The cabinets and the wood work are the same paint color? I always paint my wood work my cabinet color. Then I concentrate on a beautiful complimentary wall color. I honestly think that is is more than fine,

The walls are Revere Pewter. The ceilings and the interior doors and trim/baseboards are White Dove. The kitchen cabinets and the living room built-ins (open concept room) were supposed to also be White Dove, but those are a creamy/ivory color and show a sharp contrast where the top of the cabinets/built-ins meet the ceiling or trim.

I personally would want the color I asked for but I also understand the time delay maybe when it is all done it will work but I would let the cabinet guy and the builder know that if you are not happy after the granite is in you will not be paying until it is fixed.

I normally would insist it be fixed to what I asked, but based on the info from the previous/older post I linked I honestly think they dont know how to do it right. It is a small town cabinet shop and there have already been so many other issues getting this house finished we are basic to the point where we just want the builder out of there. In this case I dont think its the builder's fault its just another problem. If it were easy as having a painter come in and repaint it then I'd say lets fix this, but since it involves this special cabinet paint material, the cabinet guy apparently cant get a true match even if he tried, and the timeline is already behind schedule. .. I just need to learn to let it go I think. But it is very hard when you invest so much time, thought and money into something only to be disappointed in the end.

Can you tell us what the "special cabinet paint material" is?

Did you provide the painter with a sample -- not a paint chip, but material painted in white dove? Did the painter provide a sample for your approval?

White dove is a common color, and I'm certain my local Sherwin Williams could accurately mix it in a variety of products, but I would still verify a match with other products being used on the job.

A pigmented (white dove in your case) cabinet grade finish is the finish. You don't apply one thing, then top coat with something else that "changes/ mellows the finish".

Have you checked how the granite and other finishes will work with this color?

I vote for trying to get this fixed, for you, and for a potential buyer when you decide to sell.

Sounds like the cabinets were "factory" finished. If so, it would have been dependent on someone to know that you wanted them to match exactly regardless of the color name you picked for trim. Then it would have been someone's job to tell you that the White Dove that you picked would not necessarily match the cabinets exactly. That comes from communication! That said, I really don't think it will be a big deal when you are finally in your home. The same color will not look the same on different materials, its just one of those things.

Hi Momma Bear 03
You do not like it now and there is no point in trying to convince you otherwise. You are the customer, in my world you get what you want -unless it is impossible to procure, illegal or immoral. Smile... You still have two options: 1) Go to your paint shop and have one of the on staff painters with an excellent eye for colour come out and give you a quote and have them match the cabinetry colour. Present the quote to your builder and hire them to choose and paint it after you have ownership. 2) Or you can have the builder remove the trim and order some from the cabinet manufacturer in the same finish as the cabinets. You are not going to be happy until you have what you expected. Best wishes on this dilemma!

Thanks for your help so far, All. The builder and cabinet maker made a BIG DEAL about not using regular paint on the cabinets. It had to be some other "cabinet paint/enamel" material. No I was not given a sample ahead of time. I had made it VERY CLEAR that I wanted it all to be White Dove. The White Dove had already been painted in the house and our builder was the only contact between us and the cabinet guy. (Obviously we have learned A LOT OF LESSONS in this process! Thank goodness this is not our forever home. I'm already completely stressed out!)

At this point we just need in there and I just need to try to get over it. I am really hoping I will learn to love the contrast or "layered whites" as time goes by.

I do wonder though, if I end up just not being able to like it after living there a while, what can be done after the fact? Can regular paint go over top of the "factory finish" (if that's what it is) OR would the cabs have to somehow come out and refinished in the cabinet shop? I know there is NO WAY I will ever do the latter.

Thanks for your insight!

Anything can be painted with the right primer going on first and if the initial paint surface has good adhesion. It will probably void any warranties on your cabinets but you may be past caring about that. The doors and drawer fronts would need to be removed to be painted. The cabinet carcass would be painted in place.

My sister just built a house and was initially disappointed in her cabinetry too. She used a wood type that stains unevenly. - alder wood. She liked the sample, but when it was all up on the cabinets - it was not what she had in mind. The builder worked on evening out the tone but when I saw it a few weeks before moving day, I could understand my sister's disappointment. However, I saw it a week ago and it is beautiful now. The wall paint color really made the wood look warm and my sisters decor looks great.

I do love the white kitchens I see on the internet - and one of my friends has one, but I hesitate to go that direction myself because I like a bit more warmth. The slightly cream color with the right wall paint and accents may feel warmer in the end. I'd love to see a photo.

I can thoroughly empathize on the troubles you're going through, and the stressful toll it takes on one. But on the whole, I'm with Laurie Brasnett's advice and detailed info (from your previous thread), with which I'd become quite familiarized when renovating our own home. You certainly *should* have been, or still be, provided a (door-sized) colour sample to check out right IN the exact room(s) the cabinetry is to be installed, prior to "signing off" on your choice. If there *was* no official "sign-off," were it me, I'd use that as leverage.

Yet I also truly understand that feeling of just wanting to be DONE, with both the process and the builder, who doesn't sound to me like he's very professional or organized about what are normally considered necessary steps in the cabinetry finishing process. But from my own perspective, after having suffered through over 4 YEARS(!!) of reno nightmares to finally get our own re-do vision completed to our satisfaction (for the most part), I'd hold my ground for what I'd envisioned. After all, it's YOUR money and YOUR desires, for YOUR home. And if those contracted can't communicate as well as they should, you may need to suffer a bit more delay by asking more questions and insisting on enough clear answers until you're satisfied with the end result. If you're a "uniformity" gal, as I am too, my hunch is that this colour difference could bother you, and if so, now is the best time to tackle it, delays notwithstanding. Trying to fix such a major component later may well end up creating even MORE stress, trouble and additional expense for you. After all, you'd still have to have *someone* in your home to try and refinish everything (then disrupting your entire kitchen/daily living), there would be a lot of dust from sanding the existing finish first, and if you can't find anyone willing and capable enough to do a "smaller" job like this, you'd then be forced into removing cabinetry and likely damaging other already-in-place components as well. You may need to think deeply about which scenario could be worse for your mental health and/or pocketbook.

After finally finding (only in the final stages) a Degree-d Interior Designer whose colour sense is exemplary, and who has assisted me in matching or complimenting this or that, I couldn't be happier that at least we'd gotten the colours of our major components right in the first place (I have a pretty keen eye for that myself, thank goodness). We had also ended up hiring a very good Kitchen Designer's company on our own for our cabinetry throughout -- yes, we got samples to approve first, but STAINED & lacquered maple veneer, not painted -- so might a white stain be another option for you at this stage, instead of paint?

Another possible option IF your builder's cabinet finishing place isn't up to snuff, might be to find another company who does finishing for professionals, and see if the builder would consider jobbing out to THEM instead, even if that costs you more.

All that said, and despite knowing about proper factory finishes being "best," I've heard (but can't attest to for certain) that Benjamin Moore's "Advance" paint is supposed to be excellent and quite hardy for refinishing cabinetry or furniture. However, it might not give you the type of "feel" or "look" you're after, compared to professional spray techniques and lacquers; ours are done to a typical 15% sheen. I've used it only on the legs of one $$$ chair which, similarly to your dilemma, were off-white/creamy, not the "purer" white I needed to match everything else in the grand scheme of our design. It was not that easy to work with, but since they are only short legs, no one but me will ever really notice the slight streaking that remained after 2-3 coats. Keep in mind, I'm not "in the biz" of painting, either.

Momma bear 03: Regarding your questions: The paint is formulated to go into their sprayers. The paint is not the same as what you purchase retail but it can be matched depending on who manufactures the paint (eg AKZO Nobel not the name of the paint store). It is not really worth it to repaint the cabinets just the trim in the house either by a painter or at the factory. It will never be as good a finish even with the right primers etc. Warranty is voided on any modified cabinets on site: with everything you have gone through, consider maintaining that warranty. About the layering of whites; this is fine where the colours do not meet. FYI, The creamy whites are on the rise again in popularity as they look better than the gray/blue whites with natural stone countertops and back splashes. Since it is not a forever home, you can enjoy having been there, done that.

I certainly know how you feel about homebuilding - I'm building one now. For me it's "never again." You will be a lot wiser next time...if there is a next time!

I guess I was lucky. I picked the cabinet color from their stock colors (they have about 40 stock colors) and then picked the wall paint. It's much easier to change wall paint than it is to change the color of the cabinetry.

I have learned to pick my battles. I have had many stressful sleepless nights...it's unreal. But you cant stress over everything.

One thing I will say to people who may be contemplating major refurbishment or a new build - Revere Pewter is not the answer to every paint color question. There is a reason SW and BM have hundreds of shades of grey and greige in their professional color decks. Each application will be different and Revere Pewter and White Dove will take on a different look in each application.

For what its worth, my advice would be to save yourself for any other battles that might be coming down the pike. If you need to change something, change the wall color or your woodwork color somewhere down the road. I would not paint over brand new factory finished cabinetry with wall paint.

Best of luck, and I hope things get better from here on out! It sounds like you need some good luck!

Sorry, mamabear, I was careless reading your post. I didn't know the woodwork was already white dove.

Anyway, I just searched through houzz pix and there are a several where the cabs are off white and the trim white.

If you were to put a name on the color of the cabinets, what would it be?

Have you chosen your granite? Have you chosen a wall color?

Could you tie in the granite with the cabinets or paint the wall the same as the cabinets, only in flat finish?

There was an article long time ago in House Beautiful and the ceiling was painted the same cream color as the cabinets. I remember the picture being very lovely.
These cabs are probably darker than yours, but the idea is the same.

This is nice...cabs and ceiling are identified as cloud white and the walls are white dove.

@jn3344, I had to chuckle in sympathy AND agreement on the "never again"philosophy! Though ours was a reno, not a new build, I've heard of and seen much of the same PTSD-inducing issues on each, including homes costing nearly a million or more, and even with supposedly "top" builders. That wisdom gained in hindsight often comes at a higher cost than it was worth, but you can't really discern that well until you've been able to relax again. It's so hard to decide at times which battles one should pursue, and which ones to let lie, when you're still all caught up in the midst of it all. I think it largely depends on how much inner strength and energy reserves one has left at any given point.

You make another good point, too, about paint colours taking on different looks/tones depending on where they are in a room, and what they're on. For example, I gathered about 10 different shades of BM whites just for those silly chair legs, whittled them down to 3 over a couple of days, then rechecked each one left, taped onto different spots on the legs & at different times of the day and evening, before finally settling on the best one overall....NOT the one I'd first suspected! For wall colours, I bought small "sample" pots, painted large poster boards w/each, then taped them to various walls for days, to observe how they looked throughout the day and night. Designers are supposed to be (or used to be?) trained in how light "temperature" affects paint colours, but I've found that most don't even know what I'm talking about when I've asked if they consider that for walls. So taking some time for such selections is invaluable, especially if one has no help with it.

I've also learned that matching, in particular, greys, whites, and certain other colours can be a massive exercise in frustration, depending on what product you're searching for! Paint's far easier than fabrics, though.

In the end, Momma bear 03, you might find that your home journey will be a mix of "really pleased!" vs. "it'll do," but if you can overall get a high enough % of what delights you, you'll still come out ahead. It may also be that with some good design help later, you can tie the different shades of white into each other through furnishings and accessorizing. Best of luck and try to stay strong!