Teal is definitely not for the timid! This rich color makes a statement wherever you use it, but it’s an especially bold choice on kitchen cabinets.
Here we will look at my personal favorite teal paint colors, and see them on real life cabinets.
Sherwin Williams Cascades
Cascades is one of the darkest teal colors on this list. Despite it’s apparent lack of brightness, this color is actually super saturated. In good light it is transformed into a teal with loads of depth.
Because it is so dark, Cascades can sometimes look nearly black, but the actual tone of the color doesn’t change a whole lot. This one is a predictable teal winner!
I recommend using Cascades on only lower cabinets or on an island. This color will suck a lot of light out of the room if used on floor to ceiling cabinets. Open shelves or white uppers are your friend!
Benjamin Moore Aegean Teal
Aegean Teal was a once-upon-a-time color of the year from Benjamin Moore! This color tends to be a lot more pleasantly teal in real life than the muted color on the swatch.
Lisa from LGDesign (@lgdesign13) used Aegean Teal on the island of this kitchen with Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White on the perimeter cabinets.
There Aegean Teal looks very soft and muted, but paired with the brighter white of Chantilly Lace, the color pops more:
Yes some of the difference is down to lighting (warm artificial vs natural daylight) but a crisp white will make Aegean Teal look brighter.
Regardless of lighting and color pairings, Aegean Teal is the lightest and most subtle teal on this list.
Sherwin Williams Blue Peacock
Despite the name, Sherwin Williams Blue Peacock is actually the greenest-leaning teal on this list!
This sumptuous emerald teal is especially impactful when paired with warm metallics like gold and brass.
In this kitchen it looks especially green forward:
It’s not just green though, this teal tends to be more of a shape-shifter. Here it is looking quite blue on kitchen cabinets in an RV rehab:
The nice thing about Blue Peacock, is that it even though it can be a little unpredictable, it is always beautiful.
Benjamin Moore Black Forest Green
Black Forest Green is the actual darkest teal on this list, and just a little bit deeper than Cascades:
I love this one because it actually can look black in some lighting, so the real luscious color of it is a nice surprise.
I find it to be much more “deep teal” than “forest green.”
Here is the lightest that this color ever looks on cabinets:
If you decide to use this color on your kitchen cabinets I would recommend making sure that there is a lot of white space somewhere.
Tracy’s team at @bespokeredesign did a whole wall of Black Forest Green cabinets in this kitchen remodel, but they also balanced it with a largely open wall somewhere else.
Here is this dark teal in one more kitchen, just to give you a full picture:
You can see that this kitchen has natural light to spare, so Black Forest Green is a welcome anchor.
Sherwin Williams Grays Harbor
I will be the first to admit that Grays Harbor might be a touch too blue to qualify as teal, but I wanted to include it anyway.
This gray blue leans warm and can sometimes look teal. Here it is on some cabinets where it does just that:
For someone who likes blue, charcoal, and teal, but doesn’t really like green, Grays Harbor is a safe bet!
In the name of full disclosure, here is the true blue of Grays Harbor:
In this kitchen by @Spray_wizards_painting the floors are a very warm orange tone, so that also lends to the Grays Harbor cabinets reading more blue.
Here is a full room of Grays Harbor with warm toned wood where it still looks pretty teal to me:
And then a cabinet where it looks pretty blue again:
Enough about this one! If you are torn between a deep blue and teal, choose Grays Harbor for the best of both!
Sherwin Williams Rocky River
If you can be really attracted to a color…I am to Rocky River. This Sherwin Williams teal hits all the right notes!
It’s the perfect blend of green and blue, with a touch of mellowing gray. On the swatch it looks more green than it does in real life.
Rocky River is from the same color strip that brings us favorites such as Window Pane and Jasper.
The team at @oakstorydesign really knocked it out of the park with this kitchen that is equal parts boho and modern:
I love that they aren’t afraid of color!
As you can see, Rocky River is one of the lighter shades on this list, so you can get away with using it on all of your cabinets if you don’t like a two-toned look.
Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor
In another kitchen by the team at Oak Story, we find the tantalizing teal of Benjamin Moore Dark Harbor:
Not to do with the color, but how fun is that floor transition? Genius!
If anything, Dark Harbor is the tealest teal that ever tealed. This color is a stereotypical “teal” color all day every day.
It can sometimes look a little darker than it does in these photos, but still solidly teal.
This color is quite saturated, so you won’t get the subtlety of a teal with a little gray in it. I wish I had more to say about this one, its a beautiful color but it doesn’t need much explaining!
Sherwin Williams Deep Sea Dive
Sherwin Williams Deep Sea Dive is actually pretty similar to Dark Harbor. It’s a little lighter and a touch more muted.
I really like the depth of this color! It looks beautiful on these cabinets with the white, cream, and natural wood tones.
Open shelves and a wall of light tile was a nice choice to keep Deep Sea Dive from overwhelming the room.
Sherwin Williams Intense Teal
Our final teal color is SW Intense Teal:
No surprise that with “intense” in the name, this teal is the brightest on the list.
I did cheat a little and I’m actually showing you a laundry room, but if it’s bigger than my kitchen, that’s fine…right?
It looks to me like this is an overcast day and lower light, but the photo has been brightened some. I would expect intense teal to look a bit bolder and brighter than it does here.
Here is an LRV chart of all of these teal colors from light to dark:
Here is another look at every teal color that we covered:
Thank you so much for reading until the end! That really helps my blog.
None of these quite doing it? Here are some other posts that you might like: