Seeing Green: Some Kitchens Ditch White for Mother Nature’s Neutral

It’s typically the primary color in gardens. Now green is having a moment in the kitchen

Erin Carlyle October 2, 2016

Former Houzz Editorial Staff. Writing about the cost of renovation and what it takes to remodel. Former Forbes real estate reporter. Fascinated by cool homes, watching the bottom line.

Former Houzz Editorial Staff. Writing about the cost of renovation and what it takes... More

Comment136

Click "Embed" to display an article on your own website or blog.

The white kitchen may still reign supreme in terms of popularity, but a surprising color also ranks among the top choices for kitchens these days. Green is making its way onto kitchen walls, backsplashes, even cabinets. The color can be used in a range of shades and tones, from a pale and soothing neutral to a high-energy color explosion. Find out more about this trend below and see some kitchens where green plays a starring role.

In search of a new neutral. All-white kitchens have been popular for years, and gray has also seen an uptick. But color expert Kate Smith, president of Sensational Color, says she sees kitchens “moving from just the basic gray to all kinds of pale neutrals — even pale greens.” Specifically, Smith is seeing greens show up on cabinetry and walls.

At the same time, she has noticed a shift away from the pops-of-color trend toward a more neutral and holistic palette for the kitchen. “Possibly it comes back to our desire for a need to feel calm,” she says. Though green can read as a strong color — think lime, Kelly green, grass green — many shades, like the pale one in this photo, or olive, can read as neutrals.

Wall paint: custom color by Donald Lococo Architects

See more of this green kitchen and barn-inspired home

Ballingslöv Frölunda

Pale green on cabinets. In the kitchen seen here, the pale green Smith has been tracking pops up on cabinetry. Combined with white wall paint and a white countertop, it creates a calm and soothing feel. Wooden shelves and dining chairs bring in additional organic elements, while green vegetables and herbs scattered across the surfaces confirm the of-the-earth feel.

Woodworker GmbH & Co.KG

Pale green on walls. Pale green graces the wall here, set off by white cabinets and dishware in soft green, pink and yellow. In contrast to the prior kitchen, which has a modern organic feel, this kitchen vignette veers toward rustic and farmhouse.

Greg Natale

Olive works for clothing — and kitchens. Green is definitely having a moment in fashion, with olive’s being particularly strong. For a fun fashion detour, check out an assemblage of the dozens of green designs among the spring 2017 collections from the recent fall runway shows, by bloggers Tom & Lorenzo.

“We are definitely seeing olive on the rise,” says Andrea Lucena-Orr, color planning and communications manager for DuluxGroup in Australia. “[The] 2017 colors have beautiful, deep, almost army greens.” Though Lucena-Orr hasn’t yet seen this color translate to kitchens, it is on the horizon in terms of trend forecasting. “We are certainly seeing the olive green in other living spaces coming through,” she says.

CLB Architects

Here, an olive tiled backsplash brings interest to a warm wooden kitchen with black accents.

See more of this kitchen and home in Aspen, Colorado

W Design Studio London

Green-shy? Try an undertone. Lucena-Orr has noticed that green has been seeping into kitchen colors, especially as undertones on cabinetry — the cabinets may be primarily gray or beige but have green undertones, for instance. In the kitchen here, the green of the cabinets veers close to gray. Or you could say that the gray veers close to a shade of green. Either way, the eye can see both gray and green in this color.

Barbra Bright Design

Photo by Andrew Mckinney Photography

Designer Barbra Bright describes the gray-green cabinetry and distressed wood floors here as providing the farmhouse kitchen with a feeling of warmth.

Cabinets: Brookhaven in Green Stone, Wood-Mode; cabinet paint color (similar): Gettysburg Grey HC-107, Benjamin Moore

See more of this farmhouse kitchen

Seeing Green: Some Kitchens Are Moving Beyond White, Gray and Beige

Houzz research confirms the trend on walls. The 2016 U.S. Kitchen Trends Study from the Houzz research team, led by principal economist Nino Sitchinava, found that green was the most popular wall color among kitchen renovators after the trio of neutrals that swept the top slots.

Homeowners renovating kitchens were most likely to choose walls in gray (22 percent) or beige (also 22 percent), followed by white (17 percent) and then green (10 percent), making green the top nonneutral color choice for walls. The study surveyed more than 2,400 homeowners in late 2015 who either had completed a renovation project in the past year, were in the midst of one or were planning to start one in early 2016.

It’s also popular on backsplashes. Renovating homeowners also seem to like green kitchen backsplashes. Green was the only nonneutral single color to appear among the top five choices for backsplashes (multicolor backsplashes were more popular than green ones, and also more popular than gray or beige). As with wall color choice, green came in behind the neutrals as a pick for backsplashes.

For cabinets, a small minority. Green did not rank among the top five kitchen cabinet color choices for renovating homeowners surveyed last year by Houzz. Nonetheless, it was the cabinet color choice for 1.5 percent of survey respondents.

FABRIZIO GINI PHOTOGRAPHER

What shade of green do you prefer? Do lime walls do it for you? Or do you prefer a softer green?

Brett Mickan Interior Design

How about green-on-green? Do you a prefer a kitchen like this, where a muted shade of forest green on the wall is paired with a green that veers toward blue on the kitchen island?

Kitchen Architecture Ltd

Tell us: What do you think of the green kitchen trend? Please share a photo of your green kitchen in the Comments and tell us about it.

See more stories on colorful kitchens