The Best Wall Colors to Enhance Your Kitchen's Wooden Cabinetry, According to Designers

For homeowners with wooden kitchen cabinets who are looking for an update without a full-fledged kitchen remodel, painting the walls is the easiest, high-impact change you can make. Not only is it more affordable and less labor-intensive than painting the cabinetry, it's also easier to repaint when the time comes. Figuring out a coordinating wall color for kitchen cabinets can be a challenge, but it doesn't have to be.

Picking a Wall Color for Wooden Cabinets

Picking a paint color that works best with a wood finish is as easy as determining the wood's undertone, then deciding if you want the walls to contrast or coordinate. To do so, identify what color family your cabinets fall into, then look at the color wheel to find hues that work with it. Opposites on the wheel will contrast; neighbors coordinate. Apply the chosen color to the walls or, for a subtler approach, as an undertone in a neutral paint color.

Which color you choose will depend on whether you want to play up your wooden cabinets, tone them down, or make them blend in with the walls. You can make your wooden kitchen cabinets stand out by painting the walls in a contrasting saturation level—light against dark or vice versa.

Alternatively, you can draw attention away from cabinetry with coordinating wall colors; they distract from the wood tone. Or create a unifying backdrop by painting walls a version of the cabinet color. Whichever direction you decide, we've got interior designers' picks for the best paint colors by wood tone.

Best Colors for Wood Cabinets with Orange Undertones

Mahogany, honey oak, and alder cabinets have orange undertones that pair well with blue walls—orange's complement. "If you have warm orangey wood, you need a cool color to counterbalance it," says interior designer Miles Redd of Redd Kaihoi. He favors Farrow & Ball Ballroom Blue for this color combination and suggests painting any window trim blue as well to create an even wash of color. "Dunk the whole room in one color and it cleans it up," he says, noting that white trim against a blue backdrop with wooden cabinets can feel busy.

Redd's other go-tos for orange-toned cabinets include Benjamin Moore White PM-2 and Black HC-190. "When in doubt, paint walls black or white. They always look good," he says. To point, this Pennsylvania kitchen by interior designer Michele Plachter, in collaboration with Bluebell Fine Kitchen & Design, illustrates how black might look across an entire wall when paired with oak cabinetry.

Best Wall Colors for Wood Cabinets with Yellow Undertones

Interior designer Gina Sims pairs golden wood tones like maple with muted versions of yellow’s complements, like Benjamin Moore Woodlawn Blue. "Wood has so much warmth in it, you don’t want to go too cool because it can look like you’re fighting with it. So you have to have warm undertones even if it’s a cool color," she says.

If you're seeking to amplify the yellow hues, she recommends Sherwin-Williams Mysterious Mauve—a gray with violet undertones—for a livable take on contrasting purple. Or for a softer wash of color, Sims recommends a warm white like Benjamin Moore White Dove.

That's the route interior designer Amy Pigliacampo went in this Texas kitchen, pairing pale cabinetry with creamy white walls bridged by a Calacatta Viola marble backsplash. The tiles—a more affordable option than a marble slab—boast lavender veining, which complements the color palette.

Best Wall Colors for Wood Cabinets with Red Undertones

To balance ruddy brown tones in cherry and red oak cabinetry, designer Sarah Kahn Turner of Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen & Bath goes for warm, saturated colors tempered with gray. Benjamin Moore Coachman's Cape is a deep taupe, for example, that blends seamlessly with rich brown kitchen cabinets.

Turner also favors walls painted Benjamin Moore 14 Carrots, an earthy orange, for creating a warm, inviting space; or for high contrast, PPG Macaroon Cream is a beige with green undertones—red's color wheel opposite.

If it's a cooler combination you're after, take inspiration from this Georgia kitchen designed by The Misfit House. The center island, stained dark walnut, is set off by a soothing gray backdrop painted Sherwin-Williams Unusual Gray. Vibrant yellow counter stools, added by interior design firm Gordon Dunning, enliven the palette.

Best Wall Colors for Wood Cabinets with Gray-Blue Undertones

Interior designers Andréa Dixon and Jen Ziemer of Fiddlehead Design Group harmonize cool wood tones like ash and those with a weathered finish with a strong neutral, like Sherwin-Williams Tricorn Black or a dusty earth tone like Valspar Warm Putty.

"We’re either going to add contrast because we want to make it sing or we’re going to neutralize it so that it tones it down," says Ziemer. Benjamin Moore Peale Green is a favorite choice for creating contrast, as they did in their office.

In this kitchen, interior designer Cecily Mendell of Studio Cabida paired weathered wood in the kitchen island with warm gray walls—try Benjamin Moore Classic Gray—and Calacatta marble on the counters and backsplash. The cohesive palette serves as a neutral backdrop for mixing metals in the hardware and furnishings.