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katherineator

Mishmash of whites in my new house. Not good.

5 years ago

Well, I was stupid and did not coordinate my trim color to the sample of the cabinets that I had. I was only thinking about what would look good with the wall color (Revere Pewter), so I chose BM simply white. Now I'm kicking myself. It's fine in this room:



But it's not fine in the master bath, which I wanted to be a normal white (painted SW Extra White)...I don't think Simply White goes very well with the tile.


And today we finally have cabinets, which we ordered in an off-white 'linen' color. Now we have the ceiling SW Extra White, the trim BM Simply White, and the cabinets in yet another white. It looks bad with that many white colors. Painting the cabinets is probably out of the question, so we may end up repainting the trim, but what color of white? I don't really think the cabinet color would be good as a trim color.



Comments (14)

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Wait until everything is done and pulled together. You may have to repaint the trim which is not that big deal. The kitchen looks fine to me on my monitor. I do see a yellow cast on the bathroom trim, but may become less noticeable when everything else comes into the space. Simply White is a very popular trim color. Another popular one is Chantilly Lace, which may read cooler (less yellow) and work in your bath. Revere Pewter is a warm gray, so that's why Simply White isn't a problem in that room.

  • 5 years ago

    You don't have all your elements in your rooms yet. White in different levels 'whiteness' and sheen are often startling as things begin to be put into place. It may be lovely when done and you have some bits of color in towels, bath mats, the hardware in your kitchen and even appliances. Don't despair, it's too soon to be saying mistake. If you hate it 6 months from now, then it was a mistake.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Right now you have a blank white and gray canvas... fill it in then live in it... I think you might be overthinking it. a bit.

  • 5 years ago

    I agree with everyone. You won't notice small differences when everything is finished. Whites will constantly change with lighting, shadows, and different times of the day. The subtle differences in the bath make it more interesting than one flat looking color everywhere.

  • PRO
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Cabinet color ( whites ) are most often repeated as trim color. If it bugs you, take a drawer face to a good paint store, have them MATCH it, test it on site in the store, and re paint the trim.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    IMO even if you had chosen the same color for all they would still look different on different surfaces even if one surface is more detailed than another light hits stuff at diefferent angles . My suggestion is make sure all your bulbs are LEDs in 4000K to keep the colors at least from having yellow added to the mix I beleive once all your furniture is in place it won’t be such an issue and painting trim is PITA so calm down and just wait.

  • 5 years ago

    Every white is a mix of all color, so it can look blue or yellow or pink or green next to other whites. Usually we don't see the color in a light white unless they are next to one another or next to something that has a complementary base tone. (Blue whites will look very blue in an orange beige room, yellow whites can look very yellow in a cool gray room, pink white like White Opulence can scream pink in a Revere Pewter (green gray beige) room).


    If you are going to have decently saturated colors between the various whites the contrast will likely hide the hue changes between the whites, but where they are next to one another or where you are using light pastel colors the difference will be more obvious.


    If you get a sample or color swatch of BM Chantilly Lace (very neutral white) and hold it up against each of your whites you will find that SW Extra White is actually a slightly blue white and Simply White is a slightly yellow white. Your cabinets look like a slightly dirtier, slightly more neutral white than the trim. Not as clean, brilliant or pure as Simply White, but not nearly as blue as the SW extra White.


    I think Jan is correct, I would try to get a color match to the cabinets, but first I would take a kitchen drawer into the bathroom and see if I like that white next to the tile, I think the slightly dirtier white without as much yellow will be better. Using that color on the walls and trim may be the perfect answer. The other option is to paint the walls using a very pastel gray, something with just enough depth to look like an intentional choice rather than a white mismatch.


    Before taking a piece of the cabinet to a store to be color matched I would call the company and see if they know the SW or BM equivalent to their linen white. If not, go to the paint store between 12 and 2 in the afternoon, have them match the color, paint 4" square swatch of the color, have them blow dry the sample and take the cabinet and color swatch outside and make sure it matches and doesn't look yellow or blue or pink next to the cabinet white. Whites have such a small color content that even the best machines can have tough time getting a perfect color match.



  • 5 years ago

    Oh, Jen. Every white is NOT a mix of all colour. White LIGHT is a mix of all colour (this is how a prism can break white light into a rainbow of colour). White paint is white paint.

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Patricia and Jan have it right IF it bothers you have it color-matched, BUT only bother with that after seeing the kitchen fully dressed and lived in. Then paint the trim if it's really that bad. I mean let me tell you after working with homeowners a lot, things you think are nail biters actually fad to the background the minute its lived in...

  • 5 years ago

    Brown Dog

    I am well aware of the argument that you present. Pigment and lack of pigment, light and lack of light. Is black the absence of color or all colors, is white the absence of color or all colors?


    The bottom line is that if you have a lack of pigment (color) you see white.

    You see white because light reflects off the surface. The wavelengths of light received by the retinal cones determine what color we perceive. If all three wavelengths are being reflected you see white. When no wavelengths are being reflected you see black.

    A true black pigment absorbs all of the light and reflects nothing back to the retinal cones.


    If you have a basement painted with pure white paint on the walls and have no windows and no lights turned on what color will you see? If you have a black room with highly intense bright white light what color will you see?


    We can argue absence of color or all color back and forth until the cows come home but the answer is truly "Who cares?" The OP picked a white that has a bit of a yellow hue and a white that has a bit of a blue hue and they aren't working well together.



  • 5 years ago

    Thanks for all of the input. I think I'll wait until we're in the house and then decide if I want to change the trim to a dirty white similar to the cabinets.



  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Painting just the ceilings Simply White might do the trick.

    Edit: I just clicked on the bathroom pic, which I hadn’t done when I made that comment, and I now see the contrast between the ceiling and the crown...and I actually think it looks good! There’s enough of a contrast to where it looks intentional and not like a goof up. But, again, if that’s not something you’re comfortable with, try painting the ceilings the trim color.