86 Designer-Approved Kitchen Paint Color Ideas for 2025

Writer David Nicholls, in an excerpt from his book New English Style: Timeless Interiors, describes this kitchen by Salvesen Graham as “[bridging] the gap between functional utilitarianism and English charm. Here, the color play is more gentle, with fitted units and a large kitchen island that are painted in different shades of blue.” The darker island grounds the sun-drenched room while lighter wall cabinets nearly blend in with the glossy tile.

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Kim-Joy Hewlett is no stranger to saturated color palettes. The Great British Baking Show star is known for her vibrant maximalism. For her kitchen, the baker opted for contrasting bubblegum pink and seafoam green.

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Designer Kelly Hohla sought a modern contrasting palette for this San Francisco home. “We wanted something with contrasting veining to work with the black-and-white vision for this room,” Hohla explains. The angular floor tile adds a graphic flair to the rest of the room’s more organic lines.

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Jewel tones make for a striking kitchen color palette, especially if you swathe the entire room in the hue. To prevent the emerald in this kitchen (S6030-G by Fine Paints of Europe) from feeling too dark, designer Palmer Weiss left the paneled ceiling white.

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According to designer Janie Molster, the color palette in this kitchen was inspired by the slab of Cristallo Blue quartzite used on the island. Various shades of blue are seen throughout the space—on the cabinets, tile, and barstools—mimicking the natural variation in the stone.

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Designer Melissa Anderson of OAD Interiors used skylights and windows to maximize this kitchen’s natural light and panoramic views. To ground the space, deep, slate gray paint was used on the shelving and lower cabinetry. The hue eases the transition between the natural wood paneling and French-inspired floor tiles.

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Not much for cooking, designer Breegan Jane prefers to use her kitchen for dancing and DJ’ing. To emphasize the disco energy, she outfitted her space with gilded textures. Gold, silver, mirrors, and neutral marble help to bring a club-like vibe into the typically utilitarian room.

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This gorgeous kitchen by designer Meghan Shadrick is the perfect example of how to design a light-colored cooking area without relying on all-white everything. The warm white ceiling and backsplash paired with the sage cabinetry and light-toned wood create such an elegant kitchen paint color palette for this space.

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For our 2023 Whole Home, designer Laura McCroskey chose a creamy white paint and white marble with purple swirls for the kitchen, but she added depth by using a dark gray-green shade (Studio Green by Farrow & Ball) for an accent. The deep tone also sets apart the appliance area in the kitchen, coating the panel refrigerator and freezer, many cabinets, and surrounding the stainless steel oven.

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This gorgeous kitchen was once a 1980s time capsule, but that was before designer Jaqui Seerman took inspiration from ‘90s Ralph Lauren and painted the kitchen grass green (Calke Green by Farrow & Ball) with warm brown cabinets. Now, these kitchen paint colors are a vibrant backdrop for family gatherings that creates a balance between natural hues and modern design, thanks to the checkerboard tile on the floor.

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In this eclectic kitchen, Heather French, one-half of French & French Interiors, created a warm, European countryside vibe with ivory walls and a deep teal color for the cabinets. The balance is necessary in a kitchen like this with plenty of pattern—otherwise, the cafe curtains and copper tones would get lost in the sea of neutrals.

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Designer Serena Dugan chose only earth tones for the kitchen in her second home, mirroring the warm hues of her living room. Since the layout is an open concept, keeping a similar color scheme so one room easily flows into the next is a great way to make the layout feel cozier.

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If you want your kitchen to feel ultra luxurious, take inspiration from this bar area by Suzanne Kasler. The designer chose a reflective golden paint to coat the alcove over the counter, matching the golden veins in the Calacatta Macchia Vecchia countertop and island. To balance out that light, Kasler painted the inside back wall of the alcove a deep, dark brown (Night Horizon by Benjamin Moore) that matched the wood tone of the cabinets, creating a glam spot to make drinks.

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Forget about resale value—it’s your house, paint it what you want! Designer Galeana Younger of Galeana Group followed this sentiment when redesigning her mother’s house, opting for an electric yellow hue for the kitchen cabinets. If you’re going to go bold in your house, really push the envelope and do whatever sparks joy every time you walk into the room.

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Using various shades of brown and a clean white paint, designer Amy Knerr created this relaxing, sophisticated kitchen. The wood tones lend depth and warmth to the kitchen paint colors, and while this area feels elevated, it doesn’t feel untouchable.

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One way to make a black-and-white room look cohesive is by incorporating transitional colors in the details and accents. In this kitchen, the team at Mimi & Hill chose matte black cabinetry and white walls and ceiling, but it doesn’t look like a stark difference because they opted for a silver wave marble countertop that brought in a variation of darker neutrals.

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Brown is one color that has dominated the design industry lately, and it’s clear to see why. The hue is cozy, natural, and calming, and it makes for a dramatic cabinet color in this kitchen designed by Kelsey McGregor of Kelsey Leigh Design Co. for House Beautiful’s 2024 Whole Home in North Carolina. The rich mocha stain works to complement the home’s woodsy setting.

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