Kitchen Cabinets of Every Color in the Crayon Box

It used to be that kitchen cabinets came in two choices: natural wood or all white. Well, those days of dull, boring kitchen cabinets are a long-lost thing of the past. Today’s finest kitchen cabinet manufacturers are offering the same durable and high-quality wood species homeowners have come to expect but with a colorful twist: finishes in every hue of the rainbow … and then some!

Just ask the Wall Street Journal, which recently ran an article titled “Kitchens by Crayola: Cabinets, Appliances Offer More Ways To Make a Loud Personal Statement.” Therein, instead of naming this season’s hottest kitchen cabinet hue, the author asserted there is none. In fact, today’s color trend is in the eye of the individual kitchen owner.

The article elaborated on this prediction by stating, “This year, more manufacturers are offering dozens and, in some cases, hundreds of vibrant color finishes, (thereby) making for some eye-popping kitchen conversation pieces. The message to consumers is: Make a bold individual statement with color.”

It went on to point out that “According to Becky Spak, senior designer at Sherwin-Williams and a director of the International Color Marketing Group, which selects the palettes manufacturers use to coordinate products throughout the home, people are tired of ‘dirtied down’ colors and (are) open to bringing the eye-popping hues now seen on cars and fashion runways into their homes.”

Fire-engine red, Nordic blue and pumpkin were some of the specific colors cited, but even if you are not the loud, statement-making type, you’ll find much to cheer about when it comes to the current crop of kitchen cabinet color choices.

For example, kitchen cabinet glazes add shimmer and glow to the wood surface with just a subtle touch of color. Available in luscious options like bisque, butter rum, cashmere, vanilla bean, pewter, porcelain, patina, amber, chicory, malt, ginger, wedgewood blue and garnet, they are visually appealing without being too overpowering.

For those who want the full-on color treatment, however, kitchen cabinet manufacturers are not disappointing. Full paint palettes that include such enticing hues as praline, caramel, sunset, cabernet, autumn blush, peppercorn and onyx are also lending vibrant pizzazz to today’s kitchen cabinets.

The Wall Street Journal cautions that such Crayola creativity in the kitchen will cost the homeowner, in some cases dearly. By way of example, it mentions SieMatic. In 2006, this German kitchen cabinet manufacturer “began offering 1,950 color options for its lacquered flat-panel kitchen-cabinet systems, for an extra $5,000.”

Cost-conscious homeowners, however, are beginning to see more and more affordable manufacturers of kitchen cabinets offering up a color full feast of kitchen cabinet finishes. Some of the most renowned online kitchen cabinet retailers, in fact, include a wide array of color finishes in their current crop of kitchen cabinet options.

Move over, Crayola! Leave the crayons to the kiddies and let the adults do some imaginative coloring of their own in the kitchen. In this case, writing on the walls-or the cabinets, as the case may be-is not only allowed, it’s encouraged!

www.LKNcabinets.com a Lake Norman Kitchen and Bath Remodeler