Kitchen Cabinet Ideas You'll Love
Replacing your kitchen cabinets every few years with new ones is a stretch—even for those with the biggest budgets.
Happily, there is a colorful, much less expensive alternative: The combination of Benjamin Moore’s unmatchable colors and Advance® Interior, a premium paint formulated specifically for cabinetry.
On this page, you’ll find kitchen cabinet ideas curated by our color and design team that will help kick off your kitchen cabinet redesign. From traditional off-white hues to sleek monochromatic looks, to a video on how an all-white kitchen got a refreshing color update, we have all the inspiration you need. We’ve even got how-to tips and tools to get started if you are doing it yourself.
Inspiring Kitchen Cabinet Color Ideas
Start by finding the design, style, and color idea you love within your own home. What do you dislike, love, or want more of? When considering new color for your cabinets, look to your countertop, backsplash, fixtures, and flooring. Let these color cues inspire an updated look for your cabinet colors.
Kitchen Cabinet Ideas
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TWO-TONE KITCHEN CABINETSList Item 1
Infuse a playful touch in your kitchen with two-tone cabinets and use color creatively. Two-tone cabinet paint color pairings we love include:
- Bold red Caliente AF-290 with Harbor Haze 2136-60
- Swiss Coffee OC-45 with Yarmouth Blue HC-150
- Weimaraner AF-155 with Etiquette AF-50
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ACCESSIBLE OPEN SHELVINGList Item 2
Open shelving is convenient—and stylish. Consider combining these tones for kitchen open shelving:
- October Mist 1495 on wall, paired with Forest Floor 1498 on shelving
- Soft Chamois OC-13 on wall, paired with Luxe AF-580 on shelving
- Fennel Seed 1101 on wall, paired with Soleil AF-330 on shelving
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GLASS-FRONT CABINETSList Item 3
Pair sleek glass doors and windows with pales and soft pastels. We love these soft color combinations:
- Soft greens: October Mist 1495 and Guilford Green HC-116, both soft greens and former Colors of the Year
- Warm yellows: Honeybee CSP-950 and Hawthorne Yellow HC-4
- Airy light blues: Ocean Air 2123-50 and Beacon Gray 2128-60
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TIMELESS WHITE KITCHEN CABINETSList Item 4
Popular finish combinations we love to enliven an all-white kitchen include:
- Eggshell on walls and Satin on cabinets for subtle contrast (shown here)
- Satin finish on walls and Semi-Gloss finish on cabinets for a slightly higher sheen combination
- Matte finish on walls and High Gloss finish on cabinets for a contrasting look; keep in mind that Matte finish is less durable/washable than finishes that are eggshell and higher.
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COOL & CONTEMPORARY KITCHEN CABINETS
Stir up modernity. Ice Mist OC-67, seen here, keeps the cool vibes coming with walls in Smoke 2122-40, a versatile gray with blue-green undertones. Love this look? Try:
- White Ice OC-58 and Exhale AF-515
- Brilliant White OC-150 and Watercolor Blue 793
- Snow White OC-66 and Summer Shower 2135-60
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NEUTRAL SPACES WITH BOLD CABINETS
Spike an all-white space with a pop of color. Here, kitchen cabinets in Steep Cliff Gray 2122-20, a dark gray with cool green undertones, amps up an all-neutral look. Check out these other dark gray hues with strong undertones.
- Montpelier AF-555
- Smokestack Gray 2131-40
- Providence Blue 1636
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THE MINIMALIST KITCHEN
Marble-topped cabinets with smoky mirrored drawers? Yes please. Winter Snow OC-61in eggshell, shown here, is the perfect backdrop for this minimalist look. Other white hues with blue-green undertones we love include:
- Distant Gray 2127-70
- White Ice 2139-70
- Gray Lake 2138-70
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WHO SAYS THE KITCHEN CAN'T BE LUXE?
Consider foundational Black Tar 2126-10, shown here on this chic kitchen. Other dark, bold kitchen cabinet paint colors we love:
- Deep Space 2125-20
- Mysterious AF-565
- Baby Seal Black 2119-30
Creative Kitchen Cabinet Ideas with Innovative Finishes
Choose a durable, high-end finish for kitchen cabinets. Benjamin Moore’s Advance® Interior provides a hard, furniture-quality finish making it the gold standard for painting or repainting kitchen cabinets. Available in all of Benjamin Moore’s 3,500+ paint colors, Advance brings ultimate creative choice to the challenge of finding just-right cabinet colors.
Finish (also called sheen) is a measure of how much light–or lack thereof—reflects off a painted surface. The kitchen cabinet finish you ultimately select provides both functionality and beauty. Advance offers:
- Satin: Offering slightly higher gloss than an eggshell finish, Advance Satin provides better stain resistance and durability than lower sheens, including eggshell. Smooth satin finish is similar to that of a hand-rubbed lacquer.
- Semi-Gloss: Luminous yet understated, Advance Semi-Gloss is one of the most popular finishes for kitchen cabinets. With its subtle gloss, it creates dimension in the kitchen.
- High Gloss: With an almost mirror-like quality, the elegant shine belies this finish’s tough sheen. Easy to clean, stain-resistant and stunning, Advance High Gloss is a showstopper.
Each of these Advance Interior paint finishes stands up to the repeated washing that’s necessary for a busy kitchen.
Use Paint Finish to Heighten Design
Using one color, in a variety of finishes is one way designers create a subtle yet striking effect in any space. For example:
- Use a low sheen such as matte or eggshell on the walls.
- Opt for a semi-gloss or high gloss sheen on the kitchen cabinets.
Even if you use the same color, using different finishes will reflect light differently in your space. The result is an elegant, understated contrast.
How to Refinish Your Kitchen Cabinet with Paint Color
Ready to put your kitchen color ideas into action? Check out our step-by-step video tutorial, which includes expert tips for the ultimate kitchen cabinet makeover.
- Remove all drawers, doors, and hardware. Select an area that gives you enough room to work—and enough space to let everything dry.
- Prep is a critical step: Cabinets and doors must be clean and dry. Use grease remover if necessary. Then sand and wipe away dust.
- Protect your surroundings with a drop cloth.
- Prime with an acrylic primer like Fresh Start® High-Hiding All Purpose Primer and allow at least 24 hours to dry.
- Sand again.
- Paint! Using a nylon/polyester brush, apply Advance® Interior in your choice of Satin, Semi-Gloss or High Gloss. Let dry for a minimum of 16 hours.
- Sand a third and final time.
- Apply second coat of Advance Interior paint.
- Let it dry for at least 24 hours.
Choosing a Paint for Kitchen Cabinets: The Critical Components
When looking to refinish your cabinets, look for the following features in a specialty cabinet paint:
- Exceptional application and feel
- Outstanding coverage and hide
- A hard, furniture-quality finish
- Low VOC, even after tinting
- Availability in thousands of colors
- Surface flexibility—the best kitchen cabinet paints are suitable for oak, cherry, mahogany, maple, as well as fabricated woods, Formica® laminate and other high-pressure surface materials
Advance Interior paint hits all of these critical elements and more. It’s unique waterborne alkyd formula makes it super easy to apply, and soap and water clean up is a breeze.
