Why Designers Say the ‘Cashmere Kitchen’ Trend Is the Definition of Timeless

A warmer color palette is on the rise, especially in kitchens. The latest design trend is "cashmere kitchens," a style that favors warm neutrals over the cool, crisp grays and whites that have been popular in recent years. Cashmere kitchens combine warm colors with modern and luxe styling for a cozy, calming space that feels upscale.

Thanks to the simple, neutral color palette, this trend is likely to have staying power, making it a safe choice if you're designing a kitchen today. We spoke with experts in kitchen design to learn more about why cashmere kitchens are popular and how to design a cashmere kitchen.

What Is a Cashmere Kitchen?

Cashmere kitchens combine calming neutrals and pretty, modern accessories and finishes for a calming, sophisticated kitchen design. The idea is to create kitchen that feels as cozy and luxe as a cashmere sweater. These kitchens often use contemporary cabinetry styles, natural wood or neutral cabinets, brass fixtures, and natural stone to achieve their soothing effect.

Why This Kitchen Trend Has Staying Power

Cashmere kitchens are a direct response to the cool-toned kitchens that have been popular for the past few years. "The rise of the cashmere kitchen is a natural step away from the sterile, all-white and cool gray palettes of the past," says Lisa Hudson, president of Fresh Coat Interiors. "This trend offers the same clean, timeless look but with a newfound warmth."

Designer Carmon Henriquez backs up the theory that people are longing for more warmth: "For years, we've lived with stark whites and cool grays that felt clean but often sterile," she says. "[This style] introduces a new neutral that is soft, inviting, and luxurious without being cold."

Cashmere kitchens, despite being a trend, are also timeless, given their reliance on natural materials and subtle neutrals.

How to Design a Cashmere Kitchen

A neutral kitchen sounds simple, but layering neutrals requires a careful hand. Consider choosing an anchor piece, such as a stone countertop, a cabinetry color, or even kitchen hardware, that you really love and build your palette around that. Use these expert tips to build a cozy, layered space.

Focus on Textures

Another way to design a neutral kitchen is to focus on texture. "When you remove stark color differences, you have to create visual interest in other ways," Henriquez says. "By layering different materials—think a matte wall against a polished marble countertop, or a velvet stool next to a lacquered cabinet—you add a dynamic quality that light and shadow can play off of."

Use subtle pattern, such as ticking stripes or wood grain to add even more visual texture.

Choose Warm Paint Colors

Hudson recommends a satin finish for kitchen walls and semi-gloss or high gloss paint for cabinets. These finishes are more durable, easier to clean, and will enhance subtle neutrals.

Paint colors for cashmere kitchens will have warm or neutral undertones and include taupes, light clay colors, ivories, and beiges. If you love a white kitchen and just want to warm it up, Hudson recommends Sherwin-Williams’ creamy off white Alabaster (SW 7008) or a delicate greige such as Sherwin-Williams' Aesthetic White (SW 7035).

Layer Natural Materials

When layering colors and textures, consider focusing on natural materials. Raw wood tones and stone countertops are especially popular for this design style, because they're easy to layer and look high-end. "When you incorporate natural wood alongside natural stone, you create a timeless kitchen," says stone and countertop expert Peter Stevens.

Choose the Right Countertops

Countertops are often the focal point of a cashmere kitchen design, because the rest of the finishes are subtle. Stevens recommends Taj Mahal quartzite as the star of your neutral kitchen—and not just for aesthetic reasons.

"Taj Mahal brings that warm tone back," Stevens says. "It's is a timeless stone, and over the past year it’s become extremely popular because of its color tone and because it’s very durable." Stevens says that unlike marble, Taj Mahal quartzite doesn't need any treatment.

If you're looking for a more affordable stone, Stevens recommends a Greek marble called Pirgon. "Pirgon is more affordable," Stevens says. "It's a marble with that earth tone pattern, and it’s popular for its color." As an added benefit, Stevens says Greek marbles like pirgon are known for durability.