Wanting a twist on traditional white or gray, tastemakers have recently spun the color wheel, landing on fresh shades for kitchen cabinets that we can’t get enough of. From fire-engine red to bright saturated blue (Race Lane by Ralph Lauren, above), these bold colors have us wanting to drop everything and hit the paint store. Which is your favorite?
Photo by Douglas Friedman/Trunk Archive
While the thought of painting your cabinets fire-engine red might stop you in your tracks, think again: It’s an arresting shade fit for the heart of your home. Fresh, not stodgy, a lively red with a hint of orange can be a style shape-shifter depending on what lives in the room with it—red plus a farm sink, a well-worn wood table, and copper pots adds up to a rustic-chic French-feeling space. But when mixed with midcentury wishbone chairs and mod pendant lights, for example, red comes across as chicly contemporary.
Paint color: Blazer from Farrow & Ball
Photo by John M. Hall; Design by Young Huh
Soft, cool, and the epitome of fresh, mint is wildly pretty on kitchen cabinets, a riff off the shades of gray we see so frequently in kitchens. Mint looks stunning with silver, black, or brass hardware; makes white or chinoiserie china pop; and is the perfect backdrop for warm, rustic pieces—cutting boards, a bentwood chair.
Paint color: Blue Point from Ralph Lauren
Photo by Matthew Williams/Photofoyer
Smoky-green kitchens are having a major moment. With its oversaturated feel and ocean-floor depth of color, this rich shade of green-meets-blue-meets-gray is dramatic but not off-putting. Not only is it flattering for all cabinet styles—from basic Shakers to arched cathedrals—but it has never met a countertop it doesn’t play well with: Just imagine it against butcher block, copper, or marble.
Paint color: This shade was a custom-mix from Fine Paints of Europe, but Newburg Green from Benjamin Moore is close.
Photo courtesy of Meredith Corporation. All rights reserved.
Ah, mellow yellow. It’s warm and oh so inviting, entreating friends and family to gather around and stay awhile. It’s also a great color for small kitchens, achieving the same brightening effect as white, only with a little more oomph. To keep buttery yellow from feeling overly saccharine, pair it with hits of black and metallics wherever you can.
Paint color: Banana Cream from Benjamin Moore
The blue, the red, the pale yellow, all throw-backs with new names. More like re-discovered than “fresh.” But nice.
It would be nice to see the exact same kitchen in each color pattern to really get an idea of how each style works with those colors..
I have never seen a kitchen that is anything like the one pictured! The blue is so bright and vibrant, but it really works, at least for me! I don’t know how my wife would like it, as she is a big fan of traditional, more subtle kinds of paint. Personally, I think we would really like a bright theme colored kitchen. We will at least go to a paint store to see if there are good swatches. http://steelespaint.com
What makes that kitchen is the way the colors outside on the lattice and the green of the plants show through as the scenery… if that wasn’t out there, that window would be an eye sore.. IMHO.
In the last demo color, banana cream, I love the color of the trim and window paint in this showing. any way to find out what that color is?????
My favorite is the blue,very pretty! Blue happens to be my favorite color so would love to be in that one.