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cara_simon

Cabinet Color Help!

Cara Simon
last year

We put in Ironsbridge cambria in our kitchen. Cabinets now look so yellow - decided to paint them. I have samples of BM white, simply white, white dove, decorators white, and chantilly lace. We get natural light. The house is painted BM stonington grey. The breakfast nook next to kitchen has a blue accent wall. Please help!
I’m scared to make the wrong decision as I already thought putting these countertops in would dull the current cabinets (old brown granite actually toned down the cabinets - I now made it so much worse).

Comments (21)

  • PRO
    Norwood Architects
    last year

    First thing - check your lighting. Different types of bulbs will affect the color of your cabinetry and other elements in your kitchen. I might suggest a bright white bulb between 4,000 to 5,000 Kelvin. If you can't find a bulb that will render your cabinetry in a better light then I would suggest that instead of just guessing which color paint would be best for your cabinets that you get several pieces of plywood and paint those as a test. After painting you can place the plywood against your cabinetry to see which color (simply white, dove white, etc.) looks best. Good luck!

  • Cara Simon
    Original Author
    last year

    We have new lighting that was just put in - that’s not going to change. It were these lights - which happens to be on neutral light setting - but can be adjusted.

  • kandrewspa
    last year

    Honestly, to me all of these samples look barely different from each other. Pictures online aren't going to do justice to subtle differences. I'm going to guess Simply White won't be the one because it is the warmest. Maybe White Dove? Move the samples around the room and look at them during different times of the day to see all the various lighting conditions. I don't see your floors in these pictures. You need to be looking at the samples against your floors as well.

  • herbflavor
    last year
    last modified: last year

    i would not embark on this. work on backsplash/hardware and countertop accesories and it'll be fine. taking one or two of the uppers down or locating the color and get painted door frames and insert glass. this is way too much cost in a cascading project effect from the original which is fine...nice counters. i like the warm tone actually with the new counters. see what you can do w a few uppers and get on to backsplash. relax a little bit about the space and get away from throwing gobs more money at it.

    Bethesda Penthouse · More Info


  • Cara Simon
    Original Author
    last year

    Here are 3 of the samples next to sample countertop and against our floors

  • Cara Simon
    Original Author
    last year

    And yes, they look so similar, I know

  • Cara Simon
    Original Author
    last year

    I am definitely painting the cabinets - taking any down will require fixing walls and replacing w/ glass requires new cabinets completely. Who knows what that would cost. Quotes to reface were $14-$20k. Cost to paint is $4k -$6k. As the cabinets are in descent shape - I’m going to paint for now. Thanks for the thought however - everything is so expensive these days

  • PRO
    Floored You: TileDesigners
    last year

    Start with adding the under cabinet lighting. That's where you need it the most. I think your 4-6K quotes for paint are low for a professional job. Double check their process and what materials they are using. I'd expect more like 8-10K for a professional cabinet finisher using pro cabinet grade products.

  • User
    last year

    I don’t see an issue with your refinishing quite. Sounds about right for my area. As I just went through this, my suggestion is to have your selected cabinet refinishing professional make a sample door in a few choices. As they should be using a cabinet recoating product like Milesi, even “color matching” will look different than your samples which are the latex paint by BM. I discovered the sample doors were much different than the Samplize samples. Changing your light isn’t really going to help. If your cabinets are warm and your countertops are cool, going with a cooler led will make the countertop even cooler even if it tones down the yellow some. I can tell you pretty certain that White Dove will likely look dingy with those countertops.

    Here is a great read about whites

    https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/the-8-best-benjamin-moore-white-paint-colours-undertones-and-more/

    Just remember your cabinet person should not be using regular paint so the finished product will look different than the samples from Benjamin Moore. You must get samples in their product.

  • User
    last year

    Decorator’s white, super white, maybe Chantilly lace are good starting points

  • Cara Simon
    Original Author
    last year

    After reading some more - I’m excluding decorators white (as w my light it’ll look a tad blue) and white dove (as it may look a tad yellow)

  • blueskysunnyday
    last year

    Maybe my monitor is off, but I like the warm and cool together in this case. Not sure I would change anything. I’m doing warm creamy cabinets and cooler marble in my new kitchen because I like the combo. I think once you add in accessories it will be fine. But, maybe you have been itching to do something to those cabinets for a while and this is the perfect excuse! If that is the case, go for it.

  • ffpalms
    last year

    I agree with herbflavor and blueskysunnyday. Once you’ve accessorized to marry the cool and warm tones, you may find you love it.



  • Cara Simon
    Original Author
    last year

    Thank you all - but I dislike the cabinets as they are extremely yellow and don’t go w the decor of the rest of my house which is primarily grays and blues. I will also update my floors in good time.

  • kimdee24
    last year
    last modified: last year

    Check out BM Vanilla Milkshake. It's got grey undertones. Or BM Cloud White.

  • mxk3 z5b_MI
    last year

    If the rest of your house is greys and blues, consider some shade of grey or blue for the cabinets. Will then look cohesive and intentional and you don't have to be concerned with another mis-match that might fail.

  • Missi (4b IA)
    last year

    I don't think it looks bad in that 2nd picture. I'd make sure to look at your cabinet paint choices w/them upright since that's how it will be in your room. The light will hit them different laying down than it does upright.

  • Cara Simon
    Original Author
    last year

    Of course - I have lost my mind as I’ve put them in 5 different spots different times of day and keep changing my mind 😂. The cabinets themselves are dated w the moldings - it was just too much to reface them all (and I’d want to add them to the ceiling). If I hadn’t pained my whole house grey already - I may have considered grey cabinets and a blue island or something, but I have bold furniture and light fixtures already so want to keep the kitchen clean looking

  • Cara Simon
    Original Author
    last year

    Please excuse the mess. #toddler

  • ffpalms
    last year

    Here’s a little color study depending on which countertop photo is most representative of the color in person. To my eye, the samples you’re working with appear too white.



  • Cara Simon
    Original Author
    last year

    Omg - thank you! That is super helpful. Going to order more paint samples for sure!

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