The best color choices for kitchen cabinets

If you are like me – sick and tired of your dated-looking kitchen cabinets but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on a remodel – paint the cabinets and use the best color choices for kitchen cabinets.

Update your kitchen without taking on a full renovation is the smartest way you can go right now. Especially if you have to wait for new cabinets for months and months, and I am not even talking about the high costs – and prices are still rising.

If your kitchen cabinets are in decent shape, your layout doesn’t bother you, and you just don’t know how to get started with painting, here are some tips for you you need to have.

The best color choices for kitchen cabinets and two very good recommendations:

Paint your kitchen cabinets, I promise you will be so happy afterward.

And the money you have saved on new cabinets is much better spent on new appliances in stainless steel if you are thinking about the resale value of your house.

Redoing your kitchen cabinets by changing the paint color provides a fresh look at a fraction of the cost.

Save the money refacing or replacing your cabinets if they are still in good shape and can be painted.

The best color choices for cabinets – no matter if you are looking for two-tone kitchen cabinet colors, best white kitchen cabinet colors, or best grey kitchen cabinet colors – are the following:

• dark and light greys
• off-whites
• all shades of green
• dark blue/black with white
• natural hues

How to choose the best paint color for kitchen cabinets?

How to choose the best paint color for your kitchen cabinets the pretty easy way and see my two best recommendations for easy painting

I always start with making a mood board. That means take into account your wall color, counters, backsplash, floor, and appliance color. You want everything to be in balance and look good together.

Take pictures of:

• countertop
• wall color
• backsplash
• floor
• appliances

and bring them all together on one page, into one picture.

When picking out paint colors, make sure to get a sample first and paint it on a cardboard or similar, so you can actually see the color in your kitchen, during night and day.

As I am recommending to use Milk Paint on your cabinets – because Milk Paint has no fumes and you can use your kitchen while you are painting – here are the top color choices for cabinets.

Also, read The best paint for kitchen cabinets & tips on how to start

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. When you click these links I may get a small commission. It won’t cost you anything, but it helps me to run this site. I only promote products and services that I think are great and helpful. Also, read my disclosure policy.

1. Dark and light grey will never go out of style

I have used the following paint colors on my kitchen cabinets that I have painted recently and really love them:

Seagull grey on the upper cabinets and Driftwood on the lower cabinets

Antique White on the upper cabinets and Driftwood on the lower cabinets.

Seagull grey and antique white have a warmth that bright white often misses, but it is not too warm, so it still works well with cooler tones.

You can’t go wrong with this timeless color combination.

Navy – Dark blues in combination with white looks elegant

I have used the Coastal Blue and it looks really great. Especially if you combine it with white. The darker color should always go on the lower cabinets and the lighter color on the upper ones to create a more airy feeling.

Navy is a classic paint color for kitchen cabinets that will never go out of style and it works great with brass and copper as well as with stainless-steel metals.

Greens in all shades look stunning

Basil or Persian Blue is very timeless but still very modern looking. The color green is associated with nature and can turn a space into a sanctuary.

The Persian Blue is very calming, it is a beautiful shade of bluish-green that is peaceful and relaxing. It can also make a small space appear larger because it naturally brightens up a room.

Basil is also a very classic shade, works elegantly as a kitchen base cabinet, and works in different settings from minimal to traditional

Classic black and white

Dark hues are trending in cabinetry. You create a modern sophisticated and elegant look if you incorporate black lower cabinets with upper open shelving. Add gold or amber hardware for a dramatic look and you are completely on-trend for 2022/2023.

Dark Milk Paint Colors require a wax

If you decide on a darker milk paint color, do not use Top Coat for scratch protection but add a wax that gives it a matt shine looking rich and subtle. Here is a suggesiton:

Second recommendation that is even easier to paint because it doesn’t require a topcoat

If you want to get a paint that requires very little preparation work, here is a great choice:

Heirlooms Traditions All in One paint

I just tried it out and I am very surprised how easy this paint covered my honey oak cabinet door.

These are the color choices from Heirlooms Traditions All in One paint:

I tried the color POLO and I love how it looks with only two coats of paint.

Therefore I recommend that you order a couple of paint samples and try them out. It is also very important as the colors look different on the color card than afterward on your cabinet.

Try the paint on the inside of a cabinet door to make sure this is the right color and you can also test for yourself how easy it is to paint.

Start by creating your personal mood board

Mood boards help to choose the right hue from the best color choices for kitchen cabinets

Bring all your materials together. Take a picture of all the surfaces you want to use and bring them together in one picture.

Browse through Pinterest for more inspiration or google kitchen colors.

If you want to use software for creating your mood boards, look into canva.com. It is free and very easy to use.

In this mood board the kitchen cabinets are green (basil) my client wants to use on the cabinets. The wood floor stays, also the brick backsplash is already there. The butcher block countertop will be new. Appliances are black and fit to the selected color scheme.

You see on this mood board how all the colors look perfectly together:

• the brick backsplash
• the light wood floor
• the light countertops color
• the green cabinet color
• the brass cookware/accessories

Before you start painting, get your paint samples and try them out during different day and night times. Bring all of your kitchen colors together to be sure they work together and you are going to love it.

Before you start painting, make sure you selected your backsplash:

Do you want to add a backsplash in your kitchen? Or do you have a backsplash but not love it? You have no clue what to do with it? Here are the 16 most interesting backsplash ideas you should look at.

How about your countertops?

My countertops were a brown/beige Formica pattern I absolutely didn’t like. But we weren’t ready to update it with Quartz or Marble and also waiting months for the installation was not what we wanted. So I painted it. I bought the Gianni Kit and here are all the tips and tricks on doing this: How to paint Formica countertops

Are you waiting for the workshop ‘How to paint kitchen cabinets’ to open?

I teach you how to paint your kitchen cabinets from start to finish. And if you are not sure about the color choices to make, we can set up a ZOOM call to get my opinion on what to do.

Sign up here and get notified of all the updates:

Summary of The best color choices for kitchen cabinets

All of these color choices are recommendations. But you have to feel comfortable in your home and this is why you choose the color you love.

I am so excited that you are going to update your kitchen cabinets – it will make such a change and you will feel so much better – maybe you are also deciding on a new wall color?

Keep me updated and don’t forget to sign up for the workshop.

Conny

Want to remember this article “The best color choices for kitchen cabinets”? Just pin this image to your favorite Pinterest board.