HGTV Stars' Go-To Kitchen Cabinet Colors To Try In Your Home

While only a lucky few homeowners get to star on HGTV's interior makeover shows, taking inspiration from the network's designers can still help you build the kitchen of your dreams. Their recommendations can really come in handy for the color of the cabinets, an extremely important yet quite difficult choice to make.

Cabinets come in so many hues and materials that browsing through the options can make your head spin. Plus, since you should choose your cabinets before your countertops, getting stumped might put a pause on your entire renovation. Luckily, HGTV hosts from Erin Napier of "Home Town" to Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt of "100 Day Dream Home" have shared their favorite colors that are sure to spark your imagination. The best part is that once you decide on a color, you have a basis for the mood of the entire room, and you can move on to other considerations like buying affordable kitchen cabinets.

Whether you want a minimalist, cozy, or artistic kitchen, this list just might give you the perfect match or a great jumping-off point. You'll craft a color scheme to make a TV star designer proud in no time.

Neutral cabinets don't always equate to boring ones, as Jasmine Roth of "Help! I Wrecked My House" knows. On her website, Roth recommends using the Sherwin Williams paint Cityscape on your lower row of kitchen cabinets: "It's got enough warmth that it doesn't leave the room feeling cold or dark, but it's deep and rich." A rule to remember with 2-toned cabinets is that you should use a lighter color on top. It makes the space look more open, and the result is sure to be striking.

Prefer retro pastels or playful bright colors to minimalist shades? "My Lottery Dream Home" host David Bromstad told Apartment Therapy that he's a fan of happy colors, and taking the plunge with pink cabinets is worth it for a more cheerful, creative kitchen. You can balance out pinkish hues with black, white, and beige, or pair your cabinets with earthy tones and a fun patterned island or backsplash to design an '80s-inspired kitchen.

Using a color in one's own home is the greatest endorsement, and Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt of "100 Day Dream Home" have put their seal of approval on pale mint cabinets. The kitchen cabinetry in their Savannah, Georgia, vacation home features metallic handles that class up the room, creating a wonderfully refreshing aura without the dated look that pastel greens sometimes give. It's the ideal mix of unconventional flair and crisp elegance.

Instead of mint, famed broker and designer Egypt Sherrod showed favor for subtle olive green cabinets in an episode of "Married to Real Estate" (via YouTube). Her suggestion of a "soft, warm green" is modern and comforting, perfect for a simple but elegant kitchen aesthetic using earth tones. Sherrod has also used Farrow and Ball Studio Green, a dark gray with the slightest green tint that forms an excellent base for lighter green accents like curtains and plants.

In addition to starring on TV shows, Erin Napier clearly loves to watch them, as "Downton Abbey" inspired the kitchen cabinets in her and husband Ben's Mississippi home. Erin wrote on Instagram that she adored the "buttery worn golden cream" cabinets owned by the character Mrs. Patmore. Creamy shades will add a similar elegant, warm, inviting atmosphere to your kitchen, especially paired with reddish woods and hanging lamps like in the Napiers' design.

There are few HGTV designers more esteemed than Hilary Farr, and on "Love It or List It," she has turned to blue kitchen cabinets time and time again. She once paired bold ocean blue with white counters for a striking coastal room, as well as a soft sky blue with beige counters and a wooden dining table. On the flip side, Hilary Farr avoids stained wood kitchen cabinets for being too distracting.

As the hosts of "Renovation Aloha," Kamohai and Tristyn Kalama often favor organic, island-inspired designs, and the couple has installed wooden kitchen cabinets in multiple Hawaiian homes. Tristyn told HGTV that the combo of "light wood and contrasting dark counters and accents" is "very clean and sophisticated but feels very custom and cozy." You definitely can't go wrong with wood cabinets, dark or stainless steel counters, and light walls.

Christina Haack of "Flip or Flop" fame doesn't shy away from dark colors in her gorgeous room designs, and the star chose black cabinets for her California home's kitchen. Black kitchen designs make for an edgy yet timeless space, but Haack uses it on a few surfaces only to add elegance without too much sharpness. She has also paired black cabinets with herringbone wood panel flooring, white walls, and ceiling lamps for an intriguing twist on a neutral kitchen.