What Color Kitchen in 2018? Here’s What’s Hot in Kitchen Color Ideas

If 2018 is the year you get a new kitchen or revamp an old one, now’s the time to start thinking about kitchen color ideas because all the experts have predicted the hot trends for the coming year. We took a look at the predictions of some of the biggest names in paint for ideas, and sum them up for you below. The predictions are for colors of all kinds, not just kitchen color, but the variety below should indicate how many varied options you have for this critical design decision.

No more neutrals

Neutrals have been dominating kitchen color ideas for a while, with grays and taupes becoming the “new” neutral. For 2017, Sherwin Williams named a grayish taupe as the color of the year. For the year ahead, we’ll probably see a lot less in the way of neutrals, and a lot more in the way of bright colors and color combinations.

Pantone predicts a move toward brighter colors, and they’ve designed eight color palettes for 2018 that are anything but neutral territory:

  • Resourceful is made up of blues and oranges.
  • Verdure combines colors like celery with purples and eggshell blue.
  • Playful offers bright yellows, limes and other fun colors.
  • Discretion, on the other hand, is made up of pinks and hues like Elderberry and Hawthorne Rose.
  • Far-fetched gives us warm, earthy colors combined with rosy tones.
  • Intricacy is a staying true to neutral but with metallic sheens and accents of red and yellow.
  • Intensity is the eclectic mix, combining all types of colors balanced with black and gold.
  • TECH-nique is tech-bright, with turquoise, pink and purple colors.

If those color combinations haven’t yet convinced you we’re moving away from subtle neutrals, check out Pantone’s color of the year: a purple they’re calling Ultra Violet, of a hue they’re hoping will be an uplifting color of hope.

Sherwin Williams also gives nod to brights

Leading paint company Sherwin Williams also predicts a bright future—at least in colors. They’ve pulled together three color palettes:

  • Affinity with blues, fuchsias and browns
  • Connectivity with blues, greens and high-definition yellows
  • Sincerity with neutrals but those neutrals are paired with greens and pinks

Behr gets on board

Also coming forward with their predictions, paint company Behr has curated a palette of 20 colors predicted to trend in 2018. Their color of the year is called In the Moment. It is described as a cool, tranquil, spruce blue “inspired by nature” and intended to be a “soothing, restorative coalescence of blue, gray and green.” Behr seems to have focused on our need for comfort in a busy world. In the Moment is designed to evoke “a sense of sanctuary and relaxation amid our busy, always-on lives.” In name and in color, it represents being more in the present.

This same desire for something deeper and less harried comes through in the names of other featured colors, including Kombucha, a soft honey-touched gold; Soul Search, a deep blue; and Unplugged, an organic olive brown.

You can also see Benjamin Moore’s predicted color trends here.

Now, about those kitchen color ideas

The colors of 2018 promise to be one thing if nothing else: eclectic. And as someone planning a new kitchen, that makes your choice of kitchen color ideas practically endless! For you, the choice of kitchen color will be about what you love, not what you’re limited to.