This Is the All-Time Best Paint Color for Kitchens, According to Designers
The heart of any home is the kitchen. It’s where you cook dinner, gather with friends, and maybe even help your kids with their homework — which makes the color of your kitchen very important.
Kitchens should look and feel warm and inviting, and in addition to the decor and furnishings, your wall paint color helps set the tone of the space. “Kitchens are one of my favorite playgrounds,” says Jan Odesanya, principal interior designer at Mondän & Co Interiors.
Because it can be daunting to pick out a color for your kitchen, I reached out to seven designers to learn all about the best colors for kitchens. Between classic neutrals and a few bold options, these designers know what works — and what doesn’t work — in a kitchen.
Read on for their favorite color choice, some runners-up, and a few color palettes to help get you started.
The Best Kitchen Color
The one shade that came out on top among all the designers was Benjamin Moore’s Revere Pewter, a neutral that’s a perfect blend of warm and cool tones.
Citing it as “an extraordinary neutral that pairs beautifully with nearly any stone or tile,” Anna Tatsioni, lead interior designer at Decorilla, recommends starting with Revere Pewter as a foolproof base color when choosing a color scheme for your kitchen. “I always guide my clients through a process starting with their fixed elements. Look at your countertops, backsplash, and flooring first — these are your anchors,” she adds.
Bambi A’Lynn Bratton of Bambi A’Lynn Interior Design says that Revere Pewter “looks beautiful with white marble or quartz stone, a fixture material in many kitchens.”
Five Other Great Kitchen Colors
To no one’s surprise, the designers I spoke to included a mix of whites, beiges, and muted neutrals among their favorite colors for kitchens. These shades work well with a wide range of materials, like stone countertops and wooden cabinets. Additionally, these colors all keep your kitchen looking bright and inviting, and they’re a safe choice that will work well with both modern and traditional kitchens.
Gray
Revere Pewter certainly isn’t the only grayish color on the list — a close runner-up was Benjamin Moore’s Classic Gray, a very light shade that also functions as an off-white color. Designers like Bratton love using this color because it pairs well with white marbles like Calcutta gold or Carrara, two popular choices for kitchens.
When choosing a color scheme, Jennifer Rogers, designer at BKC Kitchen and Bath, recommends choosing “dominant neutrals such as Classic Gray for walls to ground the area, followed by layering in complementary accent colors relevant to your persona through decor, backsplashes, etc., to give your kitchen a cohesive look.”
For modern kitchens, designers recommend Sherwin-Williams’ Iron Ore. “It’s not quite black, not quite gray — it’s somewhere in that perfect ‘moody charcoal’ zone. I’ve used it with concrete countertops and open shelving, and it instantly brought that cool, ‘dark academia’ feel to the space,” Odesanya says.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Bratton recommends whites, taupes, and warm grays for modern kitchens because they “add a lightness and warmth without overpowering the space,” she says. “These hues also let other natural materials, like marble and quartz, shine on their own.”
Emily Henderson, designer and founder of Style by Emily Henderson, adds, “Any color can be modern if applied in the right way. A light blue can be trendy and cool on a flat front cabinet or modern tile, but can also look sweet and farmhouse-like if on a more traditional cabinet front or tile.”
White
If you’re trying to make a small kitchen feel larger with color, try using light, reflective shades like white. “Colors like Sherwin-Williams’ Alabaster keep the kitchen airy and trick your eye into thinking the space is more significant than it is,” says Magda Callery, designer and founder of Style by Magda.
Odesanya adds that Alabaster is “warm, creamy, and cozy without being too yellow,” saying that she “loves using it in smaller kitchens where you want a bit of glow but still need that open, airy feeling.”
Beige
Some designers prefer neutrals in deeper shades when it comes to the kitchen. “I consistently turn to Benjamin Moore’s White Sand for kitchens,” Tatsioni says. “It’s a versatile warm neutral that creates an inviting atmosphere while providing the perfect backdrop for both modern and traditional kitchens. Its subtle depth means it works beautifully across changing light conditions throughout the day.”
Green
Green has been taking over in kitchens, and even Joanna Gaines is a fan of the hue. In fact, kitchens have been going green since 2019, and the trend seems set to continue, according to these designers.
“You should consider subtle, earthy hues to maintain harmony and balance within the kitchen space,” Rogers suggests.
Callery adds, “Soft greens like Benjamin Moore’s Saybrook Sage or Sherwin-Williams’ Sea Salt create a calm atmosphere. These colors are easy on the eyes, even when dealing with Monday morning chaos. Bonus: They go with almost every style of kitchen.”
Blue
A great blue paint option is Benjamin Moore’s Wales Gray, which, despite its name, is a traditional blue shade with a gray undertone. Chicago-based interior designer Claire Staszak of Centered by Design says, “I think that another great way to make a small kitchen feel larger is a soft perimeter shade like Wales Gray, and to mix in a wooden island to break up all the paint and keep your eye moving. The correct scale lighting also helps the room feel proportional and draws the eye up.”
Colors to Avoid Using in Kitchens
No matter your color preference, one thing that designers agree on is what not to paint your walls. Though it may seem obvious, the designers I interviewed all agree that you should avoid vibrant, saturated reds and bright neons (think yellows and oranges), which can overshadow the rooms and make them look dated. “It’s not that they’re ‘wrong,’” Odesanya says. “They’re just hard to live with every day.”
How to Pick a Great Color for Your Kitchen Cabinets
In addition to wall colors, it’s also worth mentioning your kitchen cabinets. Should you paint them or leave them a natural wood color? Ultimately, the choice is yours, but designers do have some opinions on what will stand the test of time.
It’s worth noting that picking out a cabinet color that will coordinate with your walls and the rest of your kitchen can be tough. “A good start is that cool tones go with cool tones and warm go with warm, but there are always exceptions,” Henderson advises. “Always make sure to look at the colors together in the space, because lighting can also change everything.”
Henderson adds, “I tend to go for a more neutral color (big fan of greens and blues over here). Painting cabinets is a big, annoying job so choosing a color that you don’t have to worry you’ll get sick of in 6 months is important. You can easily play with bold colors in the decor, which is far less permanent.”
One final piece of advice when picking a cabinet color? “Just remember — if all else fails, you can never go wrong with white. White cabinets are ageless, traditional, and always in style,” Callery says.
If you prefer a bold look, go with Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy, Callery recommends. “It’s a rich, beautiful navy that works with just about any countertop.”
Odesanya adds that Hale Navy is the “little black dress” of kitchens. “If you want ‘effortlessly cool,’ this color is it. I recently used it on a kitchen island paired with white cabinets, and it became the centerpiece of the whole house.”
If you’re aiming for warmth or coziness, consider leaving the natural wood tones or warm neutrals like taupe. “There’s something about wood that just makes a space feel grounded. Bonus: Wood never goes out of style,” Odesanya says.
The 5 Best Room Color Palettes
When choosing a color scheme, Callery recommends starting with your cabinets or walls — your biggest surfaces — and building from there. “Pick one bold color, one neutral, and one accent for balance. If unsure, stick to classic combos like navy, white, gray, and soft green,” Callery says.
Need some ideas for picking a kitchen color scheme? Take a look at some favorite color combinations sourced from a total of nearly 40,000 kitchen images across Apartment Therapy’s House Tours.
Here are a few you may find especially inspiring.
A Light Neutral and Navy
These navy-painted cabinets make a big impression in this modern kitchen. A pair of blue artwork pieces on an adjacent wall creates a sense of continuity in the kitchen, while a bright yellow floor runner adds some contrast. The matte black hardware makes this kitchen feel sleek and sophisticated.
Sage Green With Pops of Red (Complementary Colors)
Sage green walls can make a bold statement, especially when they’re paired with a maximalist patterned wallpaper like in this kitchen. The walls, trim, and cupboards are all painted a similar shade of green, making the kitchen feel cohesive. Accents like the chandelier and acrylic barstools add in some more personality to the space.
Blue and White
In this kitchen, the light blue walls create a calm space that contrasts nicely with the open wooden shelves, which add warmth and earthiness. White cabinets help accentuate the blue walls and wooden shelving, creating a sense of balance.
All White Everything
There’s a reason why white-on-white is a tried-and-true color combination in kitchens. It creates a seamless look while maximizing the light reflection and brightening the space. In this kitchen, the white cabinets, walls, backsplash, countertops, and even appliances create a bright and airy feel. The black and chrome hardware help add some contrasting color to the palette.
White with Natural Elements
This kitchen’s mostly white color palette is complemented with copper wall sconces and copper canisters on the countertop, both of which warm up the space. Floating wooden shelves, wooden seats on the barstools, and other wood elements bring a natural, organic vibe. A black painted door and black hardware complete the look. The result is a kitchen that is the perfect blend of industrial and rustic.
Further Reading
We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Ashley — Here Are the Best to Suit Your Style and Space
Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About Article’s DTC Furniture
