15 Fresh Ideas for Replacing Your White Kitchen Cabinets
Change the kitchen cabinets and you’ll change the whole kitchen. You can get creative with cabinet design, whether you’re changing out the hardware for a minor refresh or doing a total overhaul of your kitchen and replacing what’s already there. Here’s some inspiration for adding some color to your kitchen renovation, whatever the scope of your project may be.
1. Pistachio-hued cabinets
The pop of color from these Lex Furniture cabinets instantly inject personality in this 1960s-style Melbourne apartment.
Designers Murray Barker and Esther Stewart leaned into a midcentury aesthetic with the renovation of this 700 square-foot walk-up apartment.
2. Black Shaker-style cabinets
Paired with a white subway tile backsplash and white counter tops, these black Shaker-style cabinets make the space stylish.
This kitchen in Austin, Texas, was designed by Royce Flournoy and expertly combines black, Shaker-style cabinets, white subway tiles, Carrera marble countertops, and wooden floors to create a balance between rustic warmth and industrial simplicity.
3. Cabinets with a high-gloss finish
If you won’t give up the idea of a white kitchen and you’re going the DIY (or semi-DIY) route, you can have an auto body shop paint your cabinets with a high-gloss finish, like you see on these bright white ones.
A high-gloss finish can be achieved by having a local automotive shop repaint the cabinet fronts. The finish will be long-lasting, strong, and shiny.
4. Contrast wood floors with cabinets painted a darker color
Storage space is hard to come by in smaller apartments, but Danish architect Sigurd Larsen made the most of his 969 square foot Berlin home when he custom designed this set with Reform. The darker color also can make the room feel larger.
Danish architect Sigurd Larsen needed a new kitchen for his 969-square-foot apartment in the hip Kreuzberg district of Berlin—so he designed his own in collaboration with Reform. Larsen opted for a kitchen in anthracite—as the darker color added contrast to his oak floors and countertops.
5. Ikea cabinets
Ikea cabinets are a popular option, and they can even be customized. Here’s another way they could look.
In a centuries-old building in Montreal, Belgian architect and designer Gaeten Havart undertook a DIY kitchen renovation that makes the most of inexpensive materials. These simple cabinets and modern cabinet pulls are from Ikea and painted with a matte black finish.
5. Folding cabinets inspired by Piet Mondrian
Darren Selement and Cathryn Rich purchased this 1970 Deck House home in 2013, and they updated it to include folding and sliding cabinets that hide clutter and were inspired by the work of Dutch painter Piet Mondrian.
Embracing the natural environs of their family home—a 1970 Deck House nestled among 175-foot-tall tulip poplar trees—residents Darren Selement and Cathryn Rich updated the kitchen with a rich material palette of wood and stone. Cherner barstools are paired with custom, cherry-stained alder cabinets by Holiday Kitchens, Barocca soapstone countertops, and flooring from Globus Cork.
6. Custom cabinet wall
The owners of this Brooklyn apartment initially planned to update the bathroom. But with the help of architect Alex Delaunay of SABO Project, they tapped into the potential of the 12-foot ceilings to add this custom cabinet wall.
This living/dining space is the social center of the apartment. For that reason, the architect designed the cabinet walls as a unifying visual feature that anchors the two rooms and provides practical storage space.
7. Blue kitchen cabinets
Adding a fresh coat of paint to cabinet fronts is one relatively low lift way to update a kitchen without doing a total overhaul. These cornflower blue cabinets in a Brooklyn home by Elizabeth Roberts Architecture & Design provide some inspiration.
The lovely cornflower-blue kitchen cabinets in this Brooklyn, New York, home by Elizabeth Roberts Architecture & Design were professionally painted.
8. Multi-colored cabinets
Who said kitchen cabinets have to be one color? These laminate cabinets in different shades of blue make this kitchen feel fun.
Here, laminate kitchen cabinets are topped with Corian in Glacier White for a fresh and fun color-blocked look.
9. Wood-stained cabinets
If you have wooden cabinets, the right stain can have a dramatic effect on your kitchen. And stains fade, so this is something you’ll want to update periodically.
Just because your kitchen is on the smaller side doesn’t mean you can’t make it as efficient and effective as possible.
10. Change the hardware
Adding different knobs or handles can change the whole look and feel of your cabinets—and your kitchen.
These black cabinets get a simple makeover with some new hardware.
11. White cabinets with brass hardware
Trends in kitchen design seem to change with each decade, but a white kitchen will never go out of style. If you do want a classic white kitchen, punch it up with unique hardware in different styles and finishes.
Samuel chose a 36-inch, matte white Cafe Appliance range oven to match the rest of the white-on-white design.
12. Oak timber cabinets with a tile backsplash
Wooden cabinets might feel drab on their own, but in this Southern California kitchen they’re paired with a tile backsplash and quartzite countertops, which makes the space bright and beautiful.
A Southern California kitchen features oak timber cabinetry and quartzite countertops.
Emily Henderson styled this kitchen, using greenery and mirrors to lighten its moody aesthetic.
In this Emily Henderson-styled kitchen, these wooden cabinets paired with black subway tile feel timeless.
14. Stock cabinetry with a fresh coat of paint
Stock cabinetry doesn’t have to be boring. The coat of petal-hued paint gives makes these kitchen cabinets unique.
The owners purchased stock cabinetry that was then painted by a local Amish man.
15. Cleverly-placed cabinets
Cabinets nestled under the stairs and kitchen island offered more storage space in this Viennese apartment.
A wooden staircase with built-in cabinetry connects to another set of stairs that connect to a rooftop terrace.
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