2025 Cabinet Color Trends | Allen Brothers Painting Utah

Refining the Heart of Your Utah Home

The kitchen cabinet landscape has shifted dramatically in 2025. Homeowners are moving beyond the all-white aesthetic that dominated the past decade, embracing a broader movement toward warmer, nature-inspired palettes that create inviting spaces.

Industry research from the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) reveals that green has emerged as the top color trend, capturing 31% of responses from design professionals. Meanwhile, wood cabinetry is making a strong comeback (28%), overtaking the retrofit white look (25%).

For Utah homeowners planning cabinet refinishing projects, these trends offer a roadmap to creating a kitchen that feels both current and timeless. At Allen Brothers Painting, we help clients navigate the balance between personal style and lasting appeal every day.

Warm Whites & Creamy Neutrals Continue Their Reign

Sherwin-Williams’ 2025 Color Capsule of the Year features several whites and warm neutrals, including White Snow (a bright white) and Sunbleached (an off-white), which create what the company describes as a “quiet luxury feel” when combined with warmer tones ELLE Decor.

Benjamin Moore’s 2025 Color Trends palette emphasizes “quietly colorful hues” with foundational colors that transition gracefully from room to room, exuding warmth, comfort, and ease Benjamin Moore. These aren’t the stark, clinical whites of years past, they’re softer, more nuanced shades with subtle undertones.

For Utah kitchens, these warm neutrals work particularly well. The abundant natural light that floods many Utah homes enhances these creamy tones without making them feel washed out. They pair beautifully with the natural wood elements and stone countertops common in mountain-modern and transitional design styles popular throughout the Wasatch Front.

When refinishing cabinets in these shades, proper surface preparation and professional-grade coatings make the difference between a finish that looks painted and one that looks factory-fresh. Allen Brothers Painting uses durable polyurethane topcoats designed specifically for cabinetry to ensure these light colors resist yellowing and maintain their fresh appearance for years.

Earthy Greens Lead Nature-Inspired Hues

Green emerged as the clear winner in the NKBA’s 2024 Kitchen Trends Report, with 31% of design professionals identifying it as the top color trend for kitchens retrofitWoodworking Network. But this isn’t a single shade, it’s a spectrum of nature-inspired hues that bring the outdoors inside.

Sherwin-Williams’ 2025 Colormix Forecast includes multiple green tones across its four capsules, organized around themes of “peaceful, intentional living and transformative future thinking” with colors inspired by natural elements The Nordroom.

Sage green remains the most requested shade, offering a muted, sophisticated tone that reads as a neutral in many lighting conditions. Olive green follows closely, described by designers as having more depth and richness while maintaining an organic feel. These colors connect directly to Utah’s natural landscape, from the sage-covered foothills to the green valleys of spring.

For cabinet refinishing applications, these greens pair exceptionally well with brass or gold hardware, natural wood accents, and white or cream countertops. They create visual interest without overwhelming the space, making them suitable for both full-kitchen applications and as accent colors on islands or lower cabinets.

Two-Tone Combinations Remain Strong

Interior designers report that two-tone cabinetry, particularly combinations that mix wood tones with painted finishes, is leading kitchen design in 2025, with examples including walnut lowers paired with white oak uppers or deep-stained islands against natural wood perimeter cabinets The Kitchn.

The general principle for two-tone design is to keep darker colors on lower cabinets and lighter shades on uppers, which makes the kitchen appear larger by drawing the eye upward Fabuwood Cabinetry

Popular combinations include:

• White upper cabinets with navy, charcoal, or deep green lowers
• Sage green paired with natural oak tones
• Warm wood lowers with crisp white uppers

Two-tone approaches offer practical benefits beyond aesthetics. They can define functional zones in open-concept spaces, hide wear on lower cabinets that receive more traffic, and allow homeowners to incorporate bolder colors without committing to them throughout the entire kitchen.

When refinishing cabinets in a two-tone configuration, color selection should account for at least three shades of difference between the two tones to maintain clear visual separation. The lighter color often extends to trim and other elements to create cohesion throughout the space.

Matte and Textured Finishes Over High Gloss

The NKBA 2024 Kitchen Trends Report found that 63.9% of respondents prefer matte finishes, followed by brushed finishes at 54.3% and satin at 48.9%. This represents a significant shift away from the high-gloss finishes that dominated earlier decades.

Matte finishes offer several practical advantages. They show fewer fingerprints and smudges, making them ideal for busy families. They diffuse light rather than reflecting it, which creates a softer, more sophisticated appearance. And they align with the current preference for natural, organic aesthetics rather than ultra-modern shine.

Additionally, 52.1% of design professionals predict more honed and matte finishes on countertops, and 35% expect to continue seeing natural, high-texture wood grain on cabinetry, indicating that texture and tactile qualities are becoming increasingly important in kitchen design.

For cabinet refinishing, achieving a true matte finish requires careful product selection. Allen Brothers Painting uses professional-grade matte and satin polyurethane coatings specifically formulated for cabinetry. These products deliver the desired sheen level while maintaining the durability necessary for kitchen environments, resisting moisture, heat, and daily wear without the maintenance challenges of glossier finishes.

Accent Colors Add Personality

Beyond neutrals and greens, Sherwin-Williams’ 2025 collection includes bolder options like Rain Cloud (described as “a restrained, muted spin on a teal classic”) and Mauve Finery (a soft purple), with the prediction that purple will be part of the design conversation in 2025 ELLE Decor.

The palette also features three browns, Clove (a deep dark chocolate), Grounded (a warm, café au lait), and Malabar (a creamy tan), representing a return to rich, warm tones

These accent colors typically appear on kitchen islands, creating focal points without overwhelming the space. Deep blues, terracotta tones, and rich browns all offer ways to inject personality into kitchens while maintaining broad appeal.

For Utah homeowners considering these bolder choices, it’s worth noting how these colors interact with the state’s distinctive light. The intense sunlight at higher elevations can make colors appear more saturated, so testing samples in your actual kitchen before committing to a final color is essential.

The Sustainable Choice: Refinishing vs. Replacing

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, building construction and demolition generate 569 million tons of waste annually. Kitchen Cabinet refinishing addresses this issue directly by reusing existing cabinet structures.

Refinishing reduces demand for new materials, which helps lower environmental footprint, while cabinet replacement generates significant waste through removal and disposal of old cabinets, plus the production of new cabinets requires raw materials, energy, and transportation.

Cabinet refacing and refinishing minimize the amount of wood, metal, and other materials that would otherwise end up in landfills, and the process requires less manufacturing and fewer raw materials compared to producing entirely new cabinets, resulting in a lower carbon footprint.

For homeowners with structurally sound cabinets, refinishing offers a way to achieve a completely updated look while making a more environmentally responsible choice. The process typically costs 30-50% less than full replacement while generating a fraction of the waste.

Allen Brothers Painting’s cabinet refinishing process focuses on thorough surface preparation, professional-grade primers, and durable topcoats that extend the life of existing cabinets for years to come. This approach aligns with the growing preference for sustainable home improvement solutions without sacrificing quality or appearance.

Utah-Specific Considerations for Kitchen Cabinet Color Trends

Utah’s unique environment influences how cabinet colors perform and age. The state’s high elevation means more intense UV exposure, which can affect how colors appear and how finishes hold up over time. The dry climate helps prevent moisture-related issues but can make proper surface preparation even more critical for long-lasting results.

Many Utah homes feature open floor plans with significant sight lines between spaces. This makes color selection particularly important, cabinet colors should coordinate with adjacent rooms while maintaining their own identity. The region’s popular design styles, from mountain modern to transitional farmhouse, all accommodate the current trend toward warmer, nature-inspired palettes.

Local architecture often includes natural materials like stone, wood beams, and large windows that frame mountain or valley views. Cabinet colors that echo these natural elements, sage greens, warm woods, creamy neutrals, create cohesion between interior spaces and the surrounding landscape.

Working with a Professional Cabinet Painting Company

Achieving these trending finishes requires more than selecting the right color. Professional cabinet refinishing involves:

• Thorough cleaning and deglossing of existing finishes
• Proper primer application to ensure adhesion and color accuracy
• Multiple thin coats of high-quality paint or stain
• Professional-grade topcoats (typically polyurethane-based) for durability
• Proper drying time between coats
• Careful reassembly with attention to hardware and alignment

Allen Brothers Painting brings expertise in color selection, surface preparation, and finishing techniques that ensure cabinet refinishing projects meet both aesthetic and durability standards. The company works with Utah homeowners to select colors that align with current trends while fitting their specific homes and lifestyles.

For homeowners considering cabinet updates, professional consultation can help determine whether your existing cabinets are good candidates for refinishing, which colors will work best with your lighting and surrounding materials, and how to achieve finishes that will remain beautiful and functional for years.

Frequently Asked Questions