Say Goodbye To Stark Kitchen Cabinets — This Color Trend Will Dominate 2026

As millennials began moving out of their parents homes and decorating their own spaces, the 2010s became all about showcasing stark whites and cool, silvery grays as a reaction against the ubiquitous, overbearing warm hues so prevalent in their '90s and '00s (perhaps Tuscan-inspired) childhood homes. What resulted was a white- and/or gray-wash of epic proportions, from walls and cabinets to flooring and tile. You name it, we covered it in cool undertoned neutrals. As a newly minted millennial interior designer, I was absolutely guilty of this myself at the time.

But the pendulum swung too far in the other direction, and soon people began to tire of these cold spaces that felt stark, standoffish, and downright dull. Especially in spaces like kitchens, where white and gray used to dominate for big-ticket items like cabinetry, people are now wanting a cozier, warmer, and more welcoming vibe at the heart of their home. 

2026 is just around the corner, and it's all about interiors with personality, warmth, and texture layered together to create an exciting palette of colors and materials. The kitchen is certainly no exception, so while this means that chic colorful cabinets will still be all the rage, there will also be a large group of people wanting to stay in the neutral zone. In place of the cool white and gray cabinets of millennials' pasts, homeowners are gravitating toward warm undertone neutrals, from creamy off-whites to greige, taupe, beige, mushroom, brown, and even natural wood tones. Come along for the ride while I break down the shift in undertone, what colors are poised to dominate the 2026 trends, and some of the best paint colors to consider for your kitchen cabinets.

Let's set the scene: you're standing in your 2013 kitchen. Your eyes move from the grey-washed, wood-look laminate floor up to the light silvery gray shaker cabinets topped with pure white quartz. The matching pure white subway tile backsplash is installed next to a wall with an even softer cool gray paint. Are you bored yet? I certainly am.

This is precisely why the shift from cool to warm neutrals took place, as people quickly realized these gray or whitewashed spaces lacked charm, interest, and, frankly, a point of view entirely (and exactly why professionals stopped recommending them as a design-forward kitchen paint color). Their boring, almost clinically sterile sensibility came across as the opposite of welcoming and homey. Millennial homeowners began to crave the warmth that had been so forcefully left in our wake as we shed the honey oak and saturated beiges from our childhood.

Fast forward to soon-approaching 2026, and while we aren't exactly jumping back into the demandingly oversaturated warm tones from your favorite 1990s sitcom kitchen, the colors set to dominate the neutral cabinet paint game come from a more subtle swatch. Ranging from light to dark and everything in between, muted neutral paint colors with warm-leaning undertones and desaturated natural wood tones will take center stage for neutral cabinet selections in the coming year. On the lighter side of warm neutrals, you have colors like off-white, cream, beige, and greige, which have a similar look to the cold, pure white or gray tones, but take a warmer, softer, more nature-based approach with earthy vibes that will still appeal to the same crowd.

When it comes to choosing the best neutral kitchen cabinet paint colors that aren't blinding white or silver-gray, the trick is to look for options ranging on the spectrum of earth tones, from creamy off-whites or creams all the way to dark mushroom and brown hues, which will make a space feel welcoming, cozy, layered, and elevated. For the lightest creamy off-white cabinet paint colors, Sherwin-Williams Greek Villa, Alabaster, Natural Choice, Creamy, and Shoji White are all time-tested and lovely, as are Benjamin Moore's White Dove or Natural Cream, and Farrow & Ball's Skimming Stone (a stunning color between off-white and beige). 

If you're looking for more of a fresh, soft beige approach, Benjamin Moore Collingwood, No Filter by Clare Paint, or Sherwin-Williams Shitake are great places to start. For gorgeous, soft greige tones that tiptoe between gray and beige, Benjamin Moore's Edgecomb Gray, Revere Pewter, and Pale Oak are always winners, as is Elephant's Breath by Farrow & Ball. As with all paint, test large samples of these subtle hues in your kitchen to make sure the undertones are playing nicely with your countertops, flooring, and natural light.

For those wanting to go a bit moodier with their selection but keep it in the warm neutral family, taupe, mushroom, and medium desaturated brown hues are incredible mid-tones that feel tranquil yet impactful. Try Farrow & Ball Mouse's Back or Salon Drab, Sherwin-Williams Fawn Brindle or Middlebury Brown, and Benjamin Moore's Char Brown or Whitall Brown. Alternatively, a desaturated wood stain, ranging from light white oak all the way to deep walnut, is a timeless kitchen cabinet style that's unmatched for contributing an organic warmth and depth.