you can do a brighter white for the trim, even w/White Dove cabs. it's done quite a bit. have you tried BM 'White' ? it's prob one step brighter than white dove. pretty neutral. Simply White is another one. Why don't you try one of those next to the cabs and see how you like it? if you don't, do the white dove at half. Oxford is a cooler white,,more blue to it, so I don't think that's a good choice. Look at Cloud White too.

Thanks Beth. No I haven't tried BM White. I was nervous about introducing more whites and getting a mish mash. I really didn't like the Oxford with it. But I'm thinking of just doing a plain regular ceiling flat white.
I thought lightening the White Dove would be 'safe' since it would be in the same family but just gives me a bit of contrast. Maybe I'll get a sample of the BM White as well.

Alternately, would you just carry the White Dove through the entire house? Not sure if I'm just over thinking things. But I do prefer a whiter white upstairs... even though I love the kitchen in White Dove... sigh.

sometimes altering the formula means altering the color. you don't just get a lighter version, you get a diff color. personally, I use the white straight out of the can for all my ceilings and trim work. no tint added at all. you can try that. if you don't like it, take it back to them and have them tint it for you. But Simply White and White are the best neutral whites without going bright white.

as for upstairs, it's removed enough and not connected so that you could do a brighter tone, or warmer one, if you wanted. yes, you're overthinking that one a bit!

Much appreciated Beth I'll do that tomorrow :) Out of curiosity what do you think of the colour in the pic I attached? I know it's tough to tell via picture but you can see the contrast in the White Dove and 50% below it....

I like the 50%,,,with your lighting though, white dove takes on a pinkish hue. maybe it's just the pic. normally it has more of a 'dingy' tone.

Thank you Beth! I really appreciate your thoughts. This room is west facing and gets sun all afternoon. In the other east facing rooms it's actually quite white. But since this room is in the kitchen its my biggest concern. I think I'll be pairing it with the repose grey.

that's a very good match. grab the Simply White or White. I think you'll like it.

Have you tried painting the trim above the cabs w/the 50%? can you do that and take a pic?

I don't actually have the cabinets yet. They're coming in 2 weeks. But painters start next week for the house ( we did a 3 month entire house reno and we're in crunch time). I've just emailed my cabinet guy and asked if I can get a panel of the Dove White just for this purpose..... So I'll put the BM "white" up tomorrow and see what that does.... then see how quickly I can get the actual cabinet.

will there be attached crown to the cabinets that continue on to the dining or living area? or is the crown self contained to the cabinets only? if the latter, do the same white dove.

I know others have had the same issue w/the crown going over the cabinets, but then continuing on to the entire room. they didn't want creamy crown and trim in the living area. regardless, I'd do bright white for the ceiling and baseboards. Door and window casing too. Crown is up to you if it's all connected. I'd try the whiter white first and see how it looks.

upstairs, free game. do what you like.

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Thanks Beth. No there is no crown in the kitchen that continue to the living dining. There is a distinct separation between those rooms. The crown is only on the kitchen cabinets.

In another room on the same floor (east facing room), we do have a built in wall to wall , floor to ceiling library/book case going in. This will also be in white dove. This piece will intersect with the existing crown in that room.

Thank you Laurie! I do like your white dove cabinets ! Beautiful. I'll have to look into the lighting. I know they said they're putting in LED potlights.... I wonder what colour they are planning.

Beth, I went to the house and put up 'regular' plain out of the can white. I also did Chantilly Lace because the Chantilly is gorgeous on up upper level floor and bathrooms.

I'm now wondering if I can just carry the Chantilly lace through the whole house.... even into the kitchen where I have the white dove cabinets.

chantilly leans more on the cool, blue/green spectrum, but if you think it looks good w/what you have, then go for it. I still say just get the white right out of the can, untinted. you said you used it. did you have 'untinted' white at your house? how do you think it looks?

And what's the white on the very bottom right, next to Chantilly?

If you still think there is too much of a diff, use the WD at 50%. they look good next to each other.

Honestly, white dove generally reads true white so I would not worry about the cream issue. I typically advise clients to use the same white throughout the home- trim, ceilings everything (different finishes). I'm not a fan of the ceiling white that tends to go blue w other whites. It's a personal preference to some extent. I love the seamless flow of a signature white in the home :)

she has white dove and 3 other whites on her wall (did you see the pic?) white dove is obviously warmer, creamier than the others.

The swatch is a little deceiving here. Laurie Wise's cabinets above are a good guide.

Thank you Beth and Color Zen. I really appreciate your thoughts. Beth to answer your question, the bottom colour was the 'plain out of the can'. It's amazing how different they present in each room. This is a pic of them in an East facing room at the opposite end of the house.

Oxford bottom right
White Dove 50% bottom left

I really like the idea of 1 trim colour for the whole house but the chantilly really does work best with the bathrooms upstairs and one of the kids bedrooms (lavender)

The cabinets are BM 0C-17 white dove.

Lisa..my last house had cabinets that were one color..a gorgeous vintage, white color and the trim was a different color..SW Creamy. It just complicated things especially since the crown for the kitchen was different than the house crown both in style and color. My carpenters made it work however. It looked pretty good.

this new house has BM White Dove on all of the House trim and the cabinetry. I am using the same crown on the cabinets as the rest of the house. It looks good and has made everything so much simpler. Even the ceilings are White Dove.

The White Dove is a nice, neutral color. Not too creamy imo, but not too white.