White Paint Colors For Kitchen Cabinets That Look Good In (Almost) Every Home

The post is all about the prettiest and best white paint colors for kitchen cabinets.

No matter what the current trends are, there’s one thing you can always be sure of: White kitchens are timeless and will never go out of style.

From warm white kitchen cabinets to bright white kitchens, these are the top white colors that look beautiful in almost every home…

Our kitchen cabinets, pictured above, are painted in the color Extra White by Sherwin Williams.

How to choose the best white paint colors for kitchen cabinets

When you’re thinking about white kitchen cabinet paint colors, let’s keep in mind that “white” paint colors aren’t just “white”. There are 4 major factors that can affect the way white paint looks on kitchen cabinets:

1. LRV
2. Undertones
3. Lighting
4. Surrounding finishes

Every white paint color has a different LRV (Light Reflectance Value = how much light is reflected from the color which affects its’ perceived brightness).

Every white paint color also has its own undertones, and these could vary from yellow (warm) to blue (cool).

So for example, there may be a white paint color with high LRV, meaning it looks bright, but it may have yellow undertones, which makes it a bright, warm white.

Lighting can also change the way a white paint color looks in your kitchen. If your kitchen gets eastern or northern light, or if you use cool or ‘daytime’ bulbs, any white in your kitchen will appear brighter and cooler. On the flip side, if you get lots of afternoon daylight or you use warm bulbs, white tones will appear warmer.

The surrounding finishes in your kitchen (the colors of your kitchen walls, flooring, countertops and backsplash, and appliances) can also affect how white or off-white your cabinets look.

Top 7 white paint colors for kitchen cabinets, from warmest to brightest:

Natural Cream by Benjamin Moore

Natural cream is a pretty white paint color that has just a bit of a griege tone to it. It has an LRV of 64.78. This puts it directly in the off-white zone and the darkest white I’m comfortable adding to this list!

Even though the LRV is on the lower side, Natural Cream won’t make your kitchen look dark or drab. On the contrary, Natural Cream kitchen cabinets will bring balance to a modern and fresh kitchen, especially if you pair it with a brighter white (like Chantilly Lace) on the walls.

Natural Cream (pictured here on the cabinets) is a pretty greige white color.

Alabaster by Sherwin Williams

This shade has an LRV of 82, so it’s on the darker side of warm whites. I wouldn’t recommend it on kitchen cabinets if you have a bright white countertop or backsplash.

But if you’re trying to update a late 1990s or early 2000s kitchen and you’ve got a beige-toned backsplash or dark granite countertops, Alabaster will brighten up your kitchen and mix nicely with those other hard finishes.

White Dove by Benjamin Moore

White Dove is one of the best white paint colors for cabinets for homeowners looking for a warm white that has just a bit less yellow than Alabaster.

This shade of white has an LRV of 83.16 and just a touch of gray that helps mellow out the yellow undertones. It also works well with Tuscan-style kitchens from the late 1990s/early 2000s.