Are you ready to redo your kitchen? Then let's talk cabinet finishes. It is a big decision after all. The pressure of picking a hue that you not only love right now, but you will love for years to come can be overwhelming. When the pressure gets to be too much, your mind may wonder to the age old question, what is everyone else doing?
So, I thought it was about time to do another "Ted's Ten." This time, to explore the top selling Masterbrand Kemper Cabinet finishes across the U.S. in 2020.
If you missed our first rendition of Ted's Ten, read the Top 10 Must Have Kitchen Cabinets for Today's Kitchen, which were hand selected by - you guessed it - Ted.
To keep things interesting, I asked our top designers, Ted and Kevin, to guess what finishes they thought made Kemper's top 10 list. The tricky part was thinking about color trends not just here on Long Island, but nationwide. Ted squeaked by with two more correct guesses over Kev.
Now that we know the names of the top 10 cabinet finishes; Let's explore them a little further. We will do so visually and with weird descriptions that try to describe what your eye might be seeing.
But first, a note for the reader...
Who is MasterBrand Cabinets, Inc?
Fortune Brands Home & Security is the parent company of North America's largest cabinet firm, MasterBrand. Headquartered in Jasper, Indiana, MasterBrand is the largest cabinet manufacture in North America. It's divisions include: Aristokraft, Decora, Diamond, Dynasty, HomeCrest, Kemper, KitchenCraft, Norcraft, Omega, Schrock, and WoodCrafters The company makes stock, semi-custom and custom fully assembled kitchen and bath cabinets; and frameless RTA.
What is the Difference between Kemper, Diamond and Schrock Cabinets?
You may be familiar with the finishes we are about to discuss, in conjunction with other cabinet brands, like Diamond or Schrock. This is because Kemper, Diamond, and Schrock are cabinet brands owned by MasterBrand Cabinets, Inc. Product construction and quality are consistent among these brands. Often times door styles and finish colors will be similar from brand to brand but they too can vary. We will only be discussing these finishes in regards to Kemper Cabinets, since we happen to be MasterBrands #1 Kemper Dealer in New York. Now that we got that out of the way, let's continue!
Here are the Top 10 Kemper Cabinet Finishes from 2020
White Paint
Always a classic, White remains a fashion favorite for today's kitchens. Kemper's white is a clean, but subtle true white that stands gracefully on it's own for a light and airy look. It pairs seamlessly with a wide array of other paint colors and wood finishes/stains too. What most love about Kemper's 'White' is that it is not a stark white.
Coconut
Coconut is a milky off-white cabinet paint that provides a clean, neutral setting without a hint of harshness. The coconut painted finish has been around for nearly 20 years. It once was a top seller with a glazing top coat. Now, people love it's soft tone without it being yellowy.
Icy Avalanche
Newer to the Kemper scene, is Icy Avalanche. This opaque (aka painted) finish started being offered three years ago, and has made quite a splash ever since. It is an off white cabinet color with a pale appearance, making it an excellent foundation of color for most pallets.
Cloud 
Cloud is a true soft gray color. This paint brings out the best of all Maple door styles, without stealing attention away from the rest of the room. The beauty of Cloud is that it can be a gray, but can also be a greige depending on what you pair it with.
Maritime
Maritime is an on-trend, exciting neutral cabinet paint that it reminiscent of wind and waves. It flawlessly complements many colors for a fresh, casual look. It is a deep blue, that does have a touch of green in there which allows it go go very well with natural wood tones especially.
Moonstone
Moonstone is a medium gray cabinet paint with district character and charm. It is effective at drawing attention to unique features in the space. This is a beautiful option for those who love white marbley countertops that have gray veining or accents.
Colt
Colt is a unique, mid-tone stain with warm appeal. Kemper describes it as "conjuring up images of a beautiful foal." This on-trend brown pairs easily with many of today's most popular finishes, but is also a perfect standalone color.
Seal
Seal is a neutral, semi-translucent brownish gray cabinet finish that enhances the natural beauty of the wood it is applied to. To me, it reminds me of beach wood that washes up on the sandy shore, giving any room a rich warmth.
Buckskin
Buckskin is inspired by subtle, earthy tones. This cabinet stain will fill your desire for a timeless mix of modern grays and mellow golds. It is a beautiful color to keep your room feeling grounded and inviting.
Thatch
Thatch is right in line with design forecasts calling for warm complements to cool neutrals. This warm, dark bowl stain is specially formulated with gray undertones to enhance trend-forward interior colors. I really love when it is paired with a deep blue, like Maritime.
How do these finishes compare to Houzz's kitchen trend study?
Now that I introduced you to MasterBrand Kemper Cabinets top finishes/colors, let's see if they line up with HOUZZ's 2021 Trends Study.
The report states that white continues to be the most popular color for kitchen cabinets, despite a 4% decline from last year. Medium wood tone cabinets come in a distant second. This statistics are right on par with MasterBrand's trends as well.
Houzz states, of those who upgraded their kitchen in 2020, 41% chose a different color for their island cabinets. Blue was the most popular choice taking the lead over Gray over the year prior. (Which might explain the popularity of the Maritime blue finish).
So there you have it. Two heavy hitters in the Kitchen and Bath Industry have reported similar trends over the past year. If you are getting ready to choose the color(s) of your new kitchen, or perhaps you are spec building to appeal to the masses, our advice would be to stick with white for now. But like Billy Baldwin says, "Be faithful to your own taste because nothing you really like is ever out of style."