Paint Question!

3 years ago

My husband and I need to select paint colors for our new build. Our cabinets are closest to SW Creamy/Aged White. I know most people last the cabinets to the trim. However, I was hoping to do the walls/trim something lighter, though I’m concerned about my cabinets then looking yellow. We’ve considered SW Pure White or Alabaster. Alabaster seems to work the best. We run into problems upstairs because most of our secondary baths have brighter white tile/cabinetry. The Pure White seems to match batter. While I think the Alabaster could work, I’m concerned that it might look too creamy against these aspects of the house. We did consider doing Alabaster walls/trim on our first floor. We have a very open floor plan, so doing different trim in different rooms really wouldn’t be an option in this area. We considered doing pure white trim in secondary baths/beds upstairs, but put builder said this would be an extra charge. We would like to avoid this if possible. The other issue with that is our foyer leads directly into the hallway upstairs. I’m thinking it might look weird for the walls/trim in the hallway to Alabaster and then have walls/trim Pure White in the bedrooms, mainly because, what do I do about the door frame that separates these areas? I’ve thought about not going the monochromatic wall/trim route, specifically Pure White trim and and Alabaster walls downstairs with Pure white trim/walls upstairs. However, we have extensive molding in the foyer and I’m worried about the Pure White trim contrasting too much with the Alabaster trim…I like a more monochromatic look. Any suggestions??

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Comments (10)

cpartist
3 years ago
Pictures of what you're planning to paint? And try using paragraphs. It helps us to read what you write more easily
Olivia Lee
Original Author
3 years ago
See below for pictures of kitchen/cabinets and foyer, as well as whiter cabinets that I referenced in bathrooms upstairs.
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kandrewspa
3 years ago
IMO, Pure White is fine with Creamy, so I would use that throughout. However, if your cabinets aren't actually Creamy, but something close, maybe this won't work for you. It might help you to look at larger samples of the colors. Do you have a door sample of the cabinets? Have you bought a sample of Pure White and Alabaster from Samplize.com, or painted a sample board? Chips are just too small to make good decisions based on them.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
3 years ago
Your cabinets are yellow . Why did you choose that color if you did not want yellow ..
cpartist
3 years ago
Pick one trim color for all trim upstairs and downstairs. You can pick separate wall colors for downstairs and upstairs. Here for example is my kitchen. My trim is a different white than my cabinets.
PRO
beesneeds
3 years ago
Maybe paint the kitchen something not white. Remove one of the whites from your equation that is easy to remove. Pick a white that compliments your kitchen and bathrooms rather than trying to match both of those, and use that complimentary white for your trim through the house.
tracefloyd
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
SW Alabaster can look yellow/green in some light conditions. I would advise against it. We have it in our living room and it is nice, but on the window sill in direct afternoon sun-and the window open- it looks like pale Mountain Dew lol. I have heard that from other posters. I don't know why it gets so much hype. Here is one thread on it:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5680632/sherwin-williams-alabaster-paint-looks-very-yellow-green#n=38
tracefloyd
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I love the natural warm wood tones in your floors, stairs, island, and cabinets-yes they are a pale wood tone. I would keep as much of that as possible throughout the house. Is there any more unpainted trim in wood? Keep it and clear coat.

Look at the natural wood tone in the unfinished part of the island. Nice. Look at that stairwell and landing with the white skim-coat against the natural wood...gorgeous. Clear coat it. I would go with SW Pure White walls everywhere and natural wood tone trim everywhere. So fresh and contemporary. If you change your mind you can always DIY paint some trim white later...but paint in the same Pure White.

With an LRV of 84 Pure White is bright but not stark.

Here's a good review of SW Pure White vs SW Alabaster and others:

https://designertrapped.com/sherwin-williams-pure-white-review/
tracefloyd
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
OMG I just saw the wood beams. WOW. I am over the moon on those...clear-coat 'em. FOR SURE!!

Also the wood door trim in the kitchen against the white skimcoat, don't you think they're nice like that? And the cabs?

And I think the brighter white of the bath cabs will be nice against the Pure White.

If the builder wants to charge extra for the clear coat, get a brush and a ladder and DIY lol.
tracefloyd
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Some of this wood is stained yellow but the clear coat would be nicer.
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