Context is key. Remember there is more to the area than walls, ceilings and cabinets.

I have drenched a room with SW Alabaster.

It depends on the natural light how it looks to you. If you need more light, painting the ceiling white will help bounce natural light around the room. I like whites on whites, its a personal choice. What do you have for countertops and backsplash? flooring?

Yes, we did Alabaster on all surfaces in our living room including the ceiling and hallway and hallway built-ins and it is gorgeous. It reads white except on the windowsill in full afternoon sun you can see the yellowish undertone. Nice soft white.

The color is bright enough to bounce light off the ceiling IMO, although it is not a dark room.

We have no white but I imagine it would look very good, cream and white is a nice combo and it will bring out the colors by contrast.

I can say the the Alabaster ceiling gives a sense of openness, expansiveness with no color change to stop the eye. Which is good in our smaller space.

Thanks everyone! Here are the floors we will be installing. We are working with 8 ft ceilings and everything feels very dark now but adding lots of recessed lights, a few skylights/sun tunnels should help!

Counters will be a neutral quartz with some beige/grey undertones- more of a marble look

Thanks Trace- i kept reading how extra white and alabaster were the 2 whites that work best with each other which is why he landed on Alabaster, but I know Extra White will make it look more yellow than it actually is. We cant change the extra white cabinents as well, unfortunately

From what I can tell, I think they work well together but I feel like you never really know 100% until everything is all painted :)

White and off white have been a pretty classic color scheme for a long time.

Thank you Lori. In our situation, would you recommend painting the ceiling extra white or also Alabaster to match walls/trim? We have extra white in our current home and it has always looked like a true white to me. Our preference would be Alabaster everywhere but I am just afraid it may make the kitchen ceiling look overly yellow in comparison to a more true white on the cabinets.

Thanks again!

In this case, probably your best bet is to paint the ceilings Extra White. Paint all the crown molding Extra white.

Agree, I would do the ceilings in Extra White.

We just did our new great room in SW Alabaster but use SW Pure White for ceiling and trim.

What is your room’s exposure? Alabaster is great in north facing rooms.

In our situation, would you recommend painting the ceiling extra white or also Alabaster to match walls/trim?

This is a go-to color stack for SW Alabaster. Delicate White and Extra White are very close in terms of appearance but Delicate White has slightly different DNA. A smidge closer to the Yellow hue family and a smidge more Chroma (more yellowness). It's the closer to yellow literally, and the more yellowness in that extra bump of Chroma that keeps it bright and fresh looking on the ceiling, something Extra White doesn't have.

I never put Extra White on the ceiling because it doesn't "flip" well. The ceiling is not the 5th wall; it's a horizontal plane above your head and that affects color appearance. Technically called flop angle. Colors like Delicate White with a slight edge of yellowness show up looking cleaner (vs grayed) on the flop because they have that edge of Chroma to bust thru the dimness that comes with flipping color to the ceiling. The Hue Family and Chroma numbers tell that story.

Thanks @Lori A. Sawaya! Any concerns with delicate white next to extra white cabinents or alabaster walls? That woild be introducing a 3rd color.

Nope. It's on the ceiling.

Just to confirm, Delicate White would be your first choice or else Alabaster on ceiling, trim and walls? @Lori A. Sawaya

Delicate White on the Ceiling because of the Extra White cabinets.

Extra White trim to align with the cabinets and it will go with a wide range of wall colors after you're done with Alabaster walls.

If you paint the trim Alabaster, what are you gonna do when you want to change the wall color?

a) find a new color that coordinates well with Alabaster Trim

b) repaint the trim because it turns out it's difficult to find a new walls colors that works with Alabaster trim.

Color drenching is a strategy for right now. e.g. walls, trim, ceiling in Alabaster. Semi drenched would be Alabaster walls and trim, Delicate White on ceiling with the intent of bridging the Chroma gap between your Extra White cabinets and Alabaster walls/trim.

Classic color strategies are long term. e.g. Extra White trim and cabinets. Alabaster walls. Delicate White Ceiling.

@Lori A. Sawaya is there a comparable ceiling color in SW? We have a stockpile from a sale :)

No. There isn’t another color of white in any brand with the same attributes as delicate white. Both Sherwin and Benjamin Moore make good dupes of it.. doesn’t have to come from PPG

@eld6161, could you share a few photos? We get east/west facing light but our living room has a sky light and soon 2 sun tunnels. Construction craziness shown below:

Craig, we are still under construction. I will see what I can capture when I head over there.

In my home it skews with a slight taupe undertone for the most but in parts of the day there is a yellow undertone.

Best to paint large swatches on your walls and see how it changes.

I highly recommend SW Pure White. It really is a soft clean white.

While I like the idea of color drenching, I personally feel with the very light shades, you need a contrast with the trim so you can see the difference.

I did do 3 of my bedrooms in all SW Pure White using the semi for the trim.

Just a coincidence but my kitchen cabinets turned out to be SW Pure White when we contacted the company.

I would use the Extra White for the trim and ceiling. But, maybe a different white for the walls if Alabaster doesn’t work.

Going down the rabbit hole…..

Have you considered SW Greek Villa?

It is still a popular color for a reason.

SW Greek Villa