This Once-Popular Kitchen Color Is on Its Way Out

If you’re thinking about re-painting your kitchen and want to know what’s “in” or “out,” we have news for you: Gray is not as trendy as it used to be. According to the 2023 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Study, although gray is still the second-most popular wall color, it lost another 4 percentage points this year—now only 24% of renovated kitchens are sporting the hue. That’s the fourth consecutive year of decline for the neutral, which was at 27% in 2022; 28% in 2021; 30% in 2020; and 31% in 2019.

And while gray might be falling out of favor, white is still holding on strong—it’s still the number one kitchen color with 35% of people choosing it from 2022 to 2023. Beige nabbed the third top spot with 18%, followed by blue with 6% and green with 5%.

In terms of trends in other finishes, accents, and paint colors, the study found that stainless steel is still the favorite for appliances, with 74% of people choosing it (white was 8%, black stainless was 7%, and black was 6%). For backsplashes, multicolored ones are out—it’s the second most popular look with 16% of people using it, but it fell by 4% compared with last year. Like kitchen paint colors, white backsplashes reign supreme this year with 41% of homeowners choosing the shade.

Thomas J. Story

The same goes for countertops—white counters are at the top of the list and steadily increasing in popularity, while multicolored countertops have been steadily declining in popularity for two years. Interestingly enough, even though many people choose white for their main countertops, more and more people are choosing other colors and tones for their kitchen islands. The second top contrasting countertop color for kitchen islands is medium-tone wood. Black contrasting countertops are also seeing a bit of a bump as they’re the third most popular color and gained 4 percentage points compared with 2022. No surprise here—white is the top contrasting countertop color.

The findings from the study were pulled from an online survey Houzz conducted of their users regarding kitchen renovation projects from July 7 to Sept. 1, 2022. Information was gathered from a total of 3,627 users, who were homeowners and had completed a kitchen remodel or addition in the past 12 months, or were currently working on one or planning to start in the next three months.

So what can you pull from the study? Shades of white never go out of style, which isn’t very ground-breaking, but still helpful to know if you’re planning on a kitchen renovation soon. Ultimately though, it’s up to you and your own style preferences when it comes to designing your dream kitchen. Follow the trends or don’t, you’re the one that’s going to have to see it every day!

Read the Current Issue Here!

Get one year of Sunset—and all kinds of bonuses—for just $24.95. Subscribe now!