These 10 Paint Color Ideas Beautify Kitchens

Light Gray

Clay Hill is a 100-acre farm and Federal-style home to jewelry designer Elizabeth Locke and her husband, John. Working with designer Alison Martin, Locke decided on a light patrician gray that complements the Victorian-age tiles, patterned Roman shades, and lyre-backed chairs.

White With Gray and Black Accents

Gray and white are the preferred kitchen paint colors for home design blogger and DIYer Katie. She painted her knotty alder cabinets white, installed white subway tiles with black grout, added black cabinet and drawer pulls, and stripped away the heavier elements. She turned it into a light, clean and airy space with white as the primary color, offset by gray touches along the upper regions.

Cream

KariAnne and her husband bought a house in the country, which they christened Thistlewood Farms and designed in a country estate style. For her cooking space, she went for a shabby chic look. The explosion of cream extends throughout the kitchen, giving it warmth and a homey feeling with a dash of sophistication. The colors in the kitchen perfectly complement her pure white bone china.

Matte Black

When Michael Minadeo + Partners was tasked with the job of designing a structure in Stowe, Vermont, part of that project involved this kitchen that would be an aesthetic counterpoint to the building's natural wood. The light golden-brown of the ceiling and window trim is well balanced by the matte black of the walls and kitchen cabinets.

Dark Gray

As a trendsetting interior designer, Susan Greenleaf is no stranger to bold moves. For her family's San Francisco kitchen, she enlisted the help of Geiszler Architects and Farallon Construction. She chose a deep, rich gray (Plummett by Farrow & Ball) for her go-to kitchen paint color. This moody gray plays well with the generous light that cascades through windows and large glass doors. This strong architectural gray is named after the lead used by fishermen to weigh down their lines. The paint color has a modern feel, more hard-edged and industrial than other gray hues.

Gray and White

Formerly sporting salmon-colored walls and dated Tuscan tiles, Kate knew it was time for a significant transformation. She easily could have spent tens of thousands on new cabinets, backsplashes, and countertops. Instead, she spent less than $200 on this fantastic kitchen remodel. The magic behind this miraculous transformation was paint, pure and simple.

She painted everything except the counters. She covered over the pink walls with Benjamin Moore's Kendall Charcoal. She used one gallon of white Cabinet Coat for the cabinets. The Tuscan tile backsplashes received two coats of oil-based enamel satin paint in the same Kendall Charcoal color as the walls.

Teal

For a fantastic splash of kitchen color, design blogger Kristi at Addicted 2 Decorating chose a tasty, palatable teal for cabinets and white for the rest of the area. Her new kitchen makes her heart sing.

Formerly, her heavy kelly green kitchen made her feel boxed-in like she was cooking in a cave. The lighter bluish-green color is more cheery and ties in with the rest of her house. She had the color custom-made by Benjamin Moore based on a color swatch she had (it's very similar to Behr's Hallowed Hush).

Light Blue

Decorating blogger Beth Bryan's new kitchen color transformed her updated kitchen from an unappealing yellow to a gorgeous light-blue (Silver Sage by Restoration Hardware). Beth reports that the blue she used transforms throughout the day. When it's cloudy outside, the paint becomes a warm greenish-gray color. When it's dark out, the paint is "a cool silvery gray color." The wall color works well with whites, creams, dark and light woods, and her dark kitchen hardware finishes.

White and Wood

Sherry and John's kitchen was too dark, heavy, and outdated. It was a perfect candidate for an overhaul. White won the day to give it a fresh and airy feeling. The white tile and cabinets were slightly offset with an off-white paint (Irish Mist by Behr) to cure their depressing kitchen woes. White works in concert with tumbled marble tiles, quartz countertops by Cambria, and stock cabinets.

Aqua and White

For Jen, this was her kitchen's third iteration, and she said she wanted "something a little lighter and brighter." She knew she'd be using white to brighten the space, but she also wanted something more. Several years ago, her first renovation moved the kitchen away from brass finishes and a Corian countertop to granite counters and a rustic tiled backsplash.

For her most recent update, she tweaked the style with a barely-there gray for the walls (Sharkey Grey from Martha Stewart Paint), painted over the backsplash tile, making sure to use a primer first, and painted the kitchen island Martha Stewart’s Rainwater aqua. For the final piece, she hired a cabinet painter for the white cabinets, who used a spray gun with durable, dyed polyurethane, so there would be no brush marks.