Cooking With Color: When to Use Gray in the Kitchen

GBM Manufacturing Our Grey natural essence would be a great addition to these modern kitchen idea. GBM is obsessed with gray. We hand selected our micro "slender" ledgestone for its gray color consistency.

Patricia Pelgrims The colour grey is never ever going to enter my home, not on the walls, not on the accessories, not in my wardrobe !
Living with a climate where winters are damp and grey, in a country where the greyness gets amplified with roads, cars, houses and other buildings, I think I can be forgiven for not following the trend of adding even more of THAT colour in my home. ;)

appdoc Living in a bright and sunny place, I'm going for grey cabinets for the kitchen.. U can't go wrong with grey.. U can accessorize it with almost any colour and it'll still look sophisticated..

laurafn We live in a northern climate and our gray kitchen actually reflects light more than the bland medium wood tone stock cabinets we used to have. (We painted them ourselves). The paint color is 'cobblestone' a Martha Stewart/home depot choice.
I love the choices of gray in this article-varied, sophisticated, and inviting!

As You Like It Designs LLC I have also noticed more gray being used in the interior. It's a great neutral color. I recently created a post on my blog titled The world is going Gray. www.asyoulikeitdz.com

wantsideas I have always liked grey and it is a great neutral color. But I certainly understand if you live in a dreary grey climate it might be the last color that you would want.

Lynne Forrestal So glad I found this on gray kitchens, I am in process of redoing kitchen, I have maple cabinets, but gray/black flooring that reminds me of slate, and will have a dark gray almost black counter top ( being installed tommorrow!), then white subway tiles as backsplash.
I want more modern but warm feel for the kitchen, its got the modern feel, with stainless steel appliances too. But now for the color... what a dilema! too many choices actually!
We did light blue gray ( some times of day it looks robins egg blue, and sometimes more aqua) on the two largest exposed walls ( one is the dining area of kitchen)
Saw a huge metal panel wall art and its really neat, but then again no color.... I don't want it TOO cold we live in Wisconsin so have 4 definite seasons, cold cold winters, and hot summers. any suggestions for me

princesslotta We have the Ikea grey kitchen and it is awesome... Thinking white subway tikes to complement the brick wall paper or maybe \ stainless steel sheets. I wanted pressed tin powder coated but it may be too much :)

Amanda Haytaian Gray works great in this river front home.

jwade1085 Gray cabinets really compliment stainless appliances. I have always thought that stainless appliances do nothing for wood tone cabinets, too much of a contrast. I am just longing for the day when people stop using stainless appliances, unless you never touch them they look terrible most of the time.

Essence Design Studios Great ideas! If clients of mine are worried about gray being too sterile, than I tend to use shades of gray that seem to have warmer tones. Also, I love using stone, tile and fabric accents that have a mix of beige, tan, gray, & whites to lighten and warm up the space.

jwade1085 laurafin, I love your pale gray kitchen re-do. Cabinets look great, I may try this color on the cabinets in my beach condo. Thanks for the post. Judy

Amy J. Greving - Art Studio LLC I've never used gray in my home until our recent new home build in Michigan where we have long cold winters with way to many gray days. I have to tell you gray tones rather than the brown/tan are brighter and way more energizing, especially when adding a punch of color such as "frolic green" from Sherwin Wiliams! I'm loving gray!

lovespencer I`m having a huge problem finding a medium gray for my kitchen cabinets that doesn`t turn blue in the north sun that shines on them. Any suggestions would be appreciated!!!

Patricia Pelgrims Despite my negative feelings towards grey, I do like slightly muted colours though.
I also have to agree that muted colours work great in a more northern climate (you only have to look at how the Scandinavians have embraced this for centuries). And as some people here said, brown/tan just doesn't do it for me either.
Intense colours do work better in a sunny climate as the sunlight kind of visualy fades the colours.
I am at a stage in my life that I like to work with anything light, as in cream/white with a pop of colour here and there.
Grey grey. I just can't do it.

Liza Anne Can't wait to do our 1950s kitchen in shades of gray!! I'm planning a lighter gray on the walls, with crisp white trim, medium gray cabinets, white/gray mixed counter tops. Undecided on the floor just yet. Then great pops of red and yellow to brighten it up, and tie it in with our living room which can be viewed through two doorways.

Melanie Marinucci I love gray. My whole house is going to be gray. I used Behr - Porpoise.

Texas Lightsmith Here are some custom nickel silver kitchen appliances that play well in shades of grey/gray (what is it again?)

megganredfield @lovespencer We just put gray cabinets in our kitchen: color Dorian Gray by Sherwin Williams. It's a really neutral gray with warmer undertones. It goes beautifully with Torquay cambria counters!

Alison Rogers_Napoleon We painted our walls a very, very light gray in the kitchen. I was scared at first, but it looks beautiful. We choose Mountainscape by Benjamin Moore. We have white cabinets and trim and then use a lot of blue and turquoise accents throughout the kitchen. Our apt. is dark and faces north, and actually this light gray really makes it seem lighter and airier in the kitchen.

Dura Supreme Cabinetry The color Gray is quickly becoming the "new neutral" color being used by designers in every room of the home. We have several blogs discussing the popularity of gray in the home. If you are interested in reading them see the links below…

“Black White or Shades of Gray”
http://www.durasupreme.com/blog/black-white-or-shades-gray

“My Favorite Shade of Gray”
http://www.durasupreme.com/blog/my-favorite-shade-gray

“Making a Statement with Graphite”
http://www.durasupreme.com/blog/making-statement-graphite

“Beautiful Gray Kitchens”
http://www.durasupreme.com/blog/beautiful-gray-kitchens

“Trendy Colors vs. Classic Color Schemes”
http://www.durasupreme.com/blog/trendy-colors-vs-classic-color-schemes

Texas Lightsmith @lovespencer look for shades called "warm gray" there are 2 families of grey, one is "Cool" and the other is "Warm" where the cool family has blue undertones and the warm has red undertones.. Here's another houzz article that could be useful

Dura Supreme Cabinetry @Texas Lightsmith, Great point! Warm grays will take away that blue tint you see when the sun light reflects.

lovespencer Thank you, I will check it out. The red or warm tones tend to be pink. Was hoping maybe a color suggestion someone has had experience with. Thanks!

Amy J. Greving - Art Studio LLC It's knowing how to pair grays with white and natural tones, then adding pops of fun color that makes it work in your home. Here in this abstract painting I did, is a good example of how grey tones can work well together. This painting sits above my fireplace...for now.

Dura Supreme Cabinetry @wantsideas, there are many ways to use gray as your neutral and still have a lot of color in your space. The use of gray really draws your eye to color in the room more than anything. That’s why I look at gray as the backdrop for my love of bright colors.

This room is a great example. You can see how the gray helps emphasize the warm colors of the room, , giving the room a more dramatic look.
Woodside Residence

This kitchen is full of green, but they used a gray backsplash, dark gray counters and a gray island to create help the green pop on the walls and accessories. It also incorporates the stainless steel appliances and metal hardware into the color scheme.
Lofty Kitchen Concept

This room is very bright and sunny, you hardly notice the gray. You actually notice the warm tones of the wood floor a lot more then you would if they had use beige as their neutral.
Intexure Live Work Studio

curzirj We remodeled a very tiny galley kitchen in our old condo in San Francisco in 2005. The cabinets were Kraftmaid and thus their standard gray with a glaze. I felt it was a warmer gray. The floor, which you can't see in these pictures brought in more warmth. We've been in another house for the past 4 years and I still miss this gray kitchen with its glass tile backsplash. We are moving again soon and I am looking forward to incorporating gray in our new house.

Dura Supreme Cabinetry lovespencer - If you are fixed on painted cabinets, look for more of a gray-beige then a gray-red. If you are more open to a remodel try wood with a gray stain, gray stains are very popular right now.

Grays stains pull the strong “yellowy” hues out of the wood, but still highlight the natural grains and tones of the wood species. This helps make your wood species more of a neutral color then a dominant color.
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Here you can see the difference from gray painted cabinet doors and gray stained cabinet doors.
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Shavonda Gardner I'm definitely all about grey in the kitchen. For my budget DIY kitchen revamp we went grey on the cabinets. I absolutely love it!

susan9692 Love gray. Have it all over my condo walls in all the rooms including the kitchen which has a red dining area and black shiny cabinets. I love color and gray allows me to accent in colors of my choice. Since I live in South Florida with plenty of sun, my gray walls serve as a "coolant" throughout my home. For those folks who live in cold and damp climates, I don't blame you for not wanting the same feeling inside your home.

batterygal I painted the walls of my kitchen grey 2 years ago. Cabinets/appliances/countertop are white, floor is black. I live in TX so accents are red/yellow incorporated in artwork, accessories, etc.

Dura Supreme Cabinetry Gray on cherry might be a little more red due to the wood speices being more red. I would recomment gray on hickory, maple or oak.

fitzanthony Can't wait for the grey trend to be over, used to love Restoration Hardware, now it feels like stepping into a black and white movie. There's a reason they invented color television. Some of these kitchens could be in a modern battleship.

folsom My kitchen cabinets are a pale gray. I like the classic elegance the pale colors can offer. My floor and accessories add warmth; my yard adds color.

1lovemyboys I'm getting ready to remodel and gray is all I can think about! I want three shades of gray for three rooms that flow into each other. One will have a pop of cranberry red. Another room will have a pop of yellow. And a huge trend I'm seeing right now is orange, so the third room will have a pop of orange. can't wait!!!!

Dura Supreme Cabinetry @1lovemyboys,
Sounds very fun! I would love to see photos when you're done.

donatthestonecollection Gray Neolith Kitchen

sartarehare I'm going very light grey as a neutral. Looks so good with all of the teak, mahogany and walnut colored wood detailing in my 1963 ranch.

cathyholman I also live in a cold dark at times and well lots of snow.... but are home has grey in it and it does not look dull even in the winter. This summer our kitchen will be getting a lick of grey. I like how I can put any colour with it also I am not a fan of stainless appliances and the grey will go nice with the white.... we hope.

scarlet127 We just completed a major kitchen renovation with a heavy emphasis on gray. The back splash is gray slate 2 x 2 tiles with some contrasting rust accents, 12 x 12 gray porcelain tile floors, lighter gray ceiling and walls and a darker gray accent wall by the table. We are very happy with it!

only1nmb I love grey! My walls in my living room, kitchen, dining room, staircase, and upstairs hallway are ALL GREY! Seal Grey to be exact.

K.jill We used sprayed on medium gloss grey for some of our cabinets. We mixed it with a cream colored plastic product inset. Both coordinate with a fabulous Ann Sacks glass mosaic tile. So Happy with it even after 7 years.

Dura Supreme Cabinetry Dura Supreme Cabinetry recently launch a new pallet of gray paints and gray stains, it has been interesting to see these new finishes suddenly flowing across our manufacturing floor, destined for homes around the country. We've already seen a large enthusiastic acceptance of these new colors as homeowners started immediately selecting our various shades of gray paints for their homes and their new Dura Supreme kitchens! I believe gray cabinetry is not just a trend, but a new color era. Now that kitchens tend to use more stainless steel appliances, using gray really makes more sense.

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Painted:
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On Cherry:
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On Hickory:
Simply Supreme Door Styles and Finishes 1
Simply Supreme Door Styles and Finishes 2

mmunro57 I have light maple cabinets and was looking for a colour that would make them really standout. I ended up repainting my kitchen a medium grey (a colour called 'black pepper') based on a picture on your website. The picture had exactly the same cabinets as mine and I knew as soon as I saw it that grey was the colour for me. It turned out better than I had hoped and I would definitely recommend it for anyone with light wood coloured cabinets!

Tammy Batista-Towers We just purchased new chocolate cabinets and our new backsplash tile is chocolate brown, beige, navy, pale gray and white. Our kitchen will be painted pale gray, so tired of the go to neutral of beige.

digitalswan I see grey as a great neutral. It is not to dark not to light and makes colors POP. We have had white and black cabinets and both show wear very easy. To me grey is a great color for many different applications.

julieholl We just painted our newly renovated kitchen gray. It looks fantastic next to espresso cabinetry, Super White granite and stainless appliances.

Custom Spaces Design We love grey in our kitchens! SW Anew Grey warmed up with rift cut white oak accent cabinets. And Pewter Grey Lacquer doors for a clean modern look. And a blueish grey in a cozy traditional setting.

Dana Veach I've long loved grey in all sorts of applications...both home and fashion. A touch of grey softens and mutes nearly any color...and plays nicely with all the more boisterous ones. I rarely get enough of it.

tarotlova 1lovemyboys your kitchen is awesome! I love it!

youngmichaelg One word: institutional.

Rebecca Melo I was thrilled to see my client's kitchen featured in this article. The client's eclectic style and great mid-century furniture and fixtures helped to lend warmth and texture to the space. I love using grey as a neutral backdrop to warm natural materials. Thanks HOUZZ.

Rebecca Melo I was thrilled to see my client's kitchen featured in this article. The client's eclectic style and great mid-century furniture and fixtures helped to lend warmth and texture to the space. I love using grey as a neutral backdrop to warm natural materials. Thanks HOUZZ.

reillyk Love gray in the kitchen. Just completed a full gut kitchen remodel and the gray walls really work with the traditional flavor of the kitchen.

Irene Mitchell I already have both grey and lime green on the walls of my kitchen and living room in my vey small house. Just need to change the boring brown cabinets to grey.

Lynne Forrestal Irene, Your Kitchen will look SO good with Gray cabinets... good luck and post your after photos for us too :_

defho Painted our cabinets Martha Stewart's Sharkey Grey and love it.

ahna2 I'm a grey lover. When I remodeled my kitchen I moved the old oak cabinets to our downstairs kitchen and painted them a light grey. I love the look and had to laugh when I thought I should have kept them upstairs. I am not fond of the color on the walls but love the tile color with the grey cabinets.

tpyates I love grey and we are starting a Reno which will include lots of grey. My current kitchen is grey and white and it feels more lively than the previous green colour. Don't shy away from grey because you think it will be more dreary - it really won't be and you can pair it with any bright colour out there.

Jo Allan While I do think all the personal pics posted look great, I do agree the grey and neutral trend are feeling a bit, well, grey if that makes sense. So many kitchens now look slight variations of the same themes. I do love the hit of lime green walls from the one commenter's photo! It's why one of fave shows is Kitchen Cousins. Especially the earlier shows where they used coloured, Italian cabinets and Moroccan inspired tiles and light fixtures! Their kitchens seem truly unique and what you'd find in most magazines or TV shows. Sarah Richardson has also done some unique, even small kitchen spaces. We will be doing our kitchen and are trying to find ways to have it look unique but still respect re-sale value and future buyers who are looking for the magazine kitchen (which I'm not putting down - many are beautiful).

Jo Allan Oops, meant to say, many spaces done by the Kitchen Cousins and Sarah Richardson are not what you'd normally find in magazines and many other TV shows. I love to see great hits of colour, unique tile (esp. hand made Moroccan, Mexican etc) and people taking more chances to be more original and more life. There was a gardening show called Recreating Eden and i loved some of the kitchens and other spaces because they looked homey, and lived in with old harvest tables and family photos everywhere etc.

Susan Mills Design Jo, have a look t Johnny Greys web site,he creates imaginative, useful and unique kitchens. Lots of great ideas there.

http://www.johnnygrey.com/

Elisabeth Clark Gray is so cold. I find it incredulous that anyone would call it warm. Perhaps I'm showing my age, but at one time "battleship gray" was the only cheap color to paint the exterior of a house.

sartarehare Jo Allen, honestly I think we could say the same for most kitchen trends. My beef is with vintage kitchens that have been ripped apart for cookie cutter looks from Home Cheapo. Shiny espresso cabinets, glass tile, granite and stainless appliances were pretty ubiquitous for awhile there. The grey is a nice change from that but you're right- it can look cold.
I'm refinishing my older cabinets (60s) in the original wood stain and just painting walls. I wouldn't dare paint the cabinets- they're a gorgeous piece of history in that they just aren't built like that anymore. And this is coming from someone who did a full kitchen remodel in another home and was never 100% happy with the shiny new products.

paradisecastle I've decided to paint my kitchen shades of soft gray. I plan to paint my old, but in good shape oak cabinets a lighter gray than the walls, but it matches the stainless steel appliances well. I discovered when holding up various colors next to the appliances that dark colors made the room feel cramped and choppy even though it's a pretty large room. The gray pulls the eye around the room. White was not an option because when we first moved here there was a mostly white wallpaper and with the 3 huge picture windows that face west white made too much glare. Something softer is needed. Eventually I hope to put in a small crystal chandelier of some sort to add sparkle.
Winters here are pretty gray and gloomy, but with the big windows I hope it will "bring the outdoors in". I'll warm it up with pops of color with accessories.

moreaub I love grey so much that I used 2 tones of it when I resurfaced my kitchen cabinets: darker for the bottom and lighter for the top and back/in the dining room. Wallpapered 1 wall of the dining room in grey / next to a yellow wall. Also added floating wood floor in grey in the kitchen. Just love it! Matches well my beige/black granite countertop.

wrightib We recently used Sherwin Williams Repose on the kitchen walls, and combined it with island cabinets painted in Sherwin Williams Gauntlet, and uppers in Eider White. The ceiling is natural tongue and goove. This made a clean, but warm and welcoming kitchen.

mmsalg Grey is such a versatile color to use as it complete;y changes the space depending on the shade used. I love love love the wood floor in the grey kitchen. Did you know that making a concrete countertop is a wonderful way to add grey to your space? See more if you're interested http://custm.co/hz/138

ddem I really only like gray with the gray and white marbles. That is a gorgeous look. I have a large Carrera marble vanity top in my guest bath with a white cabinet, chrome accents and tiny 1 x 2 Carrera marble brick subway tiles on the side of the tub. It looks so clean and beautiful. I have a yellow wallpaper that somehow is a shade of yellow that looks really nice with it. A happy accident since it was already there and I had thought I would be tearing that down. I put a Hotel Collection white shower curtain and white towels with gray monogram and it looks very nice.

...Sometimes gray reminds me of the disco era where gray walls were paired with magenta, hot pink, emerald green and lots of black and white. It was modern but so quickly dated. I remember going to a Street of Dreams show house tour and one home was all grays with white/off white and black and jewel tone accents. It was pretty but people were so much more drawn to the deep rich colors in the other homes just coming on the scene. This was 1988 or 89. A few years later after the jewel tone era was over, enter the taupe age paired with black and cream. This was so hot it was in every magazine, every show house, it paired nicely with the trend at the time "neoclassic" wildly popular in the early to mid '90's. After a few years of this, people were just color STARVED. I think that could happen again with gray except that not everyone is doing it and not in every room and in such a permanent way. Everyone seems to have their own take on it so I am thinking maybe the gray era may have some staying power with some tweaks as we move along to the next great thing. As I get older, I see this swinging back and forth. What I have witnessed is that heavy color saturation is followed by a drying out period of light and airy monochromatic color schemes followed by a less contrasting version of the color saturation period. While jewel tones were all the rage for awhile followed by taupe the color deprived went back to color in the sage and misty jewel colors of herbs, moss and updated earth tone colors in tans and especially greens, spice colors and soft yellows and golds.

I am excited to see what happens next. I feel there is going to be a lack of color backlash that always follows monochromatic phases and it will be exciting to see what that is. One thing I am proud to see is that we have much more people doing their own thing now. Personally, I am glad to see that the black box like furniture era is coming to an end (a store with initials PB made famous). I have missed the beautiful wood case goods we saw so much of in the late '90's through early 2000's. I still love my beautiful crotch mahogany Baker dining room table and side board even though it's probably not in vogue now, I would never part with it! It was a splurge for a special anniversary that I will always treasure.

cbreynolds Here is my grey and cream kitchen that I just designed....

Suresh Sadhwani very good

cluelessintheyard @lovespencer: benjamin moore dove grey 1478. I live in Seattle. I used this grey for built in bookcases flanking my fireplace at the dark end of the room. They glow. I've been very happy with this color throughout the seasons.

bdarrow I would go for one of the darker shades of gray. And there may be a matching plastic spray paint for the chairs, too.

jammindog I just painted my living/dining areas Covington Gray ( Benjamin Moore) and above my white wainscot it looks stunning. I have a navy blue accent wall and I couldn't be more pleased !

wilesemt Just did my kitchen neutral gray with tortoise shell countertop and black appliances. It is gorgeous .. Honey oak cabinets with black hardware. ....