Kemper · Paint

Kemper Regatta Kitchen Cabinets

Offered in the Kemper Echo, Choice and Emerge series

Take a navy and keep going until it is almost black — that is where Regatta sits. There is real blue in it, but you need light to find it. In most kitchens it behaves as a dark neutral with a cool edge, which is precisely why homeowners choose it over a straight black.

Brand: Kemper
Finish: Paint
Availability: Made to order

Color & Look

Very dark and very saturated at the same time. The blue in this one is undiluted, with no gray softening it, but the value is low enough that the color barely announces itself indoors. What you get is a near-black with a cold blue heart. The sample is a smooth painted surface, uniform across the chip, with no grain and no variation in depth anywhere on it.

Light is the whole story here. In direct south or west sun the blue comes out and the color looks like a deep, inky navy. In north light or on a gray day it closes up and reads black with a blue tint. Under warm artificial light at night it is simply black. If you want to see the blue regularly the kitchen needs windows; if you want a near-black cabinet that is not dead flat, this is exactly that.

People compare it with black, and reasonably so, since from across a room the two are hard to separate. Beside Kemper’s Black, Regatta is visibly blue and a shade less absolute. Beside Naval it looks like the same color with the lights turned down. The practical difference is what it does to everything else: the blue in Regatta warms up gold hardware and cools down white tile more than a true black does.

Construction & Quality

Kemper has been making cabinetry in America since 1926 and is part of the MasterBrand family. Offered in the Kemper Echo, Choice and Emerge series.

Emerge is Kemper’s most personalized series: all-plywood construction, custom sizing, and a choice of full-overlay, inset or beaded-inset doors, with specialty finishes, stain and glaze options and multiple edge profiles.

Kemper backs its cabinetry with a limited lifetime warranty; coverage and terms are set by Kemper.

Where It Works

In most kitchens this is an accent color. An island in Regatta with a white perimeter and a light counter is the way it gets used most often, and it is a good use — the island anchors the room without looking like a slab of black. Base cabinets in Regatta with light uppers works as well. A whole kitchen in it needs a bright room, a light floor and a light counter to stay comfortable.

It is at its best in smaller, deliberate spaces. A bar, a butler’s pantry, a powder room vanity or a study with built-in cabinetry all take a near-black well, and the blue in it keeps them from feeling severe. In a laundry or mudroom it hides marks but shows dust along the top edges. Modern and transitional rooms suit it most, though it is not out of place in a traditional kitchen with white trim.

Pairing Ideas

Countertops

Contrast is what makes this color work, so a bright white top is the first thing to look at. Vicostone Nuvolato, Vicostone Michelangelo and Vicostone Sollight are near-solid bright whites that keep the line crisp. Cambria Windermere and Cambria Linwood, both cream quartz, soften the contrast if a bright white feels too stark against the cabinets.

Countertops we carry →

Backsplash

A white tile with a little life in it does more than a plain one against a near-black cabinet. MSI Arabescato Venato White or MSI Statuario Bari Porcelain Full both bring a veined white to the wall. For a warmer room, MSI Antique White in cream subway tile takes the edge off the contrast. MSI Veneto White is the simplest option of the four.

Backsplash tile →

Hardware

Anything with warmth in it will show. The Berenson 128mm Champagne Bar Pull and the Berenson Swagger 96mm Modern Brushed Gold Pull both read strongly against this depth. Brushed nickel draws a cooler, cleaner line. The one to think twice about is matte black — on Regatta it vanishes, which is fine if you want the fronts to look uninterrupted.

Pulls & knobs →

Floors

A light floor does a lot of work here. Pale to mid white oak, in engineered or solid hardwood, gives the room a base that keeps the cabinets from sinking into it. Light porcelain or ceramic tile does the same in a mudroom or laundry. Dark floors under Regatta need strong daylight and a bright counter to work at all.

Flooring →

Frequently Asked Questions

Both, and which one you see depends on the light. In sun it is plainly a deep inky blue. On a gray afternoon, or under warm bulbs at night, it reads black. If you want a color that stays clearly blue in all conditions, Naval is the better fit. If you want a black that is not quite black, this is the one.

Black is deeper and neutral; it takes light in and gives very little back. Regatta has a strong blue base under the darkness, so it picks up cool daylight and shifts through the day. In a room with warm brass and cream, Black looks more graphic and Regatta looks softer. In a cool modern room the two sit close together.

It can, in the right room. You need windows, a light countertop and a light floor, and we would usually add open shelving or a bright backsplash to break up the mass. Where it goes wrong is a small north-facing kitchen with dark flooring, because the room loses its edges. Splitting it with light upper cabinets solves most of those cases.

See the color sample in our showroom, 238 E Geneva Rd, Wheaton →