SW white paint for cabinets - advice needed

15 years ago

Hello everyone,

We're trying to pick a color for our cabinets and it's turning out to be a much harder decision than expected! We're definitely going with white for the perimeter cabinets and a dark stain for the island.

The issue is which variety of SW white?? For those of you who have used SW paint, which white did you go with (and do you have a photo on the finished kitchens blog)?

I'd like something close to true white, rather than cream/off-white, but don't really want it to be so white that it's blinding (there will be a lot of light in the kitchen since we'll have 5 windows). Also, any recommendations for type of finish? I prefer matte type finishes rather than shiny, but will the matte finish hold up as well in a kitchen and be as easy to clean? Thanks for any suggestions!

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Comments (8)

L H
15 years ago
I just had a cabinet painter here to give me a quote for painting all my cabinets. He uses either SW pro classic linen color (that's BM name for it but he says SW has it also) for most kitchens. I'm looking at Dover White in SW which is close - all my trim work is already that colore.

By the way, I would suggest finding someone experienced in cabinet painting and getting a quote. His estimate is $800 - $1000 which includes all prep work, 3 coats of cabinet coat and he'll be finished in 1 week. Totally worth it for me to avoid the frustration, have it done in one week and get a factory finish look. He showed me before's and afters and painting can be truly transforming. I'm in NH. I'd be happy to pass on his name to anyone in the area.
tigger
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi gemini16,

Thanks for your reply - since you already have Dover White for your trim, would you say it's more of a "true" white or closer to off-white? I'm afraid to go with paints called true white or extra white due to possibly looking too stark. But I definitely want more of a cool color rather than warm, so I may just go with one of those since I know it should really be white.

Sorry - should have been more specific - the cabinets will be completely new (kitchen is a new addition), and they are being custom built, however the guy we're using needs us to just pick the paint color. He apparently uses SW paints, so I was looking at all the whites and am now overwhelmed! Who knew picking a WHITE paint could be so difficult?!

I would agree that it would be worth the expense to hire someone to paint your cabinets. We painted the ones in our current kitchen, but there are very few of them (tiny kitchen), so it was fine for just making them look better temporarily. That was about 5 years ago and we finally decided to bite the bullet and add an addition with a new kitchen since that was the only way to gain more space. Good luck with your cabinets!
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acountryfarm
15 years ago
I have SW dover white on all trim and cabinetry. Here are a couple of pics.
tigger
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks for the photos a countryfarm! I like the Dover White - in the photos it looks nice and bright but not TOO white.

By the way, I love your baseboards! I'm trying to get our contractor to install some similar to those in the new addition, but hope they don't look out of place with the rest of the house. But since the rest are as plain as you can get, I suppose anything else can only be better :)
L H
15 years ago
ditto on the baseboards. I'm going to upgrade our baseboards too. Those are fabulous! I don't have as much architecture in our house so probably can't go that big but they are wonderful.

And yes Traci, I do think dover white is a nice balance between white and stark white. Good luck.
jcla
15 years ago
Acountry farm,
What I know the color is SW dover white, but what paint/finish is your trim? (e.g., eggshell, satin, .. .)

I love your house!
pluckymama
15 years ago
Check out this thread and scroll down to armomto3boys posting. She used SW Roman column.
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0122292820207.html?23120&pp_user=pluckymama&pp_ticket=ivWLI7P2tSYmw

Another thread to check out in the FKB where Deanna1949 painted her cabinets SW Creamy.
http://finishedkitchens.blogspot.com/2006/01/deanna1949s-kitchen.html
blessingx4
14 years ago
We are going to have our rebuilt cabinets painted SW Dover White this week. I am thinking about some shade of yellow for the walls. What color are the walls in your pictures? I really like them!