When it comes to painted cabinets, there are three looks you can choose from:
1) shaker style (I find this not as popular as before)
2) flat matte (my favourite)
3) have a mixture of a wood finish for the upper cabinets (or lower) and the lower cabinets do a painted finish.
This duotone is very current in the latest interior design world, with developers spec’ing this out for their new projects.
Painted cabinets are also widely seen on Instagram and social media. You will notice (now that I’ve mentioned it) that the island is often painted a different colour.
-Now, the question is, what colours should I be choosing?
Let’s start with the whites...
Whites are still widely used to pair with a wood finish or a darker-painted cabinet. White kitchens are still timeless. When you are doing a white-on-white kitchen - that’s white counters, white cabinets, and a white or “marble” looking backsplash, you must put those whites side by side before committing https://www.instagram.com/p/CikZ-u2oQjQ/
These are my top pairings for painted cabinets...
1) Oxford White (Code) by Benjamin Moore. It’s got a cooler tone, so it pairs nicely with that darker colour with a hint of blue in it.
...or for slightly more blue
I also often use decorators white by Benjamin Moore, but it’s got more grey undertones, so I would also pair this with cool colours.
When it comes to wood tones, whether you do them on the upper cabinet or lower cabinets won’t matter; however, you don’t want to do a much darker colour on top and white on the bottom as it will tend to look top-heavy.
My favourites are a nice quarter sewn, rift cut, white oak. See the photos as examples. This gives off that very neutral, calming, yet very contemporary look. If you don’t do the rift-cut look, natural oak will vary in grains and look more like a flooring pattern. It’s still gorgeous, but this look is intended for bigger houses with bigger kitchens. If you have a smaller apartment or townhome and want to keep it modern, simple, and showhome-like, it’s better to do the rift cut.
Thinking of another colour? Not sure if your current colour scheme matches? Are you using the right whites?
Book with us for a materials and finishes consultation where you bring your samples and get us to ensure you are on the right track! We offer 1-2 hours consultations at $125/hr at our office! Just mention ‘consultation,' and we’ll get you set up.