Building Your White Kitchen: 5 Sleek Styles
White kitchens are a thing of beauty. They’re clean, sharp, bright, and can be built in many different design styles. From beach houses to farmhouses and colonial times to the modern era, white kitchens have been a staple.
We’re going to take a look at five different white kitchen styles throughout the years: beach house, farmhouse, modern, rustic, and colonial. Let’s get started!
Beach House
Ah, the beach house. Perhaps it’s your vacation home, or you're renting it out for a couple weeks for your family. Whatever the case may be, a white beach house kitchen with colorful accents here and there is extremely inviting to anyone!
Take a look at the photo below. The majority of this beach house kitchen is white, from the range hood chimney cover to the walls and flooring. Accents of lighter gray are used for the cabinets, which seamlessly integrate the stainless steel appliances. There’s even a window that opens on the left side of this photo that opens up like a garage door to allow food to be served out the window! How cool is that!?
Below is a second take on a white beach house kitchen. Here, the accent color is quite clear. Aqua, teal, and other seafoam green colors can liven up your kitchen to make it colorful and inviting. White is used for nearly everything in the kitchen - the cabinets, the countertops, the range hood cover, and even the ceiling.
The floor is a nice wooden brown, while the brick backsplash gives some teal color to the kitchen. That same teal is accented by the decor on the left side of this photo.
If you’re looking for more articles on beach house design, click here to see every article we’ve written on this topic!
Farmhouse
Creating a white kitchen in the farmhouse style can be quite tricky. Farmhouse kitchens generally follow the 60-30-20 color rule, meaning that a completely white kitchen is pretty hard to come by. However, it can be done!
Typically tan, brown, black, and blue elements are tossed aside in favor of white, or cream.
In the example below, we can see a white farmhouse kitchen in action. If we were to divide this room into colors using the 60-30-10 color rule, white makes up the majority, the tan flooring makes up the middle, and the brown countertops account for the minority.
The cabinets, backsplash, the chairs and even the refrigerator, stove, oven, and range hood cover are all white. That’s something you don’t see every day! Because of these differences, specifically with the appliances, this design scheme works flawlessly. That refrigerator is hard to spot!
This is a big kitchen! Making the entirety of the surface white wouldn’t look good, especially since farmhouse design has a lot of character and quirkiness. Instead, the countertops are a deep, chestnut brown, and the floor is a light tan. When it’s all put together, this kitchen is a beauty to look at, and probably even better to cook up a meal!
In the photo below, this white kitchen features stainless steel appliances. The accents here are a little bit different than they were in the kitchen above. There’s a mix of white, blue, and dark brown in this kitchen for a nice splash of color.
The cabinets, walls, and countertops are all white, accented by the dark wooden floor. There’s also some dark brown accents for the floating cabinets, and the trim on the range hood cover.
If you want more details on farmhouse design, check out all of our farmhouse related blogs on our website here.
Modern
Now, we’re into the modern era of kitchens, and the transfer of white kitchens to modern design has worked well! These kitchens generally have smooth surfaces for cabinetry and detailing. They often take a minimalistic approach.
In the kitchen below, the ultimate modern, white kitchen is on full display. The perfect meld of white, tan, and stainless steel come together for a beautiful kitchen! High ceilings and large windows help a lot of light to come in, making this area much brighter.
The cabinets, island, and countertops are all a striking white. The floors are light tan but feature some strong dark accents.
The black and stainless barstools, and the chandelier over the island are all this kitchen needs for flavor.
This kitchen trades out tan for black, and does so beautifully. The black granite countertops accent this kitchen beautifully, and ties in the stainless steel appliances and white walls and cabinets.
This white kitchen also features double doors, and a large window above those doors to allow ample light into the kitchen.
This next kitchen is similar to the above kitchen. Here, black, red, and white all make an appearance to bring together a bright and colorful kitchen.
Have you ever seen a ceiling quite like this? Yes, the chimney goes through the hanging ceiling! Cool right?
In a kitchen with neutral colors galore, the bright ceiling catches the eye immediately. The lighting in this room is second to none, too!
Rustic
Rustic kitchens are hard to do in white, but not for this kitchen! It’s a nice mix of farmhouse and rustic, bringing a little bit of the forest into the home too. High angular ceilings with wooden beams, and a beautiful range hood and chimney are just some of the selling points of this kitchen.
Large windows allow for more than enough light in this kitchen, and, if needed, small circular ceiling lights shine down.
In this kitchen, the beauty is in the walls, range hood cover, and large windows. The cabinets are all tan, and the countertops are an off-white, almost light gray color to match the appliances.
Here’s another example of a rustic, white kitchen!
Colonial
Finally, we’re going back to where most of this all began: the colonial age of kitchens. White kitchens are extremely common in New England, especially in Massachusetts and Maine. From the paint on the walls and ceiling to the cabinets, chandeliers, and even the countertops, white and cream kitchens reign supreme.
Below is a classic example of a colonial kitchen, decked out completely in white, cream, and a little bit of tan. White cabinets and white siding on the island are this kitchen's strengths, as well as the lovely detailed white range hood cover.
The beautiful chevron tiled backsplash brings a little off-white tan into the mix, and is complimented wonderfully by the granite countertops and wooden flooring.
Below is another beautiful example! With white walls, white cabinets and cupboards, and white countertops, this kitchen takes full advantage of this color scheme. The earthy tones in the flooring bring a little color along with the gray siding around the kitchen island. And, for just that New England touch, the paneling on the windows is exquisite!
Our last kitchen has a little bit more color, but still retains much of the colonial and white fixtures. White walls and cabinets dominate this space, accented wonderfully by black granite countertops, and a fantastic black brick backsplash.
These elements play nicely with the stainless steel appliances in the kitchen, especially the range hood and chimney! Brown wooden floors and a clean-cut wooden table and chairs top out this wonderful design.
Thanks for reading this article on white kitchens! As you can see now, white kitchens have been a staple throughout the years, and there’s so many ways to incorporate these elements into different parts of the kitchen.
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