9 Outdated Kitchen Cabinet Colors We Hope To Never See In 2026

While some kitchen trends and designs never go out of style, others are doomed to date your space. From industrial excess to stainless steel overload, there's no shortage of outdated kitchen trends you should steer clear of if you don't want to fall behind on the current style. Your cabinet colors are one glaringly obvious area that can make or break your entire kitchen design. With trends cycling in and out of style so rapidly, you may find yourself with cabinet colors that aren't so stylish anymore. Bright yellow, espresso brown, and honey oak are all colors that we hope to leave behind in 2025.

If you find yourself grimacing at your kitchen cabinets, wondering if they're a little too kitsch for your taste now, it may be time for a change, especially if they are among the 9 we listed below. Luckily, it's fairly easy to upgrade your kitchen cabinet colors. You might even be able to DIY it if you're ambitious. Start off on the right foot by knowing the difference between timeless and trendy kitchen designs so you can nail down a style and color that will serve you for years to come. The last thing you want to do is carry out a renovation only to grow bored with it when the next trend blows through.

While white cabinets are by-and-large considered a staple cabinet color, there is still a caveat to consider. Bright, sterile shades of white can feel clinical and trigger an unpleasant, blinding effect. Off-white and creamy whites are a bit easier on the eyes. They also serve as a blank slate suitable for a diverse array of styles. However, white cabinets can generally feel too safe. The goal is to strike a balance between stylish and trendy without verging into boring or uninspiring territory.

There was a time when gray cabinets were all the rage. But in 2025, it's completely dated. Snarky internet comments have long since declared "millennial gray" a dated trend we should leave in the past. Gray cabinets invoke images of early-aughts house flips and default apartment interiors. They also tend to clash with other colors in your home if the undertones of the shade weren't taken into consideration. Skip gray cabinets and consider "greige" instead. It's a combination of gray and beige, offering a similar neutral option with a much-needed infusion of warmth.

Bright, dandelion yellow cabinets are an overpowering, theatrical design choice in our modern times. While there's a time and place to bring some brightness into a space, you should be cautious not to go overboard. If you go for a bold color like bright yellow for your cabinets, it becomes the focal point of your kitchen. It might take away from your overall design and make your home feel more overstimulating than joyful or serene. If you're craving some sunshine in your interior, opt for butter yellow or a creamy white instead.

Navy blue is a favorite for many interior designers and it still holds up in many aspects. But for kitchen cabinets? You might want to reconsider. Once seen as cutting edge, we're seeing navy cabinets everywhere now. It's starting to feel a bit overplayed and uninspiring. While it's meant to serve as a moody backdrop for an opulent, decadent design style, its popularity is making it less of a bold choice. If you want to capture the same energy in a unique way, consider painting your cabinets a deep green or neutral shade instead.

Talk about a trend that blew in and out of town in a hurry. Mint green was meant to invoke an airy, playful element to a kitchen. However, in comparison to colors like sage, sea salt, and olive green, it can feel a bit artificial. Opt for a more natural colored green if you want to capture the same spirit as mint green without running the risk of leaning too tacky.

Nothing screams 1990s and early 2000s quite like the dreaded honey oak cabinet. Once standard in kitchens across the United States, this cabinet color is just not on trend anymore. Maybe it's the years of exposure in the early aughts or the aggressively warm tone in the stain, but honey oak is agreed to be fairly unpleasant. It's a glaring sign of an outdated kitchen. If you want to capture the essence of your oak cabinets for the modern eye, opt for a provincial or ebony stain instead.

Once seen as sleek and modern, high gloss finish on cabinets now reads outdated in 2025. Not only does this trend fall flat in the modern kitchen, but its smudge-prone surface is also a giant headache to keep clean. Similarly to stark white cabinets, high gloss cabinets tend to look a bit too sterile, overwhelming a kitchen with a heavy, uncomfortable ambiance. Lean towards more natural finishes to capture a more homey atmosphere.

Dark stains and espresso brown cabinet paint are not one and the same. While a dark wood stain can carry an air of sophistication, flat, dark paint feels heavy and uninviting. This color fit right in when a Tuscan-inspired color palette was taking our kitchens by storm. But today, it simply doesn't hit the mark. If you want to lean into a moody, dark style, stick with wood stains or less harsh paint colors.

Whether you're swinging for playful or bold, fire-engine red is a major miss. There is an element of nostalgia attached to red cabinets. But it can easily make your kitchen feel like the set of a 1950s sitcom. All the better if you're going for a retro aesthetic, but for most, this is likely an unintended consequence. If you want to infuse bold red into your design in a modern fashion, opt for burgundy, clay, or rust red.