Blue Kitchen Cabinets? Inspiring Colors to Consider Now

Blue Kitchen Cabinets With Design Inspiration & Color Ideas is a curated collection of glorious kitchen photos featuring custom millwork, timeless design elements, and classic architectural features. Blue plays a starring role, and in many cases, we know the paint color. (Plenty of beautiful blue paint colors in kitchens are here.) For others, I’ll offer my best guess. Let’s lose ourselves in the lovely of it all.

Inspiring Colors & Designs With Blue Kitchen Cabinets

I think you’ll notice fairly quickly that there is not a singular way to do blue. Nope. Not even when you narrow it down to a navy or robin’s egg.

The Art & Science Behind My Paint Color Suggestions

So many gradations, undertones, and combinations that change the LRV (light reflectance value) of the blue color. Obviously the photography editing and time of day photos were snapped will strongly influence how the color is perceived by your eyes. We’ll specifically explore how the blue appears in a given photo. I find that far more helpful than actually knowing the exact paint color used since it often looks different in another context, on another day, in another part of the country, in a different lighting situation, and even in real life.

I’m crazy about that pretty, sophisticated blue in the kitchen above. It strikes me as a bit cornflower, a bit faded periwinkle, and just so soft. You could peek at BM Blue Porcelain or French Toile. If you like them both, consider mixing them 50/50 for a custom blue all your own.

Don’t you love the idea of creating your own bespoke colors no one else will have? Here’s a kitchen with BM French Toile on the kitchen cabinets:

BM Phillipsburg Blue

Here’s a medium blue color not terribly different than French Toile that you could consider if you’re into blue-grays and easy to live with well-worn denim blues.

If you’re more into a lighter blue that leans toward duck egg, here’s a contender.

Yarmouth Blue is beautiful, and don’t you adore how the designer repeated the color on the ceiling?

With white trim, it is perfectly dreamy.

Deep Blue Moody Paint Colors

I always think of beautiful English country kitchens when I think of cabinets painted deep dark moody blues like this one with BEHR Opera Glasses.

But there are plenty of darker blue kitchens living across the pond in America. Here’s a navy one for the books:

So elegant it hurts! You could try Benjamin Moore Hale Navy for a similar look.

Deep blues and dark navy can work in a variety of kitchen design styles. This one is far more modern and simple than the traditional one above, yet blue, white, and gold tones harmonize in a lovely way.

Here’s a color to consider if you are drawn to the moody European country colors we often see in Old World interiors:

Will it be too dark on cabinets for your own kitchen? There are so many other elements to keep it from feeling cave-like.

Notice how the formality of the deep blue above imparts a luxurious elegance while limiting it to lower cabinets below in a modern farmhouse kitchen reflects a casual simplicity.

Cool Happy Blue Colors for Cabinets

When you love a cheerful, vibrant, energetic happy blue vibe, then these paint colors may suit you.

Isn’t Lulworth Blue dreamy in this unique cottage style design above?

What other colors or materials would you combine with a bright blue like this?

Subdued details are one possibility, and another option…

is to wildly imagine an atmosphere that is all your own.

Not as light or bright, but no less bold, BM Paddington Blue is another happy blue possibility.

Smartest Way to Sample?

Easiest and no mess way to see if a paint color will work? Order samples with Samplize and have them delivered straight to your door.

Blue Grey Kitchen Ideas

Blue paint colors with grey undertones can feel sophisticated and comforting. Here are some possibilities from BEHR that I like:

Quite often, when you’re seeking a particular blue for a kitchen, it’s wise to look at grey paint color swatches. The names of the paints themselves often will contain “gray.”

I thought the use of Benjamin Moore Night Train on the cabinets above was such an intriguing choice with the light blue paneling above. The dark blue gray has a handsome seriousness about it yet the wall of open shelving and paneling above it feels light, carefree, and utterly relaxed. It just goes to show you the power of color!

The right blue grey paint can truly capture elegance, and the kitchen above reminds me of this color: BM French Toile.

If you prefer your blue grays to be more blue than gray, there are plenty of options.

And remember that you can always tweak the saturation of a color you love but is just a little off. So if Benjamin Moore Normandy is a bit too dark, try a sample mixed at 70% and notice how it changes.

Teal & Turquoise Paint Colors

I always think of the 1980s when I see teal since it was everywhere in fashion and decor in my personal life.

When you love a blue-green, island-like mood, one of these options may be the place to start.

All teal blue colors are not created equal. They can be deep and bold…

and they can vary in their undertones. So the color above has a certain proportion of blue, green, and grey undertones. The cabinets appear to have a bit more blue and less green than the Slate Teal swatch below:

It is when you order samples and compare them side by side in your unique space that the colors really tell you who they are. At first glance, the kitchen cupboards below might strike you as painted with kind of a basic navy.

Yet depending on the photo, editing, time of day, and natural light hitting them, the blue can appear similar to BM California Blue…

or a truer and darker navy when you see a photo like this one:

In that image, the color seems closer to Benjamin Moore Andes Summit.

When you view the painted surface with contrasting hues surrounding it like the warm reddish interior wood, cool silver, and polished metal cremone bolts, it even takes on a teal quality.

So important to try several colors before getting overly attached to one color you see mentioned in a caption!

Farrow & Ball Light Blue

For example, I thought for sure I would want our current kitchen cabinets to be painted F&B Light Blue like this Atlanta showhouse kitchen from 2017 where the color plays a starring role with gold tones.

However, when I sampled it here, it looked green in sunlight-filled kitchen and far different than how it presents as elegantly pale blue above.

To arrive at a just right pale blue-gray, I had to work with the amount of sunlight in the space and ultimately landed on a 66% saturation ratio of Farrow & Ball Pavilion Gray. The light warms the gray to light blue, and it never feels cloying or too pastel-like.

How to Choose the Best Blue for You

I personally don’t find choosing the best blue to be a cake walk. If you have ever tried to find the just right shade of blue for a wall, then you know. Things can go wrong in a hurry. When it comes to kitchen cabinetry or furniture, it is an even taller order since you won’t be re-painting them in a year!

One of the best ways to give yourself some insurance is to paint the color you’re pretty sure will work on just one piece of furniture or the island. From there, you can live with it, see if the color changes much through the day as the light changes, and decide whether to cover everything with that blue.

You may even decide you like the two-tone idea for your kitchen.

Another idea is to use the blue you are sold on in a place in your home that is less used such as a utility room or powder bath. It will give you a chance to live with the color, and who knows? Maybe you’ll fall in love with it!

There are always curb-side finds and FB Marketplace bargains available if you need an old piece of furniture for experimentation.

Because, again, painting cabinetry is sort of a different animal than painting walls where the commitment to the color matters but in a smaller way.

Picking a Blue is a Challenge But Not Like Renovating the Whole Kitchen!

If you love blue, here are some decorating resources that may appeal:

Peace to you right where you are.

-michele

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