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Remodelers Agree: This is the Best Color for Kitchen Cabinets

Dabney Frake
Dabney Frake
Dabney is a Southern-born, New England-raised, current Midwesterner. Her dog Grim is part terrier, part basset hound, part dust mop.
updated Mar 31, 2020
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(Image credit: Adrienne Breaux)

When you look across the wide, diverse spectrum that is humanity, there are few things that huge swaths of people can agree on in this country. We argue our views, refuse to listen to the opposition, and each stay in our respective bubbles. Well, in the remodeling world at least, it turns out there is one thing that people — of all ages and design preferences — will come together to celebrate.

According to the Houzz 2017 Kitchen Trends Report, people overwhelming choose white cabinets when remodeling their kitchens. This goes for both Millenials (47%), Baby Boomers (41%), and everyone in between (43%). For comparison, the next highest percentages were 16% (medium wood preferred by Baby Boomers) and 13% (gray for Millennials).

So just what is it that makes white kitchen cabinets so appealing? We dove down into our house tours to find out what makes them work for almost anybody.

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(Image credit: Marisa Vitale)
  • Home Owner: Elise
  • Self-Described Style: Stuff & Nonsense
  • Location: California

When renovating her California bungalow kitchen, Elise used IKEA cabinets to keep the costs down, then splurged on Calacatta marble and Schoolhouse Electric hardware for all the cabinets. The mix of high and low here really works.

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(Image credit: Diana Paulson)
  • Homeowner: Diana
  • Self-Described Style: Collected Eclectic
  • Location: Michigan

When Diana renovated her Michigan kitchen, she knew she wanted a Big Chill retro refrigerator. She says it was a gamble to put a huge green fridge in a clean, all-white kitchen, but it definitely paid off. She now adores it.

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(Image credit: Jill Slater)
  • Homeowners: Anne and Richard
  • Self-Described Style: A Mixture of Everything
  • Location: Manhattan

New York City is the home of this beautiful kitchen with custom cabinets and marble counters. The all white space is soothing, with just enough wood and warmth to make it inviting.

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(Image credit: Cathy Pyle)
  • Homeowner: Audrey
  • Self-Described Style: Cozy Urban Industrial
  • Location: Soho

The added warm and vintage elements of Audrey Wong’s kitchen work perfectly against the backdrop of the crisp, clean white cabinets, and the result is at once seriously stylish and hugely welcoming.

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(Image credit: Samara Vise)
  • Homeowner: Arnie
  • Self-Described Style: “Crap Whisperer” Eclectic
  • Location: New Hampshire

Arnie takes random finds from thrift stores, yard sales, dumpsters, neighbor’s attics and threads them through her New Hampshire attic space, almost like she’s designing a quilt. She loves how the different materials, colors, and textures (which really stand out against the white infrastructure) combine to tell her story.

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(Image credit: Monica Wang)
  • Homeowners: Chris and Amber
  • Self-Described Style: Mid-Century Modern, Eclectic, Classic
  • Location: North Hollywood, California

The vintage-style cabinets and old-school hardware suit the style of home, and are paired with high functioning quartz countertops. The old meets new vibe is relaxed and comfortable, and oh so stylish without being pretentious.

Do you agree? Are white kitchen cabinets your favorite, too?

Filed in:
Kitchen
Renovating