Joanna Gaines’ “Bonus” Kitchen Is Drenched in the Hottest Color of the 2020s

Did you know that Joanna Gaines actually has two kitchens in her Waco, Texas, home? The main kitchen is connected to her open floor plan and is airy and bright with a large kitchen island, white shiplap walls, and open shelving. But just off that main kitchen, Gaines treated herself to a dark, moody baking kitchen that looks more like something out of a Victorian mansion. 

It’s painted in a deep evergreen color, features black antique-style tiles on the floor, and even has a brick fireplace and a library ladder to access those ingredients and tools on the taller shelves. It might just be the coziest spot in the house and a dream place to get your holiday baking done.

Gaines has been leaning into dark green color washing for a while now. She completed her rose shed project back in January, and it looks incredibly similar to her baking kitchen, washed baseboard-to-ceiling in a moody pine green and accented with black-and-white tiles.

And she even pulled the green into the Waco Castle project, writing in her blog that the kitchen cabinets are painted with Magnolia Home’s Cottage Grove. It’s a mix of navy and green that shifts in different lighting, “which makes it both dramatic and cozy all at once,” Gaines wrote at the time. 

While it seemingly makes sense to lighter in small spaces to make them feel bigger, Gaines is showing how to lean into the coziness with warm, darker tones that make the lighter spots (like the brass hardware, library ladder, copper sink, marble countertop and backsplash, and brick fireplace) pop.

You might not have two kitchens to experiment with when it comes to color, but if you love the moody vibes of Gaines’ baking kitchen, it may be time to give your one-and-only kitchen a mini-makeover.