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Color Trends and Cabinetry

October 24, 2022

Color trends in the kitchen – everyone in the industry watches them. Does the white kitchen still reign supreme or are designers and consumers choosing to infuse color into this space? How do paint brands’ color-of–the-year announcements affect cabinetry design? Cabico&co took a look at its purchasing data based on the 12-month sales period from January 2021 to December 2021, and discovered some trends in the data points:

  • 70% of all cabinets were painted
  • 45% were painted with various shades of white
  • 7% were custom paint colors
  • 4% blue lacquer, 3% black lacquer, 1% green lacquer
  • 19% of all cabinets were natural or stained wood
  • 11% of all cabinets were decorative/alternative surfaces (faux wood melamine, Fenix, etc.)

Elmwood, Cabico&co’s luxury product brand, pulled their latest data points from January 2021 to March 2022:

  • 65% of all cabinets were painted
  • 59% were painted with various shades of white, a number that has been holding steady for several years
  • 18% were custom paint colors
  • 16% of custom selections were green tones (trend grew stronger in late 2021 & 2022)
  • 18% of custom selections were blue tones
  • 20% of all cabinets were stained wood
  • 13% of all cabinets are decorative/alternative surfaces (faux wood melamine, Fenix, etc.)
  • 3% of all cabinets were eco-responsible veneers (reconstituted)

Color Trends Takeaways

 

  • Painted cabinets increased by almost 20%, with more custom paint colors (especially green and blue tones).
  • Luxury projects have 15% fewer white kitchens than standard projects. Does the luxury consumer take more design risks?
  • Stained woods have a significant presence. It will be interesting to watch the growth in this category with recent trends for natural, earth-inspired palettes.
  • Color matching is not as common as you would think, despite the ability for designers to pick that custom shade.
  • In the last few years, color announcements from major paint companies like Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams have definitely expanded the neutral color palette. This has allowed designers to add more color to the kitchen and consumers to take more risk with colors that have become the new neutrals such as greens and blues.

—By Jennifer Paul, product development manager, Elmwood