Paint colors by room
Best Kitchen Paint Colors
Kitchens are the most functionally demanding room in a house, and paint has to earn its place alongside cabinetry, tile, counters, and appliances. The best kitchen wall colors lean high-LRV (55+) so they bounce light onto work surfaces and make the space feel clean even mid-prep. Crisp whites, warm whites, and soft pale blues and greens dominate this list because they read as hygienic without feeling sterile. Below the top tier you'll see muted warm neutrals that complement wood cabinetry and a handful of deeper blues and greens that work beautifully as a single accent wall or as the primary color in a kitchen with white cabinets. The one rule: whatever color you pick, pair it with a finish rated eggshell or satin so it can survive regular cleaning.
60 ranked picks across 27 paint brands
Featured Kitchen Guides
These colors rank strongly for kitchens and have full hand-authored designer guides with undertone notes, lighting behavior, coordinating trim and accents, and room-specific usage.
Top 60 Kitchen Paint Colors
Antique White
SW 6119
LRV 72 · warm
Creamy
SW 7012
LRV 81 · warm
Eider White
SW 7014
LRV 73 · warm
Extra White
SW 7006
LRV 86 · warm
Chantilly Lace
BM OC-65
LRV 90 · neutral
Cloud White
BM OC-130
LRV 85.05 · warm
First Light
BM 2102-70
LRV 75.86 · neutral
Simply White
BM OC-117
LRV 90 · warm
Swiss Coffee
BM OC-45
LRV 81.91 · warm
White Dove
BM OC-17
LRV 83 · warm
White Heron
BM OC-57
LRV 86.69 · neutral
White
DEW 315
LRV 88 · warm
Delicate White
PPG 1001-1
LRV 88 · warm
Strong White
F&B No. 2001
LRV 80 · warm
Half Tea
Resene Half Tea
LRV 73 · warm
Natural White
Dulux NN 01/00
LRV 87 · warm
White Lily
Nippon OW1009P
LRV 86 · warm
Pristine Linen
AP L153
LRV 84 · warm
Vellum
C2-868
LRV 79 · warm
Slaked Lime
LG No.168
LRV 83 · warm
Hempel 10170
Hempel 10170
LRV 84 · warm
Aesthetic White
SW 7035
LRV 73 · warm
Aged White
SW 9180
LRV 74 · warm
Alabaster
SW 7008
LRV 82 · warm
Alluring White
SW 6343
LRV 77 · warm
Arcade White
SW 7100
LRV 86 · neutral
Blue Iris
SW 9687
LRV 73 · neutral
Ceiling Bright White
SW 7007
LRV 83 · neutral
Cheviot
SW 9503
LRV 89 · warm
Classic Light Buff
SW 0050
LRV 83 · warm
Cold Foam
SW 9504
LRV 84 · neutral
Cotton
SW 9581
LRV 83 · warm
Cotton Candy
SW 9692
LRV 77 · neutral
Crystalline
SW 9691
LRV 77 · neutral
Cultured Pearl
SW 6028
LRV 73 · neutral
Dashing
SW 9544
LRV 83 · neutral
Dew Drop
SW 9641
LRV 70 · neutral
Divine White
SW 6105
LRV 72 · warm
Dover White
SW 6385
LRV 83 · warm
Downy
SW 7002
LRV 81 · warm
Dreamy White
SW 6021
LRV 71 · neutral
Ethereal White
SW 6182
LRV 76 · neutral
Everyday White
SW 6077
LRV 72 · neutral
Fleur de Sel
SW 7666
LRV 72 · neutral
Frost Bite
SW 9505
LRV 88 · warm
Frosty White
SW 6196
LRV 72 · neutral
Futon
SW 7101
LRV 80 · warm
Gauzy White
SW 6035
LRV 72 · neutral
Glimmer
SW 6476
LRV 78 · neutral
Gorgeous White
SW 6049
LRV 72 · warm
Greek Villa
SW 7551
LRV 84 · warm
Green Glimpse
SW 9676
LRV 82 · neutral
Gypsum
SW 9543
LRV 82 · neutral
High Reflective White
SW 7757
LRV 93 · neutral
Hush White
SW 6042
LRV 72 · neutral
Ibis White
SW 7000
LRV 84 · neutral
Ice Cube
SW 6252
LRV 77 · neutral
Icicle
SW 6238
LRV 73 · neutral
Incredible White
SW 7028
LRV 74 · neutral
Intimate White
SW 6322
LRV 77 · warm
Best Kitchen Paint Colors by Brand
Each brand’s top 5 ranked picks for kitchens. The lists reflect the room-specific suitability rubric applied to every color in the brand’s full catalog.
Related Rooms
Adjacent rooms in the house often share a color palette, and browsing the neighboring room guides usually surfaces picks the kitchen rubric doesn’t rank as highly.
- Dining Room paint colorsDining room paint colors ranked for richness and depth
- Kitchen Cabinets paint colorsKitchen cabinet paint colors ranked for durability and timelessness
- Living Room paint colorsThe best living room paint colors from 27 brands, ranked by livability, light, and how they handle everyday wear.
Kitchen Paint Colors — Frequently Asked
- What is the most popular kitchen paint color?
- Warm whites and soft off-whites remain the most popular kitchen paints, with Benjamin Moore White Dove, Sherwin-Williams Alabaster, and Behr Swiss Coffee consistently in the top-specified list. They brighten the space, hide light splatter between cleanings, and match almost every cabinet and counter material.
- Should kitchen walls be lighter or darker than the cabinets?
- Conventional staging advice is that walls should be lighter than the cabinets, so the cabinets read as the focal element. This holds well for white-cabinet kitchens with a soft accent wall and for dark-cabinet kitchens with creamy walls. The exception: monochrome kitchens where walls and cabinets are the same color can look striking in a small space.
- What paint finish is best for a kitchen?
- Eggshell and satin finishes are the standard for kitchen walls because they balance low sheen (which hides imperfections) with enough surface tension to wipe clean. Semi-gloss is appropriate for trim and sometimes cabinetry but can feel too reflective on broad wall areas. Matte and flat finishes will stain permanently in a working kitchen.
- Are blue and green kitchens out of style?
- Neither — both remain firmly in the top-10 most-specified kitchen palettes. Muted sage and eucalyptus greens have been the strongest-performing kitchen color trend of the last several years, and classic navy has never gone out of style as a cabinet or island color. The shift is away from saturated brights toward muted, earthy versions of both families.