Free tool
Build your kitchen mood board
Pick a direction and we'll walk you through seven choices — doors, colour, finish, counters, backsplash, hardware, and light. Every colour comes with real Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, and Farrow & Ball codes, and the finished board downloads as a PDF you can hand to a shop.
Start with a direction
This sorts every choice that follows. You can change anything later.
Example photos from Pexels by Alan Quirván, Curtis Adams, ready made, HONG SON. They are the closest examples we could find, not your exact materials.
2026 trends
What has turned over this year
A trend library is only useful if it also tells you what to stop doing.
The all-white kitchen
Wood overtook white as the most-specified cabinet finish this year. All-white now reads as the last decade rather than as neutral.
Cool grey cabinets
The fastest-dating colour of the 2010s. Warm taupe, greige, and mushroom do the same job without the chill.
Wide-rail raised panel everywhere
Slim shaker and flat slab are replacing wide-rail frames on all but deliberately traditional kitchens.
Bulky tubular handles
Low-profile pulls, edge-grip doors, and touch-to-open have made chunky hardware look heavy.
How we choose these 2026 trends
The library behind this tool is edited, not scraped. Each option is here because it shows up consistently across this year's industry research — the NKBA/KBIS professional survey, the Houzz homeowner study, and what our own designers are being asked for — and each carries a note explaining why it is having a moment or why it will outlast one.
2026 is a genuine turning point rather than another round of the same list: wood overtook white as the most-specified cabinet finish for the first time, slab and slim-shaker fronts are displacing wide rails, and the cool greys of the last decade have given way to warm taupes, khakis, and greens. Where something has dated, we say so.
Paint matches are real product codes, so you can walk into any store and buy the colour on your board. Countertops and backsplashes name the material to specify rather than a brand, because the same look is stocked under a dozen different trade names.
2026 library · last updated 2026-08-10
What a mood board can't do
A palette is not a plan. It has no dimensions, no cabinet sizes, no clearances, and no idea whether your dishwasher door will hit the island — so no shop can quote from it. Turning it into something buildable is exactly what a Design Packet is: an in-house designer draws your real room, in a real manufacturer's catalogue, and you own the drawings.
Questions homeowners ask
Is this really free?
Yes. The tool is free, the board is free, and the PDF is free — we ask for an email address to send it. There is nothing to install and no account to create.
Can a kitchen shop build from this?
No, and we would rather say so plainly. A mood board fixes colours and materials, not dimensions, cabinet sizes, or clearances. A shop needs a dimensioned plan and an itemised cabinet list to quote — that is what a Design Packet is.
Are the paint codes real?
Every cabinet colour lists a genuine Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, and Farrow & Ball match, so you can buy a sample pot the same day. Always test a sample in your own light before committing — screens lie about colour.
How often is the trend library updated?
We refresh options and notes quarterly and re-version the whole library each year. This is the 2026 library, last updated 2026-08-10.
Do you sell my email address?
No. We email you the board and occasional trend updates from our designers, and you can unsubscribe in one click.
Make it real for $299
Your palette, drawn as a buildable kitchen: floor plan, elevations, 3D renders, and an itemised cabinet list any shop can price. Delivered in 3–5 days, yours to keep.