The crema marfil will be beautiful and calming. My designer friend used all crema marfil too and I believe she did cream colored walls. For my bathroom with creamy tan porcelain tile she suggested BM Whipple Blue -- there is a fleck of that shade in the recycled glass countertop EcoCosentino Riverbed. It's the only deep color in our home and I love it.

On a kitchen forum thread today I see a designer's blog recommended that has a lot about choosing paint colors....Maria Killam's Colour Me Happy. There are a lot of blog posts to skim about paint color and here is one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Choosing paint color for an undecorated room

My honest opinion about color in small spaces such as kitchens & bathrooms is this - I think the walls & floors need to be similar in color. Anytime you break color in a small space, it just makes the room look smaller. I would actually consider painting the room a color like SW Malted Milk & the ceiling Polite White. I'm also a big proponent of warm colors in a bathroom...cool colors aren't complimentary to skintone.

~Jeana

Thank you sue_b and InteriorStylist - I really appreciate the good feedback. I have a lot to think about.... My renovation starts next week - so I'll be sure to log back in with pictures of the final product. Thanks again!