The color of your kitchen cabinets has a significant influence on both the look and feel of the room. For most of us, the kitchen is the heart of the home, so it’s natural to want to make the right design decisions. If you’re thinking about swapping or updating old cabinets, or you love the idea of a new color palette, have you considered brown kitchen cabinets? Brown is not always the most vivid or vibrant shade, but it can be used to create stunning modern and rustic kitchens.
In this comprehensive guide to brown kitchen cabinets, we’ll discuss the benefits of brown cabinets, share some tips to elevate rustic kitchen cabinet concepts and provide inspiration for those looking to switch up their kitchen color palette.
What are the benefits of choosing brown kitchen cabinets?
Brown is a classic choice for kitchen cabinets. When we think about brown kitchen cabinets, we often conjure up images of traditional homes and rustic, country cottages, but brown is so much more versatile. Brown cabinets are also an excellent choice for contemporary apartments, condos and townhouses. If you’re thinking about choosing brown for your kitchen cabinets, here are some benefits to consider:
Add warmth
One of the best reasons to choose brown kitchen cabinets is to add warmth to a cold, cool or clinical space. Brown is cozy and welcoming and it creates inviting, homely rooms. You can enhance the look of your kitchen while adding ambiance with warming shades of brown. From rich espresso to lighter shades of latte and walnut, you can choose a tone that suits the room and your personal style.
Bring the outside in
Bringing the outside in is a brilliant way to celebrate and showcase the beauty of natural environments and landscapes. Brown is a color we associate with natural materials and settings like forests, woodlands, beaches and deserts. Choosing brown kitchen cabinets is an effective way to channel a natural look and make your indoor spaces feel clean, fresh and vibrant. Brown kitchen cabinets work fantastically with crisp neutral walls, plants and potted trees and accessories and soft furnishings made from natural fabrics and materials. Examples include cotton, wood, linen, bamboo and jute.
Be as bold or as subtle as you like
Brown kitchen cabinets give you the freedom to be as bold or as subtle as you like when it comes to painting or decorating your cabinets and making a statement in other parts of the kitchen. While plain, classic units are ideal if you want to steal the show with a unique backsplash or a spectacular custom-designed copper table, decorative, richly-colored cabinets are perfect for homeowners who want their cupboards to shine. You can use your cabinets to create an understated canvas or to design a focal point.
Experiment with colors, trends and patterns
Fitting brown kitchen cabinets gives you license to experiment with different colors, trends and patterns. Brown complements most other colors and it can integrate seamlessly with different design concepts and styles. From industrial trends and a natural look to ornate, vintage styles, you can’t go wrong with brown kitchen cabinets.
Modernize your kitchen or embrace a rustic look
Everyone is unique and we all have different ideas and preferences when it comes to interior design. The versatility of brown kitchen cabinets means that you can either modernize the space or embrace a more rustic or retro look. Brown cabinets work as well in country kitchens, old houses and historic buildings as they do in brand-new houses and apartments. As well as choosing a shade of brown that complements the styles you like, it’s also beneficial to think about other features in your kitchen and cabinet hardware. You can channel traditional themes with brass accessories or a statement range hood, for example, or bring your kitchen into the 21st century with a stainless steel sink or range hood and modern knobs and handles.
A practical choice
Everyone wants their kitchen to look amazing, but this is a room that also needs to work on a functional level. Brown is a practical choice. It doesn’t show stains or dirt, it works with other colors and it’s suited to every style of home.
Brown kitchen cabinet ideas for your home
There are lots of fantastic reasons to choose brown cabinets, but how do you decide on a design? It’s worth looking at a rustic kitchen cabinet gallery or searching on social media for contemporary brown kitchens, but if you’re looking for brown kitchen cabinet inspiration, we’ve got some brilliant ideas:
Espresso cabinets
If you’re looking to add depth and warmth to your kitchen while designing a chic, contemporary space, espresso cabinets are a stunning choice. Combining the simplicity and dynamism of black with the warmth and coziness of brown, espresso kitchen cabinets are an increasingly popular design choice. Combine with stainless steel sinks and range hoods for an effortless, modern aesthetic or add elegance and opulence with a marble worktop or island.
Traditional Shaker styles
Fans of traditional kitchen designs often gravitate towards Shaker-style cabinets. If you’re looking for a timeless trend, opting for brown, Shaker-style kitchen cabinets will ensure your kitchen looks incredible for years to come. This is a trend that never goes out of fashion and it suits older houses, as well as new homes that have elegant, classic kitchens.
Brown and black
Brown and black has become a popular design trend for kitchen makeovers, particularly in modern homes. Offering a smart, funky alternative to monochrome, brown and black is a stylish choice. You can use lighter shades of brown to lift black walls and make compact kitchens seem bigger and brighter or make black kitchens cozier and more inviting with rich shades of brown. Blend similar tones, such as espresso and black, for a uniform aesthetic or strike a contrast with shades like chocolate, tan, golden brown, rust and camel.
Soft browns
Muted tones of brown, including latte, sand and buff, offer a stunning option for light, bright kitchens. If you’re on a mission to make a bijou kitchen look larger and lighter, or you want to create a calming, tranquil space, opt for soft, subtle shades. You can add an industrial edge with metallic hardware and accessories, such as a copper sink or a brass range hood, or channel the natural trend and scatter plants throughout the space.
Two-tone
If you’re breaking up large areas of white paint, or you’re decorating a kitchen that has a lot of natural wood features, two-tone kitchen cabinets are a great option. You can choose two different shades of brown or mix brown cabinets with a different color. You could paint each individual cabinet both shades, or opt for brown cupboards at the top and white or black at the bottom, for example. Experiment with different brown kitchen cabinet designs to see which suits your home best.
How to choose the right shade of brown for your kitchen
On the surface, brown may seem like a relatively restrictive choice for kitchens in comparison with other colors, such as blue and green, but there is a huge spectrum of shades to choose from. If you delve deeper, and you start looking at paint charts, wood finishes and effects and design galleries, you’ll stumble across all kinds of incredible options. From chocolate, taupe, mahogany and espresso to russet, chestnut, ochre, bronze, tan and ecru, there’s a perfect shade for every kitchen. To help you find the right shade for your brown kitchen cabinets, here are some key questions to ask:
What kind of feel do you want to create?
Brown is one of the most effective colors in terms of adding ambiance to a room. Before you choose a shade of brown for your kitchen, it’s important to think about the feel and vibe you want to create. Do you want to design a cool, spacious entertaining space or are you eager to create a homely, tranquil, inviting kitchen to retreat to after a long day? Deep, rich tones are ideal for adding a cozy feel while lighter colors are more uplifting.
Do you want to make a statement with your kitchen cabinets?
Some people want to make a statement with their kitchen cabinets while others simply want them to be part of a beautiful, functional kitchen design. When choosing a color for your cabinets, it’s crucial to consider your preference. Do you want your units and cupboards to stand out and turn heads, or are you looking for something more understated? To draw attention, you could add espresso or rust-colored units to a white or black wall. To blend in, opt for classic, timeless shades like mahogany and walnut.
Are you teaming brown kitchen cabinets with any other colors in your kitchen?
One of the most important factors to consider when selecting a shade for your cabinets is the colorway of your kitchen. Do you have a simple palette, which consists of white or neutral walls and brown cabinets? Are you contrasting or blending different tones of brown? Are you adding new cabinets to a brightly colored kitchen? If you want to add a different shade of brown or you’re working with other colors, for example, gray, blue, green or orange, you’ll need to think about which tones go together.
Which shades of brown do you like best?
Putting your stamp on your interiors is one of the most exciting aspects of buying and creating a home. When you’re putting ideas together, or making design plans, focus on your taste, style and personality. Have fun, show off your creativity and choose trends, concepts, ideas and colors that make you happy. If you’ve decided to opt for brown kitchen cabinets, choose a color or a combination of shades that you love and embrace trends and styles that complement your taste. You might love rustic brown kitchen cabinet concepts, or you may prefer minimalist modern designs, for example.
Are you keen to add warmth or make the kitchen appear more open and spacious?
There is a vast array of shades of brown you can use in your kitchen. Some colors will make the room look bigger and brighter while others will have the opposite effect. When you’re browsing paint charts or looking through online galleries, think about the size of your kitchen and your objectives. Do you want to create a cozy hub at the heart of the home, or do you want to open up the space and make the room feel spacious and light? For warmth, opt for deep, dark browns and hues with a red or golden tone. For light spaces, go for pale shades such as tan, ecru, camel and buff.
Brown kitchen cabinet inspiration: Color combinations to consider
Brown is an appealing option for homeowners because it goes with a lot of other colors. If you’re painting the walls, changing your flooring or adding a feature countertop or island, here are some color combinations to consider with brown kitchen cabinets:
- Brown and white: simple, chic and timeless, brown and white is a hugely popular choice for modern and old homes.
- Brown and black: cool, trendy and understated, brown and black is ideal for contemporary apartments, townhouses and quirky developments, like warehouse conversions. Finish the look with a designer copper table or a bespoke stainless steel range hood.
- Brown and gray: gray works brilliantly with both light and dark brown kitchen cabinets. This is a popular combination for modern kitchen designs.
- Brown and orange: for those who love color, brown and orange is a fabulous choice. Channel retro trends with shades of mocha and bright orange or go for something more subtle and combine shades of chocolate with terracotta or burnt orange.
- Brown and blue: blue is one of the most popular colors for kitchens. Light brown cabinets complement shades of pale blue perfectly for tranquil, calming kitchens.
- Brown and green: the ultimate choice for homeowners who want to embrace natural trends and celebrate the great outdoors, brown and green is a powerful combination. You can bring forests and glades in with rich tones of brown and vibrant greens or go for warm, earthy tones like sage, olive green, jungle green, rust, terracotta and taupe.
Summary
Brown kitchen cabinets are a classic, rustic choice, but they can also be a fantastic option for contemporary kitchens. If you’re looking for brown kitchen cabinet ideas, explore color options and combinations, look for inspiration in magazines and online galleries and personalize your design plans.
If you need help with kitchen cabinet ideas, or you’re looking for inspiration to elevate your kitchen decor with custom-made furniture or design features, we’re here to help. At CopperSmith, we specialize in designer, custom-made copper, brass and stainless steel sinks, tables, range hoods and more. Use our incredible online 3D configurator at worldcoppersmith.com or click here to get a custom quote from our talented design team.
