Kitchen & Bathroom Design Blog

The kitchen is the hub of the home, the center of family life, and inevitably the place where everyone gathers at a party.  Not only is your kitchen a central living space, it is an investment in the value of your home.  For these reasons and more, kitchen remodeling projects tend to use a neutral color palette. White has been the most popular color by far for kitchens, with other neutrals such as brown, beige, or warm wood tones being a common choice as well.  Bright colors, when incorporated into the kitchen design, are often left to accessories or wall colors that are more easily altered when your tastes change.

Kitchens have become bigger and evolved over time to form part of a larger living area that combines kitchen, dining, living, and entertaining space.  At the same time, views on kitchen décor have changed to show that this room is no longer just for food preparation, incorporating design elements like furniture style cabinetry and islands built for entertaining.  Likewise, sophisticated gray tones are becoming a more popular choice as the new neutral for kitchen renovation.  While white still holds the number one position for kitchen color schemes, gray rises in popularity every year and rivals white for the top spot.

Why has gray become so popular?

It sets a sophisticated tone.

More than any other neutral, gray gives your kitchen style a sophisticated flair that reflects the kitchen’s role as part of a larger living space within the home.  Gray is a more subdued neutral than white, and it integrates well into other parts of your home style.

It provides a calming influence.

The kitchen is the hub of activity in the home, and a focal point for family life.  Gray is an ideal color for this busy room as it is a calming color that that contributes to a soothing atmosphere.

It is a versatile choice.

Gray suits all styles and tastes, and mixes well with other neutrals and accent colors.  It has the ability to adapt to almost any type of kitchen, including traditional, contemporary, and rustic styles. 

It offers different shades to suit your room.

By varying the hue you select you can enhance your available space.  A lighter tone will open up a smaller space, while a darker gray works better in a large room.  The various shades of gray also evoke a different mood depending on the undertone in the color, making it either a warmer or cooler color.  When selecting your gray, it may be necessary to look at different shades before you find the right one.  You can also alter the look when selecting gray kitchen cabinets by choosing either a painted cabinet for even coloration or a stained gray that allows some wood grain to show.

It mixes well with other colors.

Since gray is a neutral tone, it can work well with a variety of colors, including other neutrals as well as bright accent colors.  This allows you to change the mood of the room by selecting gray for certain items such as kitchen cabinets, floor, or backsplash and mixing it with another neutral or accent color. For example, the kitchen design in Newtown, PA pictured to the right mixes a gray countertop and floor with white cabinets to provide a softer transitional design. 

If a new kitchen is in your future, a gray color scheme may be the ideal solution to give your kitchen a sophisticated flair.  Click here to see more kitchen design ideas, or contact us to find out more.