The Unexpected Kitchen Color That’s Going to Be Huge This Year

We get it: The thought of going all mint makes you worry you’ll feel like you’re living inside an Easter egg (even if it’s Fabergé). Try a paler, bluer tone, like these agave lower cabinets by Semihandmade. It’s a subtle way to make the space feel a little more styled and pulled together, like a no-makeup makeup look for your kitchen.

With their long, narrow layout, galley kitchens aren’t exactly known for being bright and inviting. That’s where this cheery shade makes all the difference. It’s livelier than plain white or pale gray—which can feel sterile in a small space like this, especially if you’ve got stainless-steel appliances—and it’s a cool complement to dark wood floors.

When faced with low ceilings (we’re talking barely over eight feet), homeowners Maggie and Adam employed a few ingenious solutions: They removed the double doors to their kitchen to open up the floor plan, installed a section of open shelves to draw the eye up and added one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it detail: mint lower cabinets. The white upper cabinets appear to recede into the walls, but the color on the bottom creates the illusion of more space.