To make your kitchen look bigger, paint your cabinets light, reflective, and neutral colors. These shades bounce light around the room and prevent the space from feeling cramped.
Light-colored and monochromatic cabinets make a kitchen look bigger. Shades like crisp white, soft warm off-white, pale yellow, and light sage green reflect natural light and minimize hard visual lines, making the perimeter of the room feel wider and more open.
Avoid painting kitchen cabinets in high-energy, trendy, or overly intense colors like neon green, bright orange, hot pink, or vibrant red, as these can feel abrasive over time. Designers advise against yellow, which can be abrasive on a large scale, and cold grays that look uninspired with stainless steel appliances.
Kitchens in 2026 are shifting away from stark whites and cold grays toward warmth and personality. Top designers are leaning into nature-inspired greens, warm earthy neutrals, moody jewel tones, and classic two-tone combinations to create inviting, bespoke spaces.
The current trend in kitchen cabinets has shifted away from stark, cool colors in favor of warmer, earthy palettes and mixed materials.
Stark white, cool gray, and yellow-toned honey oak cabinets are currently considered outdated. Designers are moving away from these shades, as they often look sterile or overly trend-specific, favoring warmer, nature-inspired tones instead.
Cool gray is being replaced by "mushroom" neutrals (warm taupes and greys with subtle green or violet undertones), warm earthy khakis, and soft, natural sages.
White is the undisputed number one kitchen cabinet color. Prized for its timeless, bright, and clean aesthetic, it maximizes natural light and offers the best resale value. Natural wood tones and warm, earthy neutrals (like greige and khaki) are also highly popular alternatives.
Beige, taupe, and "mushroom" neutrals are officially replacing the cool, sterile grays of the last decade. Designers are leaning into warm khakis, sandy beiges, creamy whites, and earthy tones that add a cozy, comforting energy to spaces.
What is considered "outdated" in the kitchen changes as homeowners trade high-maintenance, ultra-sterile, or overly trendy features for warmer, highly functional designs.
What makes a kitchen look cheap almost always comes down to visual inconsistency, poor lighting, and a lack of thoughtful detail. These elements break the illusion of high quality, even when premium materials are used. The biggest offenders include:
Painting cabinets takes much longer than a weekend, usually spanning several weeks when accounting for proper drying and curing times. The most critical secrets to success involve flawless preparation—thoroughly degreasing to remove invisible cooking oils, scuff sanding for adhesion, and never skipping primer.
White cabinets are definitely not out of style, but the sterile, all-white kitchen is losing ground to warmer, more layered designs. Experts note that while white remains a classic foundation, homeowners are actively avoiding stark, clinical whites and glossy finishes.
Designers recommend avoiding colors that are overly trendy, too high-maintenance, or visually jarring. Avoid stark white (feels clinical), cool grays (feels sterile), and jet black (shows every fingerprint/dust speck). Additionally, avoid loud primaries, neons, and pastels, which can easily make the kitchen look childish or date quickly.
The more light, the bigger the space will feel. Natural light is preferable, so if you have the opportunity to put in skylights or glass doors this will make your kitchen instantly feel larger. Alternatively, add lights underneath wall cupboards or at the base of floor units.
The best paint colors for a small kitchen are light, reflective shades that maximize natural light and visually expand the space. Designers recommend crisp warm whites, soft muted grays, and pale nature-inspired tones to eliminate visual clutter and make petite rooms feel bright and airy.
Interior design trends have shifted away from stark, sterile, and heavily saturated cool tones in favor of warmer, earthy, and more complex hues. Designers broadly consider the following paint categories to be outdated:
Soft, cool colors like pale blue, sage green, and light pink are scientifically and psychologically proven to reduce anxiety. These shades work by signaling the brain to relax, which can physically lower your heart rate and stabilize your blood pressure.
To make a home look expensive, rely on sophisticated neutrals, earthy greens, or muted blues rather than stark whites or highly saturated brights. High-end spaces feel cohesive and intentional, using layered tones, natural materials, and high-quality finishes to create a calm, custom feel.
In 2026, the most popular kitchen cabinet colors are dominated by warm, earthy neutrals—specifically creamy whites, beige, taupe, and mushroom—replacing stark white with a more inviting atmosphere. Nature-inspired green (including olive and deep forest green) and warm wood tones, particularly white oak, also rank as top choices.
Joanna Gaines often relies on earthy, nature-inspired paint palettes for kitchen cabinets. She favors deep, moody greens (like Cottage Grove and Locally Grown), warm off-whites (like Alabaster), and light-to-mid greys or creams (like Castle Cream).
Design experts consider stark white, cool gray, and yellow-toned honey-oak to be outdated. These shades are falling out of favor because they can make a kitchen feel clinical, flat, or resemble a mid-2000s renovation.
The three most timeless paint colors that never go out of style are warm white, greige (a balanced mix of gray and beige), and navy blue. These classic shades provide endless versatility, easily adapting to changing furniture, lighting, and decor without ever feeling dated.
Stark whites and cool grays are officially out. The hottest paint colors right now are nature-inspired, warm neutrals. Top designers are leaning toward soft warm whites, complex "mushroom" taupes, muted sages, and dramatic, moody darks to create grounding, cozy, and sophisticated spaces.
Joanna Gaines frequently leans toward "Wedding Band" as one of her absolute favorite grays. Inspired by her husband Chip's wedding band, this silvery, pale sage-gray features subtle hints of sky blue. She has also famously relied on a few other classic gray shades across her projects: