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These seven Sherwin-Williams colors stand out in designers’ real kitchen projects, spanning soft blue, nuanced neutrals, warm white, true black and moody green. They are documented choices—not a ranked list of the colors designers use most. The examples below show why each worked in its particular room, and what to consider before using it in yours.
Which Sherwin-Williams colors do designers use in kitchens?
A 2025 Homes & Gardens feature asked designers about Sherwin-Williams colors they had selected for kitchen cabinetry. These seven examples capture a broad range of undertones and moods; the feature also named Extra White, Dorian Gray and Waterloo. The reported projects are useful inspiration, not proof of a profession-wide popularity ranking.
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Take Five: cheerful, light blue
Jenny Slingerland, owner and principal designer of Black Ink Interiors, used Take Five in a light-blue kitchen in Flagstaff, Arizona. It complemented Schumacher wallpaper and helped bring cheer to a kitchen that had previously felt dark. Slingerland called it “the perfect blue paint” for those purposes. This is a color to consider when you want a gentle blue presence rather than a deep, high-contrast cabinet color.
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Shannon Adamson chose Limewash for cabinetry, describing it as a shade between cream and gray, with more depth than standard builder white. In her project, the result felt custom while remaining airy. She paired it with a Cornwall Slate island for tonal variation and to emphasize pale-green backsplash tile. That combination illustrates how a restrained cabinet color can make neighboring finishes more noticeable.
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Austere Gray: changeable sage and gray-green
Cara Shahbandi of Stanton Home Design used Austere Gray in a Florida kitchen. The east-facing room received warm morning light, while a north-facing window at the sink brought a moodier quality. Shahbandi observed the color shift from brighter sage green to gray-green over the course of the day. It may suit a kitchen where a changing green-gray effect is welcome, but the project also shows why a color’s appearance cannot be judged apart from its light.
Tricorn Black: a classic, high-contrast black
Lauren Lerner, founder and CEO of Living with Lolo, described Tricorn Black as a classic true black and recommended it for cabinets or an accent wall against light countertops or backsplashes. Sherwin-Williams identifies it as Tricorn Black SW 6258. Dark cabinetry can supply visual contrast; compare it with the fixed surfaces in your own kitchen before deciding how much of the room to paint.
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Greek Villa: warm white cabinetry
Jennifer Guerin of JG Color Studios used Greek Villa for warm white cabinetry. She noted its creamy character and subtle yellow undertones, which kept it from looking stark or cold alongside a cooler backsplash and the existing countertop. It is a useful example of choosing a white in relation to other whites and neutrals in the room rather than treating all whites as interchangeable.
Realist Beige: light mushroom with depth
Lauren Utsch of Lauren Christopher Designs used Realist Beige to create a light mushroom tone with warmth and some depth in an open plan with white walls. She found it worked with the white-oak island. The project makes a case for beige when a white-walled space needs a warmer, more grounded cabinet color without moving to a dark shade.
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Night Owl: moody green with visual weight
Adamson used Night Owl on cabinets for a balance of gray and green that felt neither too army green nor too sage. In a kitchen with a vaulted ceiling and light walls, the color added visual weight and contrast without feeling overbearing. Consider it when a pale room needs a stronger anchor but you do not want a straightforward black.
How to choose among the seven
Start with the conditions and materials that will stay in the room. Designers’ examples show that undertone, light and neighboring finishes all affect the result; Sherwin-Williams likewise advises that lighting can dramatically change how a shade appears. Its Top 50 collection is a company-curated set of 50 popular colors, not a ranked sales table for these seven kitchen shades.
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- Includes 30 featured and newest released color card. Sprayed on color to see our colors in your homes lighting for more accurate color choices.
- ALL-IN-ONE Paint - NO Sanding, NO Priming, NO Top Coat Required, Low Luster, Velvet Sheen Finish
- Interior/Exterior - Paint your whole house - Ideal for hard surfaces including walls, doors, cabinets, counters, furniture, metal, glass, ceramics and floor and wall tile
- Durable yet stretches to paint smooth fabrics, vinyl and leather
- Results cannot be guaranteed. Digital screens may not show color accurately. Product search "ALL-IN-ONE PAINT by Heirloom Traditions, Color Confidence Card", for an accurate color choice.
- Compare undertones: Decide whether you want a warmer cream or beige, a cream-gray neutral, a blue, a sage-gray green, a moody green or a true black.
- Check the room’s light: Observe where daylight enters and how the color looks under the kitchen’s artificial lighting. A shade may appear different at morning, midday and evening.
- Hold it against fixed finishes: Compare candidates with countertops, backsplash, flooring, trim, cabinetry hardware and adjacent rooms. A color that coordinates with one surface may clash with another.
- Choose the effect you want: Pale colors can preserve an airy feel; a deep shade can add contrast and visual weight. The right balance depends on the room’s scale, light and finishes.
Sample the color in the actual kitchen
Before committing, test finalists in place and view them at different times of day. Sherwin-Williams offers color chips, paint samples and peel-and-stick samples through its color pages, including the Top 50 page. A screen image or small chip cannot guarantee the appearance of a painted cabinet surface, so use a substantial sample near the materials it needs to work with.
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Sherwin-Williams describes its Top 50 as its 50 most popular colors and notes that neutrals remain enduring choices alongside earthy greens, blue-greens and saturated dark shades. That is the company’s curated popularity signal, not evidence that the seven kitchen colors above are ranked favorites among designers. Its 2025 Color Capsule contains nine selected colors, while Universal Khaki SW 6150 is named the company’s 2026 Color of the Year. Those are separate brand selections, not additions to the seven documented kitchen-project choices here.
Quick Recap
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- Includes 30 featured and newest released color card. Sprayed on color to see our colors in your homes lighting for more accurate color choices.
- ALL-IN-ONE Paint - NO Sanding, NO Priming, NO Top Coat Required, Low Luster, Velvet Sheen Finish
- Interior/Exterior - Paint your whole house - Ideal for hard surfaces including walls, doors, cabinets, counters, furniture, metal, glass, ceramics and floor and wall tile
- Durable yet stretches to paint smooth fabrics, vinyl and leather
- Results cannot be guaranteed. Digital screens may not show color accurately. Product search "ALL-IN-ONE PAINT by Heirloom Traditions, Color Confidence Card", for an accurate color choice.
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