If you are having your kitchen remodeled, you may be trying to decide how to pair your kitchen countertops with your cabinets and the rest of the kitchen. They also need to go well with floors and appliances.
You don’t want everything to be the same color but you also don’t want to stray too far from each other. It may not be as easy as you think, and you do need to live with them for a while, so make your choices wisely.
Tips for Pairing Kitchen Countertops with Cabinets
Ultimately, you should choose what you like. It’s your kitchen, after all, and you should enjoy the colors and styles you pick.
Choose Your Colors
Pick the two main colors you want to work with. You can add a third color to use for accents and highlights around the room. Pick the color for the cabinets first.
You want to have a good color scheme before you start looking. Have a few in mind, just in case you can’t find what you want for your first choice. It’s best to avoid one solid color for all, as that tends to cause everything to blend together.
A good rule is to start with darker colors lower down and work your way up to lighter colors. This will depend on your own taste and the space you have, but it tends to draw the eye upwards.
If your cabinets are a darker color, choose a kitchen countertop that has a similar tone. You can have a countertop that is a solid color or a patterned material with a like color streaming through it.
Contrasts
If you like white or near-white, pick a kitchen countertop that will be the contrast color. A black countertop or a darker countertop that matches other accents in the home can also work.
You can accent the white or light cabinets with darker colors and pick something in between for a backsplash and appliances. Greens, blues, greys, and reds work well.
Red can match with wood, greys go with metal or complement colors you like together, perhaps red and yellow, blue and green, black and white. By using variations of the same color, you add depth and space to a kitchen.
Match the Styles
If you have chosen a particular style for your kitchen cabinets that is quite ornate and detailed, you can go with a solid or subtle color of the countertop. If you have plain cabinets because you want the kitchen countertops to be the star, then you can get a stone or stone-like countertop that will bring out the smaller details of the cabinets.
Marble, quartz, granite, these countertops look fantastic but can be expensive and hard to maintain. Find materials that mimic these stones for a great-looking kitchen that won’t cost the moon.
What About Quartz?
Quartz has become the default countertop for a reason. It handles daily use, it does not need sealing, and it comes in enough patterns to sit under almost any cabinet colour.
The quality varies more than people expect, though, and the cheap end looks cheap. That is worth knowing before you shop on price alone.
Marble and granite still look fantastic. They are also expensive and harder to live with. If you want the look without the maintenance, some materials mimic them convincingly.
Look Before You Leap
Always try to get a look at how these both will look in your home before you commit. If you already have the cabinets, get a few samples of the countertops you are considering and make sure they look good together.
Kitchen Countertops
It can be a big decision when it comes to choosing the best kitchen countertops to go with your cabinets. There are so many great colors and designs available, the possibilities are endless.
If you are stuck trying to make up your mind, we can help. Give us a call here at Karin Ross Designs. We can help you choose the best countertops for your home, your style, and your lifestyle.
Kitchen Countertop and Cabinet Pairing FAQs
Should I choose cabinets or countertops first?
Cabinets. Pick the cabinet colour, then find a countertop that works with it. Doing it the other way round is how people end up with a countertop they love and a kitchen that does not hang together.
Can cabinets and countertops be the same colour?
They can, but it rarely works. One solid colour throughout makes everything blend into everything else. Two main colours plus a third for accents give the room depth.
What countertop goes with white cabinets?
Contrast. A black or darker countertop, with the backsplash and appliances picking up something in between. Greens, blues, greys, and reds all work.
What countertop goes with dark cabinets?
Something in a similar tone, either solid or with a like colour running through it. Then work lighter as you go up the room. It draws the eye upwards.
