final Step: Confirm the Cohesion
Once you’ve narrowed everything down, you should be left with a group of finishes that all complement your anchor piece. Lay them out one final time and take a moment to appreciate how well they support each other—it should feel effortless and intentional.
And guess what? You’re almost done!
The only thing left? Choosing your paint colour—but with your hard finishes locked in, that final step becomes so much easier.
Get some tips from me on how to do that with confidence.
Need help identifying undertones and confirming which kitchen finish sample works? Booking a Virtual Consultation allows me to walk through design decisions with you. As a certified True Colour Expert™, I help interior design clients avoid costly colour mistakes by ensuring all finishes and paint colours have compatible undertones.
