Kitchen Paint Schemes: Five Complete Color Palettes
A good kitchen color scheme needs five jobs filled: walls, main furniture, wood, one bold piece and one textile. Each scheme below takes those five colors from a single painting, so they already sit well together. Pick the one that suits your light and your cabinets, then test it at home.
Quick answer
Use a light, warm color with LRV 73 to 76 on the walls, a mid-tone on cabinets or the island, and keep the very dark colors (LRV 2 to 7) for one bold piece.
Paint the walls soft parchment white and the cabinets or island the muted blue. Add dark olive-brown in one bold piece, wood tones on floors or shelves, and an olive textile such as a roller blind.
Keep the walls pale and warm, then use the sage green on lower cabinets. A deep green island or hood and a bright yellow-green textile give it a clear accent.
A soft gray-green on cabinets sits quietly against pale walls. Use the brick red-brown as the bold piece and a golden yellow towel or runner as the textile.
Light, slightly green walls with soft gray cabinets make a calm base. Add the very dark olive as one bold piece and a warm brown textile, with olive-toned wood nearby.
Warm cream walls and putty-colored cabinets keep the room soft and bright. The deep brown works as an island or shelf color, with a tan textile and golden wood.
The same paint reads differently in cool north light, warm south sun and under evening lamps. Find the column closest to your room.
Color
Neutral daylight
North light
South light
Evening lamps
Soft Parchment White
Muted Sage Green
Try these colors in a room
Pick which color goes on the walls, the big furniture and the bold piece. Floors, shadows and trim follow your choice.
The framed picture on the wall is Landscape with the Penitent Saint Jerome.
How do I choose a kitchen color scheme?
Start with the walls, because they cover the most area and set how bright the room feels. All five schemes here use a light wall color with LRV 73 to 76, so they reflect light back into the room. That suits a kitchen with one small window or a lot of dark cabinets.
Next pick the main furniture color: cabinets, a large island or the lower run of units. The five schemes give you a blue, a sage green, a gray-green, a soft gray and a warm putty. Choose the one that sits well beside your countertop and floor.
Then keep the rest small. Wood is the warm brown tone for floors, stools or shelves. The bold piece is a single item such as a range hood, island or door. The textile is the softest touch: a roller blind, rug or dish towels. Using one idea per role keeps the room calm.
What goes with these kitchen colors: trim, ceiling and floors?
For trim, the easiest choice is the wall color itself in a satin or semi-gloss finish. The trim then reads as a soft edge instead of a sharp white line. If you want more contrast, use a white a little lighter than the wall, with the same warm undertone.
For the ceiling, a light color keeps the room bright. A flat white works, or the wall color if you want the room to feel wrapped. Avoid a dark ceiling over dark cabinets in a small kitchen.
For floors, follow the wood role in each scheme. The wood colors run from a mid brown to a deep brown, so oak, walnut or a stained plank floor sits naturally with them. Pale tile with a warm tint suits the light wall colors better than bright, cool white tile. Keep hardware simple and repeat the same metal in two or three places.
How will these colors look in the light of my kitchen?
Light changes color more in a kitchen than in most rooms, because of windows, under-cabinet lights and bright work areas. The wall colors have LRV 73 to 76, so they bounce daylight well. In a north-facing room they can look a little cooler and grayer. In a south-facing room the warm yellow undertone shows more.
The sage green has LRV 27, so it sits in the middle and reads as a clear color. It will look darker on a wall far from a window. The deep greens and browns have LRV 2 to 7. They absorb nearly all light and can read as near-black in a dim corner, so use them on one island, hood or door rather than on every cabinet.
Warm bulbs, around 2700K to 3000K, bring out yellow and red-orange undertones. Cooler bulbs push blues and greens forward. Choose one bulb type for the whole room.
How do I test kitchen paint samples?
Paint a sample board at least two feet square, or use a large sample sheet, and leave a white border around it. Do not paint a small patch straight onto the wall, because the old color changes how the new one looks.
Move the board around the kitchen. Look at it in the morning, at midday and in the evening, and again under your night lights. Hold it next to your countertop, floor and cabinet door, since a scheme only works when those colors sit together.
The paints listed on this page are the closest commercial matches measured from each painting. Several are near-identical, and the dark olive brown has no close match, so judge it in person. Screens vary, so trust the dried sample more than the hex value.
FAQ
What are the best kitchen color combinations?
A light, warm wall color with LRV above 70, a mid-tone on cabinets, warm wood and one dark accent is an easy formula. Each of the five schemes on this page follows it, so choose by the cabinet color you prefer.
How many colors should a kitchen color scheme have?
Five roles are enough: walls, main furniture, wood, one bold piece and one textile. The bold piece and textile are small, so the room still feels simple.
Can I use a dark color in a small kitchen?
Yes, in small amounts. Colors with LRV 2 to 7 absorb almost all light, so use them on an island, hood or door and keep the walls light.
What kitchen wall color goes with dark cabinets?
Use a light wall color, such as the warm whites here with LRV 73 to 76. They bounce light back into the room and keep dark cabinets from feeling heavy.
What does LRV mean for kitchen paint?
LRV is light reflectance value, from 0 for black to 100 for white. Above about 60 a color reads light and bounces light, and below about 20 it reads very dark.
Save these colors
A card with every color on this page, its LRV and the paintings it comes from. Pin it, or take it to the paint store.
Painting images: The Art Institute of Chicago, public domain (CC0).
Colors measured by Light & Pigment. Paint names belong to their brands and matches are approximate. Colors look different on screen than on a wall, so always test a sample.
