Gray is the hot color in the kitchen

It's the color of warm April rain and weathered Adirondack chairs, smooth river rocks and old photographs. And increasingly, it's the color of backsplashes, countertops, flooring and even cabinetry. The color gray is moody, malleable and oh-so-modish - and it's giving white a run for its money as the neutral of choice in kitchen decor.

"The white kitchens never go out of style - you see them everywhere - but gray is the new white," says Jennifer Mabley of Mabley Handler Interior Design in Water Mill.

White is a no-brainer: It's clean, bright, pretty and goes with everything. But white may be too simple to hold its own alongside an ever-growing selection of colors and materials available for kitchen surfaces.

That's where gray comes in: The chameleon-like neutral can be tinted with any shade in the room, or added sparingly to soften another hue, allowing colors ranging from the taupe family to steely blues. It can partner with white to lend some strength, complexity or continuity to a space - or in some cases, replace white entirely.

"Gray gives you dimension and depth, and helps to tie in the natural colors in the stone countertops," says Mabley. "Sometimes, when you have a white kitchen and granite, there's a disconnect. The gray helps tie in a natural color."

Here are five ways to redo your kitchen with gray.

1. Chic gray

Laurie Duke of Studio Guiliana in Cold Spring Harbor custom-mixed the gray color she used throughout the cabinetry and trim in this Belgian-influenced kitchen she designed for the 2010 Design Show House at the Winter Cottage in Caumsett State Historic Park in Lloyd Harbor. "I like to call it an uncolor," she says. "It can look gray in some light; in other light, taupe; in some light, a little more blue." Duke says gray's versatility and neutrality are great for showcasing bursts of color. "I used it with all whites and creams, and all of the glassware and china was silver, gold, jewel-toned and white with a nice neutral backdrop, so it popped nicely. . . . I used yellow for my pop of color, but you can use anything. It would have been nice with a red at Christmastime or Kelly green or blue."

2. Lively gray

The gray ceiling and walls coupled with the white, staggered-height upper cabinetry create depth and drama in this Stony Brook kitchen. "A light, clean and transitional style was a priority," says Mount Sinai designer David Williams, a member of the Long Island chapter of the Interior Design Society. "I have always believed gray and earth tones enhance the look of stainless steel, granite and soft hues in white Carrara marble, all of which were used in this project," says Williams. The countertops are steel-gray granite, and the floor is a very dark gray tile, he says. "The overall finished appearance was that of light, clean lines and an exhilarating feel of space."

3. Contemporary gray

Gray is no backdrop in the Southampton home of designer Elsa Soyars - it's an equal partner in a trifecta of kitchen neutrals that, when layered in this fashion, creates a surprisingly powerful palette. "A lot of people are using it in white kitchens, or wood. . . . To me, it's the mixture," she says. "My personal kitchen is a modern kitchen, with lacquered cabinetry with gray countertops, and I have white glass on the backsplash with a gray tint. The floor is gray. It's a little more contemporary." But it won't work in just any kitchen. "You can't always put gray in spaces, because in real life it's pretty strong," she says. "The way I relate to a kitchen, it has to remind me of warmth, yet you need some strength." To achieve both, Soyars says she likes to use grays in the taupe family. "It's a warm gray tone, but it's not pure gray. It's like an edible color, a yummy color."

4. Timeless gray

Gray's not trendy, but it is stylish - an important distinction, says Port Washington designer Keith Baltimore. In his design for this Sands Point kitchen, the color grounds the longish space that, if left white, might appear to go on forever. The gray built-ins create a sense of permanence, while the shade's adaptability allows for easy updating. "When you do a kitchen, you want to stay as classic as possible with the stuff that's built in and be trendy with the accessories, so your kitchen can evolve. . . . It was timeless in the '50s. It could have been built in the '50s, and it would still be in style today, had it not been ripped out in the '80s. You keep it long enough, it comes back in style."

5. Beachy gray

The frothy sea-gray that became a running theme through all the rooms in this Amagansett home began with the owners' enchantment with the ocean - and the kitchen cabinetry. "They're close to the beach, so they were looking for beach tones - the oysters, the sands, with touches of blue," says designer Jennifer Mabley. "The cabinetry is custom-colored a pearl gray. . . . We helped develop the finish. She was so in love with the cool beach tone that it's really reflected throughout the house, and the kitchen sort of launched that," she says. That ethereal, windswept tint and the lofty height of the ceiling, which the designers raised to open up the space, are anchored by the rockier grays and weighty feel of the countertop. Gray and white upholstered chairs help merge the deep with the delicate to create a seamless whole.