These 10 Rules to Create the Perfect White Kitchen are a must read before building or remodeling your kitchen. These rules can apply to a big or small white kitchen! The time to build your dream kitchen is now!
Have you noticed that white kitchens are covering the pages of Pinterest, Houzz.com and home magazines? With my job as designer, a big part of it is helping my clients build their houses. I start from scratch helping them create their house plans and choosing every single detail in their house. Lately, almost every house that I have designed has had white kitchens! I love this look and I urge my clients to go this route. It gives your space such a clean, fresh and happy feeling. These white kitchen are classic and if you do it right, it will never go out of style.
I designed this kitchen from scratch. I had a vision for it from day one and although we had a few hiccups, it turned out beautiful! I am so excited to share these Rules to Create the Perfect White Kitchen!
How to Create the Perfect White Kitchen
1. Have the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling! I absolutely love this because you don’t have the awkward space above the cabinets. I don’t love decorating above the cabinets because it can look cluttered and always gets dusty and greasy. It will cost more to do this, but I think in the end it is 100% worth it!
2. I love to decorate with practical items – things that I actually use. For example, putting your cookbooks on display or fresh flowers (my favorite). I also always have fruit and veggies in bowls and on platters. I like to have everything BIG too. A huge bowl with fresh fruit makes such a beautiful statement.
3. Lighting is KEY! Get large pendant lights for your kitchen island. They CANNOT be small. Spend your lighting budget in your kitchen, family room and entry way. The rest of your house is fine getting the inexpensive stuff.
The lighting does not need to be matching sets. You want different lights, but you must use the same color combinations within the lighting fixtures. For example, here we have used all of the wrought iron (black) on the fixtures. With the wrought iron, it is okay to mix with silver, but that is the only exception. If you are doing oil rubbed bronze, then it all must be oil rubbed bronze. Along with cabinet knobs, door handles, etc. I also love the vintage style bulbs shown here. It adds more character to the lights.
4. You want your faucets to match your lighting, cabinet knobs and door handle color. So, in this case, we did wrought iron. I recommend adding a pot filler faucet as well. They are AWESOME and add character to your kitchen. Also, choosing the right granite with your white cabinets is very important. This granite is called Steel Grey and it gives it a great contrast with the white cabinets. I also did a 5mm mitered edge on the granite to give it some thickness.
5. I love that the gas range and hood is in the center of the cabinets and everything on each side is symmetrical. It makes the stove a focal point and you can make it stand out nicely with a great backsplash and detail on the hood. I wanted a large chunky hood and cabinets surrounding the range. It’s probably my favorite thing in my kitchen.
6. When doing white cabinets, you must use a good wood that doesn’t ding easily. Most cabinet makers would suggest using Maple, which is what we did here. The cabinet fronts are called Shaker Style, which is a flat panel cabinet. I had my cabinet guy make them approximately and inch wider (all the way around) than the normal shaker cabinet style and I think it added a fun detail!
7. Do you see that tall skinny door in front of you? That is my swinging door to the pantry and I LOVE it!! It makes it so convenient for going in and out of your pantry with your hands full.
8. I am a huge fan of big fridges and double ovens. You can’t have a gourmet kitchen without them! I know that big fridges can be incredibly pricey, but there are a few great alternatives out there. Kenmore and Frigidaire both have a 72″ fridge, freezer combo, that is about $2,500 versus $11,000 for the one pictured here. It’s not as good of quality as the more expensive brands, but it will give you a similar look. The appliances pictured are all Thermador, which is currently the best rated brand for upscale appliances.
9. When you are designing your cabinetry, keep this built in spice rack in mind. It is probably my favorite feature of these cabinets. It’s incredibly convenient when cooking and keeps you organized!
10. When choosing cabinet knobs, go simple. The more detail you have on the knobs, the faster they will go out of style. Choosing a plain knob will make the overall look much better and last longer!
Hope these Rules to Create the Perfect White Kitchen are helpful to you!
Looking for some other fun designs tips and ideas?
Clock Collage Wall — this clock collage wall is too cute and would work in any style home!
Road Map Inspiration Wall — share you and your families lives by creating this amazing Road Map Wall!
3 Tips for Styling Your Coffee Table— these tips work time and time again!
5 Tips to Update a Kids Bedroom — it’s so easy to update a bedroom without breaking the bank!
How to Decorate Table Tops and Shelves — these tips are genius and have helped me decorate so many times!
Heirloom Plate Wall — this is the perfect way to display the important family china!
Also, if you’re decorating a Farmhouse, then you have to check out my favorite Farmhouse Blog – Twelve On Main!
Make sure and save this article for later by pinning the image below!
Laurie
What would you recommend for kitchen with vaulted ceiling not too much space between standard cabinet height and ceiling but it also has two beams over the cabinets. One beam can be planned over fridge but not the other one. I would live to hear your suggestion
Taylor
Gorgeous kitchen!! That spice rack is genius..definitely bookmarking!
Pam Dana
Thanks girl! I LOVE the Spice rack so much! It’s seriously the best!
Katerina @ diethood .com
WOW!! Such a gorgeous kitchen!! My dream come true!!
Pam Dana
Thank you so much Katerina!
Lauren Kelly
What a gorgeous kitchen! I just sent this to my friend who is going to start renovations!
Pam Dana
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it!
Tanya Schroeder
Holy smokes! I have kitchen envy big time! I will have to see what I can do with my space!
Pam Dana
Thank you so much!
ND
Goodness, your kitchen is so beautiful! We just finished the kitchen remodel and I love all your tips!
Pam Dana
Congrats! Such a huge job! Thank you for the sweet comment!
Hill Farm Furniture Limited
Gorgeous. The 10 rules to create the perfect white kitchen is very amazing and beautiful. Thanks for this one.
Ikonni
Wonderful tips!
Love the way how the cabinets are arranged. Thanks a lot for sharing this!
Sarah Kite
White kitchens are the trend! Thank you for sharing!
Dawn
Hi I love your tips. I have a white kitchen and went with the builder grade and I’m slowly adding my touches.
I have brushed nickel faucets, door handles and draw pulls I’m looking at a polished chrome island pendant that is bigger than what I currently have should I not go with that or look for a brushed nickel? Also the lighting fixture over my kitchen table I was considering is wrought iron but the candlelight holders are mixed with brushed nickel and wrought iron too much?
Ema Watts
Thanks for sharing such a nice post with us. Kitchen design is the most desirable activities by any home-owner. The information you have shared is very informative.
mbsm
Thanks for the tips!
Harriet Forbes
The white cabinets in my house have not yellowed, nor have the separated or warped. I was told 24 years ago when I wanted to put ceiling cabinets that they would warp. I didn’t put them in then , but the builder did!!! in his house. As the people with white cabinets will tell you; at least you when they are dirty. PS Never put your spices that close to the ovens. Heat ruins them.
Amanda
Very informative! Love the info provided by you. I am planning to add white kitchen cabinets in my kitchen and this article is very helpful for me. Thanks a lot for sharing the great article.
Ros
Timely. We are renovating our kitchen with a high gloss white kitchen from Ikea. We’ve not yet installed the countertops but I was thinking white, but 15 year old son is insisting on having a say and wanting a concrete color. He might be right….but if so, I will make my back splash white glass tiles.
Mary Elaine Szurszewski
Absolutely beautiful! About a month away from starting demo on our kitchen renovation but still deciding on cabinet color. My father-in-law, a retired cabinet maker, tells me that I will hate a white kitchen after a few years. Two biggest reasons he gives me are:
1. THe white will start to yellow after a couple of years (as well as white is hard to keep clean).
2. Because of wood expansion with heat and humidity the wood joints will show that expansion with any painted cabinets vs stained cabinets.
I really, really love white cabinets but I’m afraid of what they will look like 5 years down the road.
Do you have any clients that have experienced these issues with their white kitchens?
PLEASE ADVISE, its crunch time for me to decide on my color & kind of wood for my cabinets!
Any comments/suggestions will be helpful.
Debbie Azzarello
I have Merillat white cabinetry in my kitchen that is 22 years old and is as beautiful as the day they were installed. They have not turned, nor aged. However, they are not wood. You will see the joints in wood cabinets as witnessed in my sister’s kitchen. I couldn’t live with that.
James
I am thinking of renovating my kitchen. Definitely will use some of these ideas!!
Rick Ferrari
I like what I see. Do you consult over the internet? What do you charge if so? Wife and I are currently remodeling one of our homes in the nest year.
Kate
Where did you get the globe light in the family room?
Aimee
Where is the table from?? I love it!!
mthmoses
Wow, I thought I was going to be the only one who was nuts over the “rod” iron! Haha
mthmoses
Wow, I thought I was going to be the only one who was nuts over the “rod” iron! Haha
Ronnie Frittz
What floor color and manufacturer?
LM
Hahaha! I NEVER comment on these kind of posts, but was literally just going to say the same thing! WROUGHT IRON!!!! Where the heck did “rod” iron come from? Do some homework before you use a word if there’s a possibility you’re making up an incorrect version of it…
Chloe Crabtree
A beautiful kitchen, just stunning in every way. I will be renovating a kitchen in the coming year and I will certainly use a lot of the ideas you shared here!
Erin S
WROUGHT IRON! Drives me nuts.
Andy
wrought iron…not rod iron
Audra
Beautiful. I love tips like these.
Pam from Over the Big Moon
This is a gorgeous kitchen Lyndi! Thanks for all the tips – I can’t wait to apply them in my new white kitchen!!
Mary Lou
My mom chose cupboards to ceiling and painted white 82 yrs ago. I have given them 2 coats of semigloss and they’re ready for another 80 yrs well my kids may want to change the color. Hope the keep them😊
Jessica
Awesome tips! I love white kitchens, and this one really is perfect! Thanks for sharing!