- The 12 Best White Paint Colors
- Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray
- Benjamin Moore Simply White
- Sherwin-Williams Pure White
- Sherwin-Williams Extra White
Can I get a kitchie kitchie ya ya da da? (Name that song.)
We painted the kitchen. Surprise!
We’d been flirting with this idea in recent Listy McListersons, and when Nonna offered to hang with Clara for a week, we seized the chance to tear the kitchen apart and get to work.
To keep it real, here’s a shot showing how when one room gets love, another nearby room becomes the holding area for everything else. It’s like presenting the kitchen with a rose while the dining room gets packed up and sent out to the curb. There’s usually a “displacement mess” going on in our house — and of course this one sat right behind the front door the day a neighbor popped by. Nothing like a dining room that doubles as an obstacle course for guests.
As for why we changed the kitchen color: we adore grellow, but it has been fiendishly difficult to photograph. Over the course of the kitchen project we watched the color read differently in photos — sometimes it looked lime, sometimes neon yellow, sometimes subtle in person but not on camera. While that might not be the best reason to repaint, it’s frustrating as home bloggers to be unable to share what we actually see.
More importantly, the grellow was affecting how other elements read. Our white cabinets and counters took on a slightly yellowed cast from the wall reflection, and the cork flooring appeared more orange-yellow than the rich mocha we wanted, especially in evening light.
Here’s how we narrowed down the new color in five main points:
- We ruled out other yellows and greens since they could still reflect warm tones onto the counters, cabinets, and cork.
- We wanted a color with enough depth to provide contrast so the white elements could pop, but not so dark it would overwhelm our windowless kitchen.
- We didn’t want more gray on the walls because several adjoining rooms have gray elements and we wanted to avoid a gray overload.
- We wanted a genuine color on the walls to add personality to a room filled with safe neutrals: brown floors, white cabinets, stainless appliances, white counters, and gray backsplash tile.
- We needed a hue that would tie the kitchen to the four rooms it opens into, working with each without feeling too matchy-matchy.
After surveying the adjoining rooms, we drew inspiration from the powdery blues in the dining room curtains and the blue pillows on the living room sofa. We also considered the kitchen shade, the subtle blue undertones in the gray backsplash, two small paintings made for the kitchen, the living room lanterns, and the art in the nearby hallway.
We settled on a bold, mid-deep blue that provides contrast while keeping the room bright enough. We used an eggshell finish from Benjamin Moore’s Natura line — wipeable but not glossy — and bought paint at a local shop for about $52 with a coupon. Half a gallon was enough, so we still have some leftover. The color is labeled Colorado Gray, which amused us because it reads blue rather than gray. We’re calling it Colorado Blue (or $herdog Blue).
We loved a soft blue kitchen in our first house, and except for a deep teal in the guest room and the back of the dining-room built-ins, we didn’t have blue on the walls here. Bringing in a mid-tone blue felt like a nice bridge between those previous choices.
Funny observation while applying the second coat: in our first house we repainted every room except the kitchen and master bedroom. In this house we’ve only repainted two rooms so far — the kitchen and the master bedroom. Patterns repeat, apparently.
Some parts of the room have seen multiple paint jobs — we once sprayed a different color across the fireplace for book photos, only to repaint it soon after. So a few areas have been repainted several times.
Why we like the new color:
- It’s a true color — not a neutral.
- It still feels sophisticated without being gray, navy, or taupe.
- It allows the white cabinets and counters to pop without casting a yellow tint on them.
- It balances the warm tones in the room — cork floors, wood stools, and rustic cutting boards — without competing with them.
It also harmonizes with the surrounding rooms without feeling too matchy.
Colorado Blue, I ain’t mad at you. I want to put a ring on it.
Technical details: two coats. I freehanded most of the cutting in with a brush while John rolled. We skip drop cloths on sealed wood or cork floors and wipe any accidental drips — and we avoid overloading brushes and rollers to keep drips minimal.
We left the laundry room grellow because it reads nicely there — a big glass door and a window bring natural light that changes how the paint appears. The kitchen lacks true daylight (the sink window faces into the sunroom), so the grellow behaved differently. Yellow accents near the laundry help the grellow feel intentional when viewed from adjacent spaces.
That said, the real star of the room remains the penny tile wall. I’ll always have a soft spot for that tile — it’s the element I keep coming back to, even if paint jobs come and go.
Our Favorite Paint Colors
If you’re struggling to choose a paint color, here are some of our detailed posts about favorite shades to help you decide.
- The 12 Best White Paint Colors
- Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray
- Benjamin Moore Simply White
- Sherwin-Williams Pure White
- Sherwin-Williams Extra White