Best wall paint color for dark brown kitchen cabinets

While white cabinets are the most popular color, dark kitchen cabinets offer their own style. Known for their drama and elegance, they work with a range of designs, from modern to traditional. If you’re interested in getting dark kitchen cabinet ideas, look no further.

Table of Contents Show

11 Gorgeous Pics of Dark Kitchen Cabinets
Are Dark Kitchen Cabinets Outdated?
What’s the Best Paint Color for Dark Cabinets?
What wall color goes best with dark brown cabinets?
What color pulls for dark brown cabinets?
What color should I paint my kitchen if my cabinets are brown?
Should walls be lighter or darker than cabinets?

11 Gorgeous Pics of Dark Kitchen Cabinets

When you’re designing a kitchen, cabinet color should rank at the top of your decision tree. Not only are cabinets your largest expense (about 30 percent), they also make up the bulk of your layout.

Dark cabinets offer sophistication and elegance. But they also hide dirt better. That’s good news if you have pets and kids because you won’t spend as much time chasing grime.

White kitchen cabinets alone can feel cold or too bright. If you like white cabinets but want to warm up your space, introduce an island in a bold color. Then coordinate the island color with the floor tile to make the kitchen design look pulled together.

Dark cabinets add intimacy, especially in open-plan spaces, which can often feel echoey. When you’re planning the design, match the home’s accents (like lights, stairwells, and window frames) to the kitchen cabinets. This will unify a large room because it lets the eye travel from point to point.

Are Dark Kitchen Cabinets Outdated?

You might be asking, “Are dark kitchen cabinets outdated?” If you keep your colors and styles timeless, you never have to worry about your cabinets going out of style. Choose a traditional cabinet, then pick a color like navy or a muted grass green.

You can also use white as your main cabinet color, then choose furniture-style cabinets in dark colors. This adds a custom, built-in look. Choose from a blend of colors that play well together, like dark gray and black, and your room will make sense visually.

If you go with dark kitchen cabinets, balance them with lots of light, either natural or artificial. This will keep the room feeling open and airy. Also, blending textures, like rustic floors and furniture, with sleek metal chairs and granite countertops, create a nuanced, pleasing design.

What’s the Best Paint Color for Dark Cabinets?

One of the best paint colors for a kitchen with dark cabinets is white. You can also choose a light neutral, like greige or gray, using the light walls to create balance in your design.

Dark kitchen cabinets don’t just go with white. Customize your kitchen by adding bright, modern colors in unexpected places. Try orange, green, blue, or bright yellow.

Even though a kitchen is small, you can still blend kitchen cabinet colors. Putting the dark colors on the top makes the top cabinets recede.

If you’re going with all dark cabinets, but you’re worried about the room being too dark, look for ways to bring in light. You can try lighter floors and backsplashes. White countertops and frosted cabinet doors reflect the light and make the room feel more expansive.

Interested in exploring more color ideas for your home or kitchen? Try our color exploration tools, where you can browse trending colors or pick a color scheme inspired by your own photos. When you’re ready to paint, our team of professional interior painters is here to help!

Cabinet Painting Services

What wall color goes best with dark brown cabinets?

Off-white, beige, taupe, warm gray, linen, or even blush pink are a few tones that can complement warm dark wood cabinets very well. You can take this a step further by adding patterns and accents from the same color family against these shades.

What color pulls for dark brown cabinets?

What color knobs for brown cabinets? Oil-rubbed bronze hardware finishes, black finishes, and chrome hardware finishes all pair well with brown cabinets.

What color should I paint my kitchen if my cabinets are brown?

Complementary Colors A lot of cabinets are wood and brown, so you'll want to consider paint colors placed opposite of brown. These tones include various shades of blue and green, such as turquoise, teal, aquamarine, light blue, medium blue, gray-green and soft gray.

Should walls be lighter or darker than cabinets?

There are no strict rules as to whether painted kitchen cabinets should be lighter or darker than the walls, essentially it comes down to personal preference and the look you're trying to achieve.