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dawn_downs8

Wall Color Question

4 days ago
last modified: 3 days ago

Hello...I am so confused and need some help. In our new build 6 years ago, I chose kitchen cabinets that came pre painted. I had it color matched by SW and was told it was very close to Shoji White. My backsplash is very white subway tiles and my trim and board and battan half walls in adjoining room are SW Pure White. My floors are a dark mahogany color. Currently my kitchen walls are SW Grey Matters which lead into living area that has SW Passive on the walls. I am over the grey and need a color for the walls to lighten up the space. I don't get a lot of natural light since my house faces North and I have porches on the front and back of the house. Kitchen sits in the middle. I am trying to go for a more coastal farmhouse feel so I am trying to lighten it up. I have ordered samplize colors in SW Origami White, BM White Dove, Alabaster, Snowbound, and White Duck. I just can't decide what will look the best. Looking for some professional advice.




Thank you for all the comments. I do like a light blue but my problem with that is my kitchen, living room, breakfast room, and dining room all connect. Right now, I have SW Grey Matters in kitchen/ breakfast nook and dining room but in the rooms opening into them, I have SW Passive. Light blue will clash and I don‘t want my whole main living area to be blue. I was thinking I’d like to paint my island blue as I am trying to minimize all the grey.


Comments (15)

  • 4 days ago
    last modified: 4 days ago

    reacting to your Dilemma as if it were mine.

    Don't introduce another color, white or otherwise.

    I would paint the walls SW Pure White in an egg shell finish.

    I agree that the gray is bringing everything down. You'd be surprised at how a different sheen in the same color shows differently. Not to mention the wall location and relation to the room.

    Everything in the space contributes to the finished look and feel.

    Your so called Cabinet Shoji may not actually be SW Shoji, so stay away from that. Let your accessories be the color and texture in the room.



    Dawn Downs thanked Lyn Nielson
  • 4 days ago

    What is coastal farmhouse? maybe pick either farm house or coastal. Are you on the shoreline? An airy almost white light blue might give a brighter coastal feel.

  • PRO
    4 days ago

    No more whites they are hard to mix even 2 sometimes not too many. There are 1000s of colors pick one . Maybe soft green to start.

  • 4 days ago

    Since you want a coastal look, I would paint the walls, a very light colored aqua. One that is not grayed down. There is too many boring white walls already. Its time, to use a real color.

  • PRO
    4 days ago

    I don't hink the paint color is bringing down the space. It is not that dark of gray! I would also not go white - too many whites will be a mistake as well - somehting will always look off. IMO no paint color will "brighten your space" . If you feel like it is that dark, you need to add lighting and have it on during the day unfortunately.

    Personally, I would do a nice soft green.

    Dawn Downs thanked Debbi Washburn
  • 4 days ago
    last modified: 4 days ago

    It's a pretty space as it is!

    What does coastal mean to you? For me, I think soft blue or aqua, and maybe some natural materials like rattan bar stools. I'd consider painting the walls in a blue or bluish green color, and maybe swapping out the lighting or stools. (Or keep the chandy over the table, but paint the black finish either white, pale blue, or in a silver/pewter(?) tone to match the pendants. That light is a pretty shape but I'm not sure the black finish reads "coastal." It might read "modern farmhouse" to some but personally I find that trend rather over saturated.)

    First I'd look for inspiration pictures that speak to you and get some ideas from those.

    Dawn Downs thanked chicagoans
  • 4 days ago
    last modified: 4 days ago

    I love white, but you have enough of it, and don't need the headache of trying to add yet another that will somehow magically work with everything else. Let me join the chorus in favor of pale "water/sky" colors. How about a Haint Blue?


    You could go with almost any color, and more saturation, if you think you might like that. "Coastal" doesn't preclude yellow or coral, for example.


    I'm not a pro, and you asked for professional advice. But I seem to be in line with the pros, so I'm letting my comment stand. You have a lovely home. I hope you get what you need to freshen it to your satisfaction.

    Dawn Downs thanked amystoller
  • 4 days ago

    I like the nice soft green that @Debbi Washburn suggested - I am also a huge fan of BM Navajo White (we had white finished cabs in recent a lake build and did Nav White on all the walls, love the combo - light and bright but still warm)

    Dawn Downs thanked la_la Girl
  • 4 days ago

    Another white is probably not going to be a good answer.


    It seems like the Shoji White match does have the slight pink undertone that I would expect from Shoji White (Compare the cabinets to the pure white trim).


    Pure white is a cleaner, brighter white, that works beautifully with Shoji White.


    I am thinking that you could use a warm neutral that works with both the Shoji White and the pure White and your floors.


    I would test a few of the lighter taupe colors that are not too violet. Thinking Shitake, Taupe of the Morning, Popular Gray, BM Edgecomb Gray. I would need to see the cabinet color with the paint samples to pick out the right one, but that should get you started.




    Or test some blue green grays like SW Comfort Gray



    Dawn Downs thanked Jennifer Hogan
  • 3 days ago

    here is B Moore muslin wall paint shade in a Miami kitchen.. if you hesitate w color [some people get tired of it or become fearful ]....you can do a beautiful saturated neutral. find pictures of what you like.


    Evergrene Villa · More Info


    Dawn Downs thanked herbflavor
  • 2 days ago

    The homeowner below wanted a coastal look for her home. Newly renovated kitchen:




    Kitchen walls are SW Comfort Gray

    Island + back of peninsula is SW Oyster Bay

    Family room walls are SW Sea Salt




    SW Sea Salt on the family room walls looks more minty green in the first photo than it does in the second photo posted above (although, it looks more minty than it does in my house).


    I know that @Patricia Colwell Consulting has used SW Sea Salt at a reduced intensity (not sure if it was cut 25% or 50%) as a whole home wall color several times (based upon comments I've read over the past few years).


    Sea Salt is definitely a color that will depend upon the amount of light/what type of exposure (n/s/e/w).


    Here is Sea Salt (top) + some of the other colors on it's paint strip:




    The next two photos are how Sea Salt looks on walls in my home (I have it in a bathroom + a mudroom):


    Below is how Sea Salt looks in my home:



    Sea Salt flashes blue in some homes - the pantry door below is painted Sea Salt:



    Agreeable Gray (below) is used for a living room in a home with colors that work with Sea Salt:


    Many people use SW Pure White or Extra White for trim (or on walls in other rooms) when using Sea Salt in their home (I used Pure White).

  • PRO
    2 days ago
    last modified: 2 days ago

    I live on Cape Cod. My last home was an 1830 half-Cape. It was a farmhouse (we found petrified vegetables in the root cellar. I don't do beachy stuff. I have antique Asian pieces; family antiques, all upholstered pieces are not antiques. I used B.M. Palladian Blue. House was dark, dark beams, original dark pine floors. The only white was wood work. Obviously, it was not an open lay out like your house, but I would stick with Palladian for all areas, then add in other tones, Stratton Blue, Hollingsworth Green, even Chinese Red (my Chinese wedding cabinet). Oil paintings, needlepoint rug....that type of look. That is farmhouse coastal.

    My home was featured in a magazine, Cape and Islands Home. If I can find it, I'll share some photos with you.

  • PRO
    yesterday

    if it faces north, you're getting a cooler, bluer light. using anything w/blue/green undertones will make it more so. Youre pictures clearly give off a very cool hue.


    I would NOT add another white to the mix.

    I like the idea of something warmer.


    this one is BM Sea Salt. very pretty. bring in some sisal or jute rugs, some warm wood accents







  • yesterday

    I love SW Sea Salt. I have it on my bedroom ceiling. Very calming. If you go with either SW or BM Sea Salt, get samples of each as they are different colors with the same name.