My sample board.

Will he only use SW because he has an account with them? What if you supplied the paint? That's what I do with my painter. That way you can get the exact color you want.

LiL S that is a great idea thank you! Especially since it's just for the trim it wouldn't cost me too much money.

I always suggest you go for the paint company of the colour you absolutely love. It's the only way to guarantee the perfect colour. And they all have a high end paint grade that will last for years!

Will the contractor give you a paint credit/refund?

I agree w/ the others who have recommended buying your own paint. Good luck!

He might do a refund or credit. I'm not to the painting stage quite yet I'm just a little bit ahead of myself. We are completely renovating are kitchen and 2 bathrooms. All 3 rooms were gutted and now they are doing dry wall where needed and moving plumbing and electric. My cabinets are 2 to 3 weeks out. My whole house will get repainted. My contractor doesn't have the paint colors yet, but I selected them ahead so I knew what colors to pick for flooring, cabinets and countertops. I went with a factory white for most of the kitchen because it saved quite a bit of money.

AC LB SW Alabaster leans more yellow while BM White Dove leans more gray. They are close but I'm wanting the gray white of White Dove.

I have SW Alabaster on all trim and cabinets with Modern Gray walls. There is absolutely no yellow in the Alabaster.

I tried alabaster for the cabinets and the sample looked yellow. This wasn't one I painted but a sample from Samplize. I did buy a small can of primer. Before we give our contractor our paint colors, we will prime and paint a sample section of the walls. I'll test alabaster then.

Are you using SW Proclassic for trim? I worked at SW and I used BM White Dove at my own house, so yes I do know what formula is used for BM White Dove. Computer requests the Highly Reflective Base, which not all stores have in stock, but can order.

If staff overrides the Highly Reflective Base, and uses can white, the extra white which is regular stock , you will achieve a color close to BM White Dove, and that's what I used. NO it is not straight Extra White...TINT is put in BOTH to achieve the match.

HU-1611,,,,Alabaster absolutely is tinted w/yellow. It may not look yellow in your kitchen because of your lighting. but here it is on the color wheel and it's smack dab in the middle of yellow.

And yes, it's almost identical to White Dove. their numbers are only slightly different.

here is Alabaster on the cabs. if you look to the right with bright natural light, it looks white. over to the left where there isn't good lighting, it leans very creamy

so, if you have a darker kitchen and use warmer bulbs, Alabaster or White Dove will look creamy.

If you have a ton of natural light and/ or use cool bulbs (4000K or higher) it will look whiter.

Alexandra, you know you don't have to tint the base, right? just use the white right out of the can. either BM or SW. I do it all the time. it's a nice bright white.

@Alexandra, I too purchased my own BM White Dove (for all my trim, baseboards, doors, casings), and told the painter what paint to put where. Of all things, they started going to town on my ceilings in a color that was meant for the walls (they mixed up the lids). Mark the base of your cans with sharpies of what can goes where, and watch the painters closely before they begin. They inhale a lot of fumes and mistakes are made. ;-) I also wanted to be responsible to get the correct finishes...(satin, flat, high gloss). Plus, when you buy it, whatever is leftover is YOURS. Generally the painters take BM leftover paint with them....since it's $$$.

I'd have him rebid you the job sans paint. Is he really going to give you his cost for the paint? Probably not.

I love my BM White Dove! I'd use it again in a heartbeat.....

The reason he will only use SW is because SW gives a much bigger discount to contractors than BM does. (Ask me how I know.) So it has nothing to do with the quality of the paint and everything to do with his profit.

So while the retail price of both BM and SW may be something like $40, with BM he's only getting something like a 15% discount but with SW he's getting something like a 40% discount.

I actually talked with my contractor about White Dove while we were discussing flooring at the carpet store. He did explain about not getting a contractor's discount at BM. He says he's never had a paint color SW couldn't match. I tried to explain about the colorants SW and BM use. I printed some of the comments in other Houzz threads about matching White Dove at SW. I'll print your comment mstender as well.

Before:

In Progress:

Got a long ways to go before I can post after pictures.

The new cabinets will be taller than the old ones. When I look at the pictures, I regret taking the arch down but when you see the space in person it looks better. It was a small price to pay for more space. The cabinets will be a factory white that looked pretty close to SW Snowbound. The new island cabinets will be Dorian Gray and the walls will most likely be Agreeable Gray.