A white kitchen cabinet can create a clean look in any home, but white can also make your room looked washed out. In order to avoid a sterile, cold look, you need to choose your paint colours with care. There is a vast choice of complementary and contrasting colours for white, as it is the ultimate neutral shade, so which colours will look best with your new white kitchen cabinet doors?

Contrasting Colours

In order to determine contrasting colours, you would typically look at a colour wheel. Contrasting colours appear on the opposite side of the wheel to add a pop of colour, particularly in kitchens where the cabinetry will take up a great deal of the space. Since white is a combination of all the colours on the colour wheel, it is not actually a colour on the wheel. So, technically, there are no contrasting colours to white. For this reason, choosing a contrasting wall colour for your white kitchen cabinet doors is about making a bold choice. Imagine a dash of yellow or a splash of red and how they will contrast your white cabinets.

If you have cabinets that are off white or antique with a traditional style of kitchen, you could choose a unique, dark colour such as rich greens or royal purple. If you have a more contemporary kitchen with linen or frosty white, go for a bold, lighter shade such as orange or bright blue that will really pop. Your choice of contrasting colour will be influenced by the size of your kitchen. Large spaces can carry a darker shade, while you should limit your colour choice to lighter shades if you have a smaller kitchen or you risk making the room feel cramped and lacking light.

Coordinating Colours

Coordinating colours are used to enhance the hues in your existing kitchen colour scheme. They are used to harmonise the colour palette of your room. With white kitchen cabinet doors, there are two ways to choose coordinating colours; choose an element in your kitchen to highlight on your walls or coordinate with a neutral paint shade.

If you opt for the first approach, to highlight a colour in your room, it is a good idea to choose a unique colour that is infrequently used anywhere else, such as your backsplash or countertops. For example, if you have a blue tile accented backsplash, it can be a good choice for a wall colour, but you’ll need to match the colour for a uniform look. Remember that even a shade difference will create a competing look that could compromise the overall decor.

Painting the walls with a neutral colour is a great way to coordinate the look of your room. Neutral shades are easy on the eye and will not compete with your countertops and cabinets. You could choose a classic beige or light brown or go for a more contemporary steel blue or light grey.

If you’re considering new kitchen cabinet doors, you should speak to us. We would be delighted to help you plan all the details of your new kitchen to showcase your choice of kitchen cabinet.