Before and After: 4 Warm Green, White and Wood Kitchens
See how beautifully this color trio plays out in kitchens of different styles
When you want a kitchen that’s soothing, uplifting and warm all at once, a palette of green, white and wood is your friend. But how much to use of each color? Get ideas from the four kitchens below, which have varying styles but beautifully balanced palettes. Then let us know in the Comments if you plan to borrow any.
Photo by Michael A. Kaskel
After: Designers Laura Irion and Laura Peacock used Houzz Pro throughout the project for proposals and invoices. The makeover included opening up the space to both the family room (opposite the glass-front cabinetry) and the dining area, seen at the right of the photo, and giving the space a style that blended the homeowners’ love of contemporary and midcentury modern design with the home’s classic architecture.
Soft green lower cabinets are paired with white uppers, allowing for a gentle dose of color. The countertops, range wall and zellige tile on the sink wall also are white, for a clean and bright look. Warmth comes through in the wood ceiling beams stained to match the island base, and both beautifully complement the new prefinished wood flooring.
Cabinets: maple in Marshmallow Cream (wall cabinets), maple in Moon Bay (base cabinets), alder with Oregano stain (island base), all by StarMark; ceiling beams: Streamline; tile: Casablanca, 2 by 6 inches, Zia Tile; wall paint: Alabaster, Sherwin-Williams
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After: Designers Laura Irion and Laura Peacock used Houzz Pro throughout the project for proposals and invoices. The makeover included opening up the space to both the family room (opposite the glass-front cabinetry) and the dining area, seen at the right of the photo, and giving the space a style that blended the homeowners’ love of contemporary and midcentury modern design with the home’s classic architecture.
Soft green lower cabinets are paired with white uppers, allowing for a gentle dose of color. The countertops, range wall and zellige tile on the sink wall also are white, for a clean and bright look. Warmth comes through in the wood ceiling beams stained to match the island base, and both beautifully complement the new prefinished wood flooring.
Cabinets: maple in Marshmallow Cream (wall cabinets), maple in Moon Bay (base cabinets), alder with Oregano stain (island base), all by StarMark; ceiling beams: Streamline; tile: Casablanca, 2 by 6 inches, Zia Tile; wall paint: Alabaster, Sherwin-Williams
Read more about this project
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
2. Open Case
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of five that loves to entertain
Location: Golden, Colorado
Size: 420 square feet (39 square meters)
Designer: Beth Parker of Caruso Kitchens
Builder: Miguel Ramos of Adobe Construction
Before: A tight layout, bland look and lack of flow didn’t inspire entertaining in this 240-square-foot 1980s Colorado kitchen. And while a large fluorescent light in the dropped ceiling added illumination, it further detracted from the style. The homeowners brought in designer Beth Parker to create an uplifting, more expansive space where they could happily host friends and family.
Find kitchen remodelers on Houzz
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of five that loves to entertain
Location: Golden, Colorado
Size: 420 square feet (39 square meters)
Designer: Beth Parker of Caruso Kitchens
Builder: Miguel Ramos of Adobe Construction
Before: A tight layout, bland look and lack of flow didn’t inspire entertaining in this 240-square-foot 1980s Colorado kitchen. And while a large fluorescent light in the dropped ceiling added illumination, it further detracted from the style. The homeowners brought in designer Beth Parker to create an uplifting, more expansive space where they could happily host friends and family.
Find kitchen remodelers on Houzz
Photo by Libbie Holmes Photography
After: Parker gutted the space and knocked down a wall to expand the footprint into an infrequently used formal dining room, adding 180 square feet. This made room for a much bigger island, with more openness and better flow all around. It also allowed her to add a 70-square-foot walk-in pantry (behind the family photo wall).
Warmth comes through in the existing oak floor, which Parker had resanded and stained, and in lower perimeter cabinets made of rift-cut white oak. But the former wood-based blandness has been banished by generous expanses of green cabinetry, and a Sputnik-style chandelier brings a burst of energy.
Stretches of white via the countertops and walls keep the look fresh and light.
Countertops: Brazilian Casablanca quartzite with gray veining; backsplash tile: Royal Satin White marble, The Tile Shop
Read more about this project
After: Parker gutted the space and knocked down a wall to expand the footprint into an infrequently used formal dining room, adding 180 square feet. This made room for a much bigger island, with more openness and better flow all around. It also allowed her to add a 70-square-foot walk-in pantry (behind the family photo wall).
Warmth comes through in the existing oak floor, which Parker had resanded and stained, and in lower perimeter cabinets made of rift-cut white oak. But the former wood-based blandness has been banished by generous expanses of green cabinetry, and a Sputnik-style chandelier brings a burst of energy.
Stretches of white via the countertops and walls keep the look fresh and light.
Countertops: Brazilian Casablanca quartzite with gray veining; backsplash tile: Royal Satin White marble, The Tile Shop
Read more about this project
3. Flip Turn
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four
Location: Bolton, Massachusetts
Size: 313 square feet (29 square meters)
Designer: Kerri Reesey of Kindred Designs
Before: At 125 square feet, this kitchen for a Massachusetts family of four felt cramped. Located in a 1992 New England Cape-style home, it also lacked sufficient storage and was cut off from both the dining area (behind the refrigerator wall seen here) and the living room (on the side of the peninsula where this photo was taken from). As for the style, honey oak cabinets combined with bland beige laminate countertops and overly busy vinyl flooring didn’t help matters. The homeowners tapped designer Kerri Reesey for the makeover.
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four
Location: Bolton, Massachusetts
Size: 313 square feet (29 square meters)
Designer: Kerri Reesey of Kindred Designs
Before: At 125 square feet, this kitchen for a Massachusetts family of four felt cramped. Located in a 1992 New England Cape-style home, it also lacked sufficient storage and was cut off from both the dining area (behind the refrigerator wall seen here) and the living room (on the side of the peninsula where this photo was taken from). As for the style, honey oak cabinets combined with bland beige laminate countertops and overly busy vinyl flooring didn’t help matters. The homeowners tapped designer Kerri Reesey for the makeover.
Photo by Joyelle West Photography
After: Reesey removed the fridge wall and flipped the locations of the kitchen and dining area, adding a 5-foot bump-out along the way. (For orientation, check out the white door in both photos; it leads to an outdoor walkway and stayed in the same place.) These moves more than doubled the size of the kitchen, to 313 square feet, and allowed for expansive storage, better flow and a pleasing openness.
Three kinds of wood bring warmth without feeling one-note: milled pine on the ceiling beams, maple on the island base and oak for the flooring. The dining furniture and a band on the range hood complement the other wood elements, while green cabinets (painted in Dried Thyme by Sherwin-Williams) and white walls, countertops and backsplash tile balance the color palette. Texture and movement come from the wood graining and the backsplash tiles’ scallop shapes.
Paint colors: Dried Thyme, Sherwin-Williams (cabinets); Wind’s Breath, Benjamin Moore (walls); Super White, Benjamin Moore (trim)
Read more about this project
After: Reesey removed the fridge wall and flipped the locations of the kitchen and dining area, adding a 5-foot bump-out along the way. (For orientation, check out the white door in both photos; it leads to an outdoor walkway and stayed in the same place.) These moves more than doubled the size of the kitchen, to 313 square feet, and allowed for expansive storage, better flow and a pleasing openness.
Three kinds of wood bring warmth without feeling one-note: milled pine on the ceiling beams, maple on the island base and oak for the flooring. The dining furniture and a band on the range hood complement the other wood elements, while green cabinets (painted in Dried Thyme by Sherwin-Williams) and white walls, countertops and backsplash tile balance the color palette. Texture and movement come from the wood graining and the backsplash tiles’ scallop shapes.
Paint colors: Dried Thyme, Sherwin-Williams (cabinets); Wind’s Breath, Benjamin Moore (walls); Super White, Benjamin Moore (trim)
Read more about this project
4. Good Nature
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Davis, California
Size: 330 square feet (31 square meters), including a dining area
Designer: Kellie Love of MAK Design + Build
Before: A bulky peninsula separated this Northern California kitchen from the dining room. The countertops were hard-to-clean, dated-looking tile. Adequate storage was lacking. And parts of the parquet floor had popped up. The homeowners hired Kellie Love to design a space where they could comfortably cook together while hanging out with family and friends.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Davis, California
Size: 330 square feet (31 square meters), including a dining area
Designer: Kellie Love of MAK Design + Build
Before: A bulky peninsula separated this Northern California kitchen from the dining room. The countertops were hard-to-clean, dated-looking tile. Adequate storage was lacking. And parts of the parquet floor had popped up. The homeowners hired Kellie Love to design a space where they could comfortably cook together while hanging out with family and friends.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
Photo by Stephanie Russo Photography
After: The designer nixed the peninsula in favor of an island with plenty of room on all sides; that move also created an open connection to the dining room. She added upper cabinets and moved the microwave to an updated walk-in pantry (not shown), allowing the new countertops to be free of clutter. And she brought in concrete-look porcelain tiles with a nonslip surface for the flooring.
The homeowners wanted a very natural feel and got exactly that with sage green perimeter cabinets and a rift-cut white oak island base, which offer a warm and organic counterpoint to the flooring. White ceramic backsplash tiles clad two walls, running from countertop to ceiling and matching the white countertops for an expansive look and a clean backdrop.
Cabinetry: Nickels Cabinets, painted in Herbes de Provence, Benjamin Moore; backsplash tiles: Makoto in Shoji White, 2½ by 10 inches, Bedrosians Tile and Stone
Read more about this project
After: The designer nixed the peninsula in favor of an island with plenty of room on all sides; that move also created an open connection to the dining room. She added upper cabinets and moved the microwave to an updated walk-in pantry (not shown), allowing the new countertops to be free of clutter. And she brought in concrete-look porcelain tiles with a nonslip surface for the flooring.
The homeowners wanted a very natural feel and got exactly that with sage green perimeter cabinets and a rift-cut white oak island base, which offer a warm and organic counterpoint to the flooring. White ceramic backsplash tiles clad two walls, running from countertop to ceiling and matching the white countertops for an expansive look and a clean backdrop.
Cabinetry: Nickels Cabinets, painted in Herbes de Provence, Benjamin Moore; backsplash tiles: Makoto in Shoji White, 2½ by 10 inches, Bedrosians Tile and Stone
Read more about this project
Sponsored
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four
Location: St. Charles, Illinois
Size: 352 square feet (33 square meters); 16 by 22 feet
Designers: Laura Irion and Laura Peacock of Laura Design (interior design) and Wendy Franz of Studio 912 (cabinet design)
Contractors: Matt Coan and Mark Thill of Streamline Craftsman
Before: Plenty of cabinets didn’t save this Illinois kitchen from clutter, because it was hard to reach items stored in them — and the cabinets were falling apart to boot. Other elements the owners disliked: can lights, tile flooring with old grout, no spot for trash or recycling, lack of visibility into the family room, and a peninsula that cut off the kitchen from the dining area. Laura Design, a firm the homeowners found on Houzz, joined forces with cabinet designer Wendy Franz of Studio 912 for the remodel.