It used to be that kitchen cabinets came in two options: natural wood or all white. Well, those days of dull, boring kitchen cabinets are a thing of the past. Today’s best kitchen cabinet makers offer the same high-quality, durable wood species homeowners have come to expect, but with a colorful twist: finishes in every shade of the rainbow…and then some!

Just ask the Wall Street Journal, which recently published an article titled “Crayola Kitchens: Cabinets and Appliances Offer More Ways to Make a Strong Personal Statement.” There, instead of naming the most popular kitchen cabinet shade this season, the author claimed that there is none. In fact, today’s color trend is in the eye of the individual kitchen owner.

The article elaborated on this prediction by stating, “This year, more manufacturers are offering dozens and in some cases hundreds of vibrant color finishes, (thus) creating some eye-catching kitchen conversation pieces. The message to consumers is: Make a bold individual statement with color.”

He went on to note that “According to Becky Spak, a senior designer at Sherwin-Williams and director of the International Color Marketing Group, which selects the palettes manufacturers use to coordinate products throughout the home, people are tired of ‘dirty’ colors and (are) open to bringing into their homes the dazzling hues now seen in cars and on the fashion runway.”

Fire red, Nordic blue, and pumpkin were some of the specific colors cited, but even if you’re not the loud statement-making type, you’ll find plenty to be happy about when it comes to the current crop of kitchen cabinet color options.

For example, kitchen cabinet polishes add shine and shine to the wood surface with just a subtle hint of color. Available in delicious options like bisque, butter rum, cashmere, vanilla, pewter, porcelain, patina, amber, chicory, malt, ginger, wedge blue, and garnet, they’re visually appealing without being too overwhelming.

However, for those who want an all-over color treatment, kitchen cabinet manufacturers don’t disappoint. Comprehensive paint palettes including tempting hues like Praline, Caramel, Sunset, Cabernet, Autumn Blush, Pepper and Onyx also add vibrant pizzazz to today’s kitchen cabinets.

The Wall Street Journal guarantees that such Crayola creativity in the kitchen will cost the homeowner, in some cases dearly. By way of example, he mentions SieMatic. In 2006, this German kitchen cabinet manufacturer “began offering 1,950 color options for its lacquered flat-panel kitchen cabinet systems, for an additional $5,000.”

However, cost-conscious homeowners are beginning to see increasingly affordable kitchen cabinet manufacturers offering a colorful fiesta of kitchen cabinet finishes. In fact, some of the most renowned online kitchen cabinet retailers include a wide range of color finishes in their current crop of kitchen cabinet options.

Move over, Crayola! Leave the crayons to the kids and let the adults color imaginatively in the kitchen. In this case, writing on the walls, or in the cupboards, as the case may be, is not only allowed, but recommended!