Picking a wall color for a white kitchen may seem simple, but it’s easily one of the most popular questions I get about paint color selection. Perhaps home owners are spoiled for choice because a white kitchen is such a blank canvas, and perhaps picking a wall color is a more complicated equation because of the cabinets. In any case, a lot of thought goes into which color to paint those walls!
Water or Air color pallet
Two Foolproof Options
Over the years, I’ve come to realize that there are two general color palettes that work most beautifully in white kitchens. While there are certainly more ways to deviate from these two color palettes and still have gorgeous results, I find these two options to be the most “foolproof.” So if you aren’t sure what to do, hopefully this will help you find the right color for your home.The two palettes are most simply summarized as WATER and AIR.
Why water and air? Well, like most people, you may be drawn to a white kitchen because of its clean, fresh, open feeling. Why not further enhance that atmosphere with the paint selection? Water and air-inspired palettes do just that.
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Water
Let’s start with a WATER palette which includes greyed-out blues, icy grey greens and pale beiges. Think of the colors you’d see at the beach in the very early morning. By keeping everything a little pale and greyed down, the colors all work beautifully together. That means you can feel free to mix and match with your paint, fabric, furniture and accessories—the easiest color equation you’ll ever find for sure.Glidden paint color suggestions: Cool Slate, Twinkle Blue.
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Air
If water isn’t your thing, another timeless color palette that’s just as simple is AIR. But instead of taking a color scheme from a favorite scene, you are going to take color inspiration from the lack of color. In this case, pick a wall shade similar to but a few steps away from the color of your cabinets. Don’t try to match the color of your cabinets exactly—you want to have some variation to add visual interest and depth. This palette works especially well in small spaces or when the kitchen is open to a larger area of the home. Your furniture, counter top and accessories can either stay in the same shade of whites and creams, or they can go to the other side of the spectrum and contrast deeply with a rich, saturated shade of grey. Either way, you’ll have a thoughtful, put-together room that doesn’t take away from your white cabinets.Glidden paint color suggestions: Coronation, Crushed Silk, Equilibrium.
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Conclusion
There you have it—two simple, foolproof color schemes for any white kitchen.Happy painting!
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