4 Great Countertop Colours for White Kitchens

I love white kitchens - always have. I think they are so clean looking and timeless and homey. I painted our kitchen cabinets three summers ago and still love them (you can see read about it and see pictures here)

My friend Ricki Jill from Art@Home is doing a makeover on her kitchen this month.  She is trying to make some decisions about what kind of countertop to use so I thought I would help her by providing inspiration pictures of some gorgeous white kitchens.  Ricki Jill has white cabinets and walls and a limestone and travertine floor tile.  She needs to decide not only on the countertop, but also pick a colour to paint the island, and possibly select a new backsplash.  You can see her present kitchen here.
When I looked through photos of beautiful white kitchens the countertops fell into four main types - white, black, wood, and beige. Apart from the wood counters, I haven't considered what type of material the counters are made from as so many of the manufactured materials look very close to natural stone and in the end it is the colour and the sheen that impacts the overall look.  There are many excellent articles on what type of countertop to select based on durability, maintenance, and cost - all important factors, but it is the look of the kitchen that I'm after here. A must read series of blog posts are on Maria's blog Colour Me Happy.  She loves white kitchens and gives lots of helpful information about selecting and decorating white kitchens.
Let's have a look at some white kitchen inspiration photos working our way from the most common countertops -  Miss Popularity white - down to the least common - beige countertops.  
1) White  The white-on-white look is very popular in kitchens as it is so clean looking and easy to live with.  You can add colour to the kitchen through accessories or paint on the walls which can be changed more easily than a countertop or tile backsplash. White counters range from pure white manufactured materials to white with gray veins or speckles in natural or engineered stone. This is a consistently classic, timeless look and there were oodles of inspiration photos - these are some of my favourites.

Canadian House and Home

Reasons to Breathe

Houzz

Picklee

7th House on the Left

Interior Bathroom Design

Style at Home

Maria Killam, Colour Me Happy

2) Black/Charcoal Gray After white counters, black or charcoal gray were the next most popular.  They provide a nice contrast with white cabinets and the dark countertop colour can tie in with the appliances or the backsplash.  The black/gray and white are neutrals so other colours can easily be incorporated into the kitchen as accent colours.  We have a charcoal gray laminate in our kitchen and I love how easy it is to care for - red wine, beets, cherries, or any other tough food stains are not a problem.  

Margot Austin

For the Love of a Home

Canadian House and Home

Nine and Sixteen

decor*pad

3) Wood  Wood countertops are a lovely neutral and really warm up the kitchen. I have heard good things about wood counters as long as they are well sealed or routinely oiled, but they are still more delicate than many countertop choices. 

A Country Kitchen

House Beautiful

via Young House Love

Often kitchens incorporate more than one type of countertop and wood can be a good choice for a part of the counter or the island.

Cobi Ladner's kitchen via Chatelaine

4) Beige I did find some white kitchens with beige or light brown countertops although not many.  I especially like the first kitchen below.

Traci Zeller

Edmo Woodworking

The Garden Web

So there you have it - four countertop colours to consider with white kitchens.  By far the most popular are white and black/gray counters and for good reason as they are timeless, classy, neutral, and look good with a variety of different accent colours.  
What colour countertop appeals to you the most?  It will be interesting to see what Ricki Jill selects.
p.s.  You can read about a rainbow of kitchen island colours in this post.

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