What Color Should I Paint My Kitchen Cabinets?

By now you have probably realized that one of the most popular ways to dramatically change your kitchen (and in many ways your home) for a reasonable price is by painting your kitchen cabinets. It was only about 10 years ago that maple and oak-stained cabinets were the most popular choice but painting cabinets has quickly become the norm.

We refinish a lot of kitchen cabinets (and bath cabinets, etc) in the Cleveland, OH area and one of the most common questions we get is what color to choose. Here are some of our favorite examples (all from our own work) along with an explanation to help you decide what is best for your home. Please remember, when choosing any paint color that all of the other colors in the room affect what looks best. One color may look great in someone else’s kitchen but not in yours. Be sure to also check out the 2023 color trends for your Cleveland home.

White Kitchen Cabinet Painting

White is still the most popular color as it has been for at least five years or so. One of the reasons white is such a popular color is because it makes all of the other colors in the kitchen pop (such as the walls and counters). White-painted cabinets can make a smaller kitchen appear larger just like painting the walls a lighter color can do. We love to use White Dove (OC-17) from Benjamin Moore when painting kitchen cabinets white.

White Kitchen Cabinet Painting in Avon Lake, OH

This kitchen is in Avon Lake and we helped their kitchen go from a dark brown (almost black) stained cabinet to a bright white. This really transformed the space and made the entire kitchen look bigger.

White Cabinet Painting in Ohio

This kitchen was very similar but in a different style of kitchen that we painted white in Ohio City. You can see how dark the cabinets were before painting them.

White Painted Cabinets in Westlake, OH

Here is an example of kitchen cabinet painting in Westlake where we painted them in white. This is a large kitchen but painting the cabinets white made for a much more modern look.

White Kitchen Cabinets in Avon, OH

Finally, one more kitchen that we recently painted white (we have a lot to choose from since white is so popular). Our cabinet painting in Avon gave an awesome transformation because of the recently re-finished hardwood floors as well as the new countertops. You can see that we used a gray/sage green color on the island as an accent piece. The best part…. no more golden oak!!

Off-White / Cream Kitchen Cabinet Painting

The second most popular cabinet color is off-white or cream. In many homes, a bright white color on the kitchen cabinets can be too bright. This is often the case if the rest of the trim in the house is off-white or if the counters or flooring in the kitchen are on the warm side of the color spectrum. For example, if your counters have a lot of brown or yellow tones then an off-white color can be a great compliment.

Cream Colored Kitchen Cabinet Painting in Brecksville, OH

It may be hard to tell in the picture below, but this is an example of an off-white color. We did this kitchen cabinet painting in Brecksville with the color Bauhaus Buff (SW 7552) from Sherwin Williams. 

The color works well (and even looks brighter) in this kitchen because of the other colors. Because the walls are a green shade and the backsplash has a lot of brown tones, this off-white color compliments them well.

Gray Cabinet Painting

Gray is the most popular color family for wall color, but is it the best color for your kitchen cabinets? It is definitely a popular choice but it is probably a little more ‘trendy’ than white and off-white. As with any color, it really depends on the rest of your decorating as well as the floors and countertops. Light gray and dark gray are both popular for cabinets. A dark gray can be especially sharp on just a portion of the cabinets such as painting the island or just the lower cabinets that color.

Gray Kitchen Cabinet Painting in Avon Lake, OH

Gray is the most popular color family for wall color, but is it the best color for your kitchen cabinets? It is definitely a popular choice but it is probably a little more ‘trendy’ than white and off-white. As with any color, it really depends on the rest of your decorating as well as the floors and countertops. Light gray and dark gray are both popular for cabinets. A dark gray can be especially sharp on just a portion of the cabinets such as painting the island or just the lower cabinets that color.

Below is an example of our kitchen cabinet painting in Avon Lake in which we painted the cabinets in a light gray color. Our interior designer helped this homeowner select the color “Bone Black CW-715” from Benjamin Moore. We also painted the thin piece of wood near the top in black to give it an accent piece. This really tied in well with the black counters.

Blue Painted Kitchen Cabinets

If you already have a lot of gray and white in your kitchen, a great option to paint your cabinets could be dark navy blue. This may be best used on only some of the cabinets instead of all of them but can be a fun accent and focal point. This is definitely not for everyone and is more likely to not be as popular in 5 years or so but right now it is a fairly popular option.

Blue Painted Kitchen Cabinets in Avon, OH

We love the way this kitchen cabinet painting in Avon turned out with this bright blue island. It really provides a great focal point and works really well with the white counters and backsplash. The blue and white also look really sharp with these dark brown floors. We also did a kitchen cabinet painting in Lakewood where you can see what navy blue looks like on the bottom section of cabinets with white on the top. You can see that the rest of the colors in the kitchen are in the gray and white family (cooler colors) so the blue provides a great contrast. It also works well with the stainless steel appliances.

Green Colors for Kitchen Cabinet Painting

One final color option to show is a shade of green. Similar to navy blue, this is a more trendy option that only works in certain homes. This color can work in homes with more warm tones such as shades of beige or “greige”. It also probably works best with a slightly creamy off-white instead of a stark white.

Green Colored Kitchen Cabinet Painting in Lakewood

Here is an example of a cabinet painting in Lakewood where we painted the cabinets with an off-white and a green shade. The bottom cabinets are painted with Sherwin Williams’ color Cascade Green (SW 0066). You can see that the walls were also painted with a “greige” color (a warm gray-taupe combination). Please note, the customer was having a backsplash installed. We didn’t just ‘miss a spot’. haha!

Hopefully, this article helps you to plan your kitchen cabinet painting project. There are a lot of great options available and the best one for you really depends on your personal taste and the other colors in your kitchen. If you live in the Cleveland area, we would love the opportunity to speak with you about painting your kitchen cabinets. You can learn more about our process on our Cabinet Painting page.

We also offer a variety of expert house painting services including:

• Exterior Painting,
• Interior Painting,
• Wallpaper Installation,
• and more!

Our prices are affordable and we offer some of best warranties in the industry to make sure you are completely satisfied with your Cleveland house painting for years to come. Give us a call at 216-503-4480 or contact us online for a FREE estimate.