Kitchen Paint Color Ideas with White Cabinets

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If you’re going to have white cabinets in your house, what color should you paint your walls? Here are some gorgeous kitchen paint color ideas with white cabinets

When it comes to having a kitchen with white kitchen cabinets, there are many paint ideas to consider. If you go too dark, it can make the cabinets seem less crisp. If you go with a lighter shade of white or even grey, the room may feel more stark and sterile.

Painting your kitchen can be one way to make it feel like a new space. However, you might be wondering what color to paint your kitchen with white cabinets. What goes best with white cabinets? And how do you avoid a “sterile” white kitchen? Let’s explore the answers to these questions and much more!

Should Cabinets Be Lighter or Darker Than Your Walls?

This question is more of a personal preference. There is no right or wrong answer here. Some kitchen experts recommend going darker on your walls because it creates a light-catching focal point. Others suggest going lighter because it won’t make your kitchen seem smaller or more confined.

While the debate of lighter versus darker cabinets in a kitchen with white cabinetry may never have a concrete answer, what’s important is that you’re comfortable with whatever choice you make. You’re the one who has to live with it, and you want it to be not only functional but visually appealing to you.

What Color Should I Paint My Kitchen with White Cabinets?

Here are best kitchen paint ideas to consider when choosing your color palette for the wall color with white cabinets.

White

I know that it may seem white walls with white cabinets will make for a sterile kitchen, but as you can see with our first investment property, we used Sherwin Williams Pure White on the walls, and it looks great. There’s nothing sterile about this look at all. With all the natural light this space gets, white is a perfect choice for modern kitchens.

The key to using a white paint color on the walls in a kitchen with white cabinets is to choose a shade that isn’t too cool or grayed. The Sherwin Williams Pure White is perfect for this kitchen, and it’s very warm.

White cabinets will typically look more bright, stark white, so choosing a softer white on the walls like Sherwin Williams Pure White would be a great choice to warm up the space and keep things feeling clean and neutral.

Other Popular White Paint Colors for a Kitchen:

• Sherwin Williams Alabaster
• Benjamin Moore White Dove
• Behr Polar Bear

How Do You Avoid a “Sterile” White Kitchen?

You may be fearful that having white kitchen cabinets and white walls will give you a cold feeling, and you’ll be stuck with a sterile white kitchen. So how can you avoid this?

You can always break it up with fun tile – either a bright pop of color or just a patterned tile of some kind.

Another option might be to paint your kitchen island a different color. Especially in a small space this can add dimension and interest in the heart of the home.

Here are some of our favorite white kitchen decor and small accessory options:

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Gray

With so many varying shades of gray, it’s no wonder that kitchen designers are often drawn to painting kitchen walls gray. It’s neutral, but you can almost get any feel with it, depending on its undertone. Gray paints look beautiful in spaces because they don’t compete for attention with the rest of the kitchen decor.

In this kitchen from Studio McGee, you can see that the white cabinets and gray walls don’t feel stark or cold at all. Instead, the kitchen has an airiness to it that you might not expect to see in a kitchen with white cabinets.

If you want to give your kitchen more of a glamorous feel, using gray paint on the walls can be perfect. You can break up the gray colors by adding fun accents like the metals you choose for your kitchen hardware or smaller appliances.

Gray kitchen decor goes beautifully with gray kitchen walls. You have so many options when it comes to what your kitchen looks like, but you can always rely on grays being the perfect pairing of colors.

Here are some of our favorite gray kitchen decor and small accessory options:

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If you are looking for some serene, perfect gray paint colors, you can find our top 5 favorite gray paint colors here for a good start.

Greige

A color that was super popular, then somewhat faded, and has now made another resurgence is greige. Greige is a mix of gray and beige, and it’s a great kitchen paint color for those who want something warm but more on the neutral side.

If you have white kitchen cabinets, an all-gray kitchen might seem too cold for your taste. However, greige colors combine these elements to give you a perfect kitchen pairing that will work well with your kitchen cabinets.

You may be someone who really loves color, and the thought of white cabinets with greige walls bores you to tears. You can make it more fun though by choosing accent colors with accessories and smaller appliances.

Here are some of our favorite colorful kitchen decor and small accessory options:

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Light to Medium Blue

You may be surprised that you can paint kitchen walls blue with white kitchen cabinets, but it’s possible. You don’t have to go with a bold color like navy if that’s not your thing.

(However, I think navy in a kitchen could be stunning.) Instead, choose something more subtle, like a light blue kitchen wall paint.

If you’re looking for a more pigmented teal blue, Benjamin Moore Aegean Teal looks excellent against white cabinets. If you’d rather go with a kitchen paint color that has less pigment in it, opt for something similar to Sherwin Williams Sea Salt. This color can work well in almost any kitchen decor style!

Here are some of our favorite blue kitchen decor and small accessory options:

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Sticking to one color family will make your kitchen feel more uniform. If you know you don’t want to go with an all-white kitchen, matching the kitchen paint color with your kitchen decor can help it feel more pulled together.

Regardless of the kitchen paint color you go with, if you’re using white cabinets, you can always rely on kitchen decor and small kitchen accessory options to spice up the space.

With so many kitchen paint colors, it’s easy to find some that will look beautiful with white kitchen cabinets. As long as you stick within a few main color families, you have more room for creativity rather than being stuck going with plain variations of white.