Kitchen Paint Colours for Walls & Cabinets
Kitchen colour starts with the cabinets, then works outwards to the walls, worktop and floor. Choose deep greens and blues for contrast, soft stones for a quieter room, or a warm accent on an island or dresser. Check the whole combination in daylight and under your kitchen lights; every shade is available as a 60ml sample.
Choose kitchen colours as a pair: the cabinets first, because they're the biggest block of colour, then a wall colour that lets them stand out. Deep greens and navies make the boldest cabinets, soft stones and greyed greens are the easiest to live with, and clean whites keep the walls bright. Every colour here comes in our self-priming Kitchen Cabinet Paint and our scrubbable Kitchen Wall Paint, so the colour you fall in love with on the sample is the colour on your doors.
At a glance
- Cabinets first
- Build around the biggest block. Choose the cabinet colour before the wall colour. Check it beside the worktop, floor and splashback: those colours are staying too.
- North light
- Warm stones and earthy accents. Cool, steady daylight suits warm stone cabinets and softly warm walls. Earthy reds and browns can bring warmth to an island or dresser.
- South light
- Cool cabinets, fresh walls. Warm, bright daylight suits deep blues, greens and green-based stones. Sample warm creams carefully so the room does not feel too yellow.
- East light
- Warm stones through the day. Breakfast light is warm, then turns cooler and bluer. Warm stones and gentle warm wall colours keep the kitchen welcoming later.
- West light
- Greens for golden evenings. Cool, flat mornings give way to warm golden evening light. Greyed greens and deeper cool cabinets balance that late sunshine.
- Fixed finishes
- Worktop and floor come too. Put samples directly beside the worktop and floor. A cabinet colour that works alone may look quite different against stone or timber.
- Finish
- Match paint to the job. Kitchen Cabinet Paint is self-priming and comes in Matt and Satin. Kitchen Wall Paint is scrubbable.
- Sample tip
- Check every change of light. Move your sample between walls. Check it in morning and afternoon daylight, then under the lights you use at night.
Tap any tile to read more.
Cabinet colours that hold their own
Deep cabinets give pale worktops clear contrast.
Best in north-, south-, east- and west-facing rooms
Deep greens, inky blues and soft blacks are popular for kitchen cabinets for a simple reason: they make even a plain run of doors look expensive.
Set them against a light wall and pale worktop so they read as a deliberate choice.
Best in south-facing kitchens with Bellyetter™, Bobber™ or Arboretum™, north-facing kitchens with Broadcloth™ or Beret™, and east- or west-facing kitchens with any of them except Bellyetter™. Cameron Green™ suits every direction.
Soft stones and greyed greens
Quiet stones and greens for gentler cabinets.
Best in north-, south-, east- and west-facing rooms
If you want a kitchen that feels calm and timeless, these are where we'd look. They work as cabinet colours in smaller kitchens, look lovely on a kitchen island next to darker units and make a gentle wall colour behind white cabinets.
Best in north-facing kitchens with Generale™, Whalebone™, Cameron Stone™ or Loxley™, and south-facing kitchens with the green-based stones and the greens. Every shade here suits east- and west-facing kitchens. Check the cabinet sample directly beside your worktop.
Kitchen wall colours that let the cabinets shine
Pale walls give cabinet colours breathing space.
Best in north-, south-, east- and west-facing rooms
Behind deep cabinets, a clean or softly warm white keeps the kitchen bright and lets the units do the talking. These whites and pale stones carry enough undertone to avoid looking stark next to stone, oak or brass.
Kitchen walls get splashed, steamed and wiped. Our Kitchen Wall Paint is scrubbable, so they can be cleaned properly without the colour giving up.
Best in north-facing kitchens with Langwith™ or Outlaw Stone™, or south-facing kitchens with Ancaster Stone™, Liberty™, Dadley™, Donk™ or Workhouse Lime™. All eight suit east- and west-facing kitchens, and Parchment™ suits every direction.
Warm accents for an island, larder or dresser
Earthy accents bring warmth to smaller surfaces.
Best in north-, east- and west-facing rooms
Not ready to commit a whole kitchen to colour? Try it on the island, a larder cupboard or an old dresser. These warm, earthy shades bring the kitchen to life without taking it over.
Best in north-facing kitchens with any of these warm accents, or east- and west-facing kitchens with Fothergill™, Bulwell Stone™, Cobblers™ or Dooper™. Barker™ and Madder™ are the north-facing choices here.
Sample it the way we would
Step 1
Paint your peel-and-sticks
Each £5.99 sample comes with three paintable peel-and-sticks. Give them two coats and let them dry fully.
Step 2
Stick them around the room
Put them on two or three walls, including the wall opposite the window, at eye level and lower down.
Step 3
Live with them for a day or two
Look in the morning, the afternoon and under your evening lamps. Move them around until you are sure.
Your questions, answered
What is the best colour for kitchen cabinets?
It depends on the size and light of the kitchen. Deep greens and navies look striking in a well-lit kitchen with pale worktops; soft stones and greyed greens are easier in smaller or darker kitchens. Paint a sample and hold it against your worktop and floor before deciding.
What colour walls go with dark kitchen cabinets?
A clean or softly warm white, or a very pale stone. A light wall keeps the room bright and frames dark units. Avoid a wall colour that is almost, but not quite, the same depth as the cabinets.
Do I need a primer for kitchen cabinets?
Our Kitchen Cabinet Paint is self-priming, but preparation still matters: clean, degrease and sand the doors properly. Our kitchen cabinet guide walks through every step.
How to paint kitchen cabinetsWhy is there no Dead Matt for kitchen cabinets?
Cabinets are a working surface that face hands, grease and repeated cleaning, so we make our cabinet paint in Matt and Satin rather than the flattest possible finish. Dead Matt is reserved for walls and ceilings.
Finishes explained