Dream Spaces: 12 Beautiful White Kitchens

Crisp, clean white kitchens with gleaming marble counters and backsplashes are everywhere you look these days. It’s easy to see why: White makes a space look bigger and airier, and enhances other design elements. Wood floors look richer against white, pendant lights stand out as sculptural elements, and stainless steel appliances sparkle. Adding marble to the mix introduces a luxurious touch.

That said, there are drawbacks to this kind of simple elegance. A white kitchen demands upkeep; all that white isn’t going to stay clean without maintenance. And marble is definitely not for everyone. It’s soft and porous, so it scratches and stains easily, and acidic foods can cause surface etching. Marble aficionados learn to love the patina (or live with the patina) that time brings. If you can’t abide the inevitable signs of wear and tear, consider alternative materials, such as quartz.

But if you’re ready to take on the challenge, or just want to do a little daydreaming, check out the collection assembled here. You won’t be disappointed.

Tour dozens of white Kitchens of the Week

Big and beautiful, this kitchen has it all, from original wide-plank oak floors to expanses of beautifully designed and fitted cabinetry. Note the netted-glass Sorenson Lanterns and the French café stools around the island, with its columned legs and Carrara marble top. The textural backsplash is done in a skinny pencil tile fashioned from Bianco Carrara marble.


This petite, light-filled brownstone kitchen in Boston almost has a feminine feel, with its silvery Bertazzoni range hood and its filmy pendant drum shades. White Calacatta marble wraps around the island and is used on the counters, while Calacatta subway tiles adorn the backsplash. Floor-to-ceiling windows flood the space with sunlight.

Carrara vs. Calacatta: What’s the Difference?


Gleaming white Carrara marble counters take center stage here. But this kitchen is as functional as it is glamorous. There are seven seats at the peninsula and the island, so the cook never has to feel left out of the party. Other nice touches: the discreet wine fridge, the built-in paper towel holder next to the sink, the old-fashioned station clock, and bell-jar pendant lights. The maple cabinets are by Wood-Mode and are painted Nordic White.


Clean and sleek, this modern kitchen — with its stunning waterfall marble island — is in a Manhattan loft. Four iconic white Norman Chernier stools provide seating, and the lighting comes from delicate glass pendants. A dark floor adds contrast, allowing each of the elements to pop.


The marble island, fashioned out of Calacatta Oro Extra, makes a splash here — especially when paired with the heavy-metal industrial-style stools. Two pendants (from Arteriors) with striking carved wooden shades provide light and pizzazz.


Benjamin Moore’s White Dove covers the cabinets and beadboard walls of this Cape Cod kitchen. The Carrara-topped table/island is paired with slipcovered Pottery Barn stools and two delicate mercury glass honeycomb pendant lights. The handsome floors are oak with a dark Jacobean stain.


Who needs custom cabinetry? These glossy white beauties are from Ikea (Akurum Abstrakt) and are accented with angular dark bronze pulls from Rocky Mountain Hardware. The showstopping herringbone marble backsplash is fashioned out of 2- by 8-inch Calacatta Michelangelo tiles. HanStone quartz (Aurora Snow) covers the countertops.

The lesson here? It’s OK to splurge in some areas and save in others.


White works beautifully with gray, as evidenced by the silvery backsplash in this Minnesota kitchen (made from Encore 3- by 6-inch silver ceramic tiles). The custom cabinetry — including the island, with its artfully turned legs — is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Simply White. Honed Calacatta marble covers the counters and island top, while the warm wood floors (by Stang-Lund) are walnut with a hard-wax-oil finish.


Marble rules in this modern kitchen — Calacatta Oro runs along the counters and up the backsplash; the island is Thassos. The “whitewashed” floor (stained with Rubio Monocoat) picks up the gray striations in the stone.

There’s a quartet of three-legged swivel stools (available from Arteriors) at the island, and oversize pendants from Visual Comfort.


There are two kinds of marble in this Vancouver kitchen: 3- by 6-inch Cararra subway tiles on the backsplash (accented with gray grout) and a more pristine Statuario on the counters and that beautiful island. The cabinets are painted in Benjamin Moore’s Simply White.


This warm and welcoming kitchen, with its gleaming wood floors (long-plank fir finished with Minwax’s Puritan Pine), features an island covered in Calacatta gold marble. (Note the storage cabinets tucked behind the bar stools.) Other nice touches: the two large Hudson Valley Haverhill brushed-nickel pendants, classic Philippe Starck Emeco brushed-aluminum bar stools and contrasting gray countertops of Pietra del Cardoso sandstone.


In this pretty New Hampshire farmhouse kitchen, a blue wall adds interest, as do the silver lamps on the counter (the cords are transparent). Although they’re unorthodox, the lamps work with the white furniture-like cabinetry, Carrara marble counter and antique nickel pulls. As one wise Houzzer has pointed out, “Cabinetry is just furniture — put a lamp on it if you want.” I second that sentiment!

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