Kitchen Cabinet Colors: A Guide
Many customers ask us, what is the best color for kitchen cabinets. The answer is there is no correct answer. The answer is different for each person.
Here are some questions that may help steer you in the right kitchen cabinet color direction.
- Do you want a timeless look?
- Are you trying to express your personality?
- Do you want to have a kitchen that shows off the current trend?
- Is resale important?
- Do you want to be able to refresh your kitchen in five to ten years?
Timeless Design
A timeless design means that the kitchen will always be in style. Trends come and go, but a timeless design will always be popular. Timeless design is created with neutral colors. White and off-white work best for creating neutral kitchen cabinet colors. You can also achieve a timeless design with beige, greige, and gray. Greige is a combination of beige and gray. A good example of greige is Benjamin Moore’s Peau de Soie.
Personality
If you have a color that shouts you, then use it in the kitchen. It can be loud—paint all the cabinets that color—or it can be soft—paint an accent cabinet: an island, a stand-alone wall cabinet, or the trim (crown molding). Many manufacturers offer kitchen cabinets in a wide variety of colors. Keep in mind that at some point you may tire of the color and have to paint the cabinets.
Trendy
If you Google “kitchen cabinet colors for 2018”, you will see that each expert has his or her take on the most popular color of the year. You will see some commonalities, but there is no one or two colors that all of the experts agree on. Here are the colors that are currently trending: Barn red, sage green, bright red, midnight black, cool gray and orange. So, as you can see, there is no one best color for kitchen cabinets.
Mixing colors and mixing colors with stains is trending. You can use different kitchen cabinet colors for the wall and base cabinets or use a different color or stain on the island. For example, use stained cabinets for the bases and white for the wall cabinets, or use stained island cabinets and painted wall and base cabinets. Let your imagination run wild.
Resale
If resale is important to you, then stick with a neutral color which will appeal to most potential buyers. White is by far the most universally appealing color. Trendy colors or your personal preferences may turn off potential buyers. If white is not a color you can live with, a good compromise would be to use a neutral color that is trending such as greige.
Refresh
If you get bored with your kitchen cabinet colors after five-plus years and want the ability to freshen-up your kitchen with minimal costs, use a timeless color for the cabinets and use trendy colors for the walls, towels, counter tops accessories, art work, window treatments, and backsplash. Changing these items out will cost far less than replacing the cabinets and countertops.
If you select a cabinet that you may have to paint in the future, make the job easier and choose a simple door style that has minimal details. Shaker doors and slab panel doors are much easier to paint that a traditional raised panel door.
As you can see, there is no wrong or right answer when it comes to the best color for kitchen cabinets, but there may be a best color for you depending on your motivation.
To get kitchen cabinet colors and a design that works best for you, call the experts at Kitchen Express for a free in-home design consultation and see how beautiful your kitchen could be.
