HGTV's Egypt Sherrod Shares A Great Way To Make White Kitchen Cabinets Pop

White kitchen cabinets will never go out of style. Whether they're a traditional Shaker, a sleek and modern contemporary flat panel, or even a tropical louvered design, white cabinets are a classic choice that establishes clean lines and effortlessly establishes a pristine appearance in your kitchen. Even as cabinet structure and architectural choices wax and wane in popularity, white is always there, and while other colors are on a rotating cycle of what's on trend for the new year, white has never been out. 

There are ways to make the white of your cabinets stand out more brightly, however, creating a stylistic pop with their absence of color. HGTV star Egypt Sherrod has a great way to do this, and it boils down to building a dark quartz countertop and backsplash so that the white stands out in stark contrast. It's a relatively basic graphic design concept that instinctively draws the eye and forces you to take more notice of the cabinets.

In Season 2, Episode 6 of HGTV's "Married to Real Estate," Sherrod and her husband, Mike Jackson, were tasked with helping a husband and wife duo renovate his childhood home to use as a short-term rental property. To make the white Shaker cabinets pop, Egypt surrounds the cabinetry with a dark gray quartz countertop and pulls it all the way up the backsplash as well, achieving the necessary contrast to make her design visually arresting.

In the Season 2 episode of "Married to Real Estate" in which Egypt Sherrod is renovating her client's childhood home, the HGTV star ultimately decides to completely overhaul the kitchen. It's typically the central hub of any home, so this makes a lot of sense. Even if her client's renters won't be entertaining, a lot of activity still happens in and around the kitchen, so it's imperative that the space be functional as well as inviting. Sherrod picks Shaker cabinets because of their longstanding status as homeowner favorites. 

They're simple yet stylish and incredibly versatile, not just in the kitchen but all over the house. White is also a classically beautiful, timeless choice. She then pairs these with a dark charcoal gray quartz countertop and backsplash. Quartz has been recognized as one of the most durable kitchen countertops and is a favorite among designers. This deep, sooty slate color, whose cool undertones pair nicely with the bright white cabinets, makes for a stunning contrast that draws the eye upward across the room, taking everything in.

Some people might think that any white cabinets and any dark quartz are going to have the same impact, but this is simply not the case. Colors come in tons of different shades but sometimes those variations are so subtle they only register in our subconscious. One of the most significant of these is in the undertone, which can be either cool or warm. These evoke different moods and feelings, and they can drastically change the personality of your room. 

For example, while red is associated with passion, the shade itself can have undertones of either orange or blue. Red with orange undertones evokes ambition and energy, whereas red with blue undertones gives off more of a sensual vibe. Somewhat surprisingly, white is the same way. Even though it's a neutral, clean color, white can have undertones of blue (cool) or beige (warm), so the gray quartz that you pick to offset it should have similar undertones. 

Thus, if your cabinets are Extra White by Sherman Williams, consider Caesarstone's quartz countertop in Black Tempal as a nice contrast to them. On the other hand, if you've chosen Pure White, then Coastal Grey might be the better quartz countertop to offset your cabinetry. The trick is to pick a hue that is completely the opposite of the lightness of your cabinets but has an undertone to match them at the same time. This way, visually, it will really stand out.