Kitchen Painting Ideas

It has often been said that the kitchen is the heart of the home. My kitchen painting ideas will help you express personality, feel at ease, or bring life and character to the part of the home where we all spend a considerable amount of time. 

If you’re anything like me, you spend a lot of time in your kitchen – preparing food, doing dishes, stashing groceries, brewing coffees and teas, listening to music.

It’s a place of many moods, a place where family and guests congregate and converse, and a room easily cluttered and overlooked.

So why not let these kitchen painting ideas help you turn this important space into a bit of an oasis?

There are a few key challenges to painting a kitchen. 

First, much of a kitchen’s wall space is taken up with cabinetry and appliances. This can be challenging, but it also presents potential benefits.

Secondly, the kitchen can be a harsh environment for paints. Steam, cooking oils, water, foods and drinks – these are all present in a kitchen and can play havoc with your paint if you haven’t chosen the right type.

Kitchen Painting Ideas

Paint the Cabinetry!

Most of the visible wall space within your kitchen is likely taken up with cabinetry. And let’s face it, cabinetry and countertops are expensive! They aren’t something you can easily replace at leisure unless you have a lot fewer money concerns than I have!

But you aren’t necessarily stuck with those slightly outdated oak (or pine or laminate or whatever) cabinets. As long as your current cabinetry is in good working order, it’s quite simple to transform them (and hence your entire kitchen) with paint.

It takes a few more steps to paint cabinetry than it does to paint a wall, but the impact of the completed change is startling! If you’re looking for guidance, have a look at my step-by-step guide to painting cabinets.

Cabinets colors can be as various as wall colors! When choosing colors for your cabinetry, consider contrast and other décor within your space. Going from wood tones to a white or off-white can make a space feel instantly cleaner and more open.

But consider the impact of more vibrant color within your space. 

Earthy greens or green-grays can make your space feel calming and naturistic, especially when contrasted with off-whites, browns, and house plants.

Go bold with a navy blue, which contrasts beautifully with clean white accents. Or aim for a more cottage feel with a distressed lighter blue tone and white or off-white accents.

Build From Your Current Decor

If painting your cabinetry sounds too challenging or like a change you’d rather not make, you’ll need to look to your cabinetry or countertops for inspiration for your wall color.

White cabinetry and most natural woods will leave you with open options for color, but if you have a solid colored cabinetry you’ll need to select a contrasting or complimentary color.

The same goes for your countertop. Most countertops are neutral enough to work with most color schemes, but if you have a bold or unconventional countertop you’ll need to look to that for color ideas.

Selecting a minor color in the pattern or design of your countertop could make it “pop” once the walls are painted.

For example, a minor golden-brown undertone in your countertop could be matched on the walls, causing that color to be brought forward visually in the countertop, giving the space a sense of harmony and cohesion. 

The same can be said for appliances, backsplashes, or other décor that you intend to keep. Look for minor details that can be more fully utilized within the space, such as the blue-green tone of an old mason jar or the weathered off-white of Grandma’s antique colander.

Farmhouse Rustic

Farmhouse rustic is one of my favorite decorating styles, and it typically incorporates off-whites, antique blues, grays, browns, and distressed or weathered woods.

Farmhouse rustic style works wonderfully in a kitchen, with cabinetry, countertops, backsplashes, and lighting playing a prominent role.

If you already have white cabinetry, it makes for a great base for a farmhouse kitchen. If you are considering painting your cabinetry, a white or off-white can be distressed by sanding along the edges to give the cabinets the comfortable appearance of long use.

Wall colors to consider in a farmhouse kitchen include antique white, pale yellow, light burlap browns, and farmhouse blues such as “Sir Drake” by Magnolia Home Collection.

Think of accenting your new paint with rustic barn wood decor or distressed natural wood trim.

Relaxing Greenery

Utilizing natural colors is one of my favorite kitchen painting ideas. Bringing earth colors, especially greens, into the kitchen can help transform your space into a restful, relaxing environment.

This is a great option if you have natural wood cabinetry, allowing the greens and wood-tones to work together as they do outdoors. Our mind associates green and brown with the outside world, and it works a calming effect.

Lighter greens – such as mint or pale gray-greens – can enhance the light within a space, especially when paired with white or off-white accents.

Earth mid-tone greens – such as Sherwin-Williams “Organic Green” – give a much deeper, more woodsy feel to your space, especially when used with light natural woods and white accents (such as trim, appliances, sink basins).

Consider adding live plants to your décor to give the whole place a feel of liveliness that is somehow both relaxing and invigorating 

Dark Neutrals

One of the kitchen painting ideas that works exceptionally well in the constraints of the kitchen is to utilize “dark neutral” tones. Darker neutrals like medium and charcoal grays, greiges, or pewters can work extremely well in a kitchen for several reasons.

First, there is minimal wall space within a kitchen. That means that your dark color choice won’t overwhelm the space, the way it might within another space. The cabinets, countertops, shelving, and appliances in the room create natural dividers.

Also, your cabinetry, countertops, appliances, and décor can help create contrast. Dark neutral colors contrasted against lighter wood, white, off-white, or light cabinetry creates a dramatic look. The same goes with white appliances.

Consider looking to your cabinet hardware for your color ideas. Brushed nickels, pewters, oil-rubbed bronzes. Matching your paint color and hardware has the benefit of unifying the room. If your hardware is too dark, match that color on a paint swatch and choose something one or two shades lighter on the same color chip.

Colorful foods stored in open bowls pop against the contrasted light and dark background. A basket of oranges, bananas, lemons, or green apples create a splash of sunlight against the bold grays and muted lighter tones.

Of course this is only the start of all the kitchen painting ideas out there. Is “Farmhouse Rustic” not your style? What about seaside cottage? Or French Country? Industrial? Sleek modern?

There is no end to the possibilities. Don’t feel the need to be constrained by a certain “style”! Consider how you want the room to feel and let your personality speak!

Need help picking colors for your kitchen painting ideas? Head on over to our Interior Painting Colors pages for tips on how colors work together and help create atmosphere.

If you’re looking for more suggestions, consider browsing interior design magazines, or visit That Interior Painting Girl’s Pinterest page for photos, examples, and more kitchen painting ideas.

1. Home
›
2. Interior Painting Ideas
›
3. Kitchen Painting Ideas

ShareFacebookTwitterPinterestTumblrRedditWhatsApp