Well, I am going to be completely honest here. If the yellow you want is the same shade as the photoshopped is on my screen, I would say stick with the white. I think the yellow is doable but in a much more subdued creamy pale yellow.

As I said, I have *very* limited photoshop skills. You really can't take my examples as what the finished product would look like, but rather just use it as a guide to see where I'm going.

The yellow would have to be yellow enough to look actually yellow, and not like I tried to do cream but failed. (Again, I want to keep my white backsplash.)

I think I know of a few good color contenders that are more in line with what Dabunch said.

Inspiration pics below.

This one is the look I'm going for. I like how the white backsplash still works.

Oh, and I apologize if I seem dismissive of commentary. This is just one of those things that I've already made up my mind about! I wish I'd listened to my gut instincts a year ago and done it then. It's going to be a MUCH larger pain in the carcass now that we're living here.

Mostly this is a progress thread, meant to just show where I'm going. (Feel free to comment, but just know that my mind is made up!)

There was a thread in the RMS on HGTV that a woman took you step by step to completley painting and antiquing her cupboards. The result was gorgeous. Not sure if you are doing it yourself or looking for the "rubbed look" (totally painted but distressed in the corners, etc) - but thought I would let you know it was over there.

I wish I had a better picture to show you, but this is a pic of my mom's kitchen and you can see the cabinet color in the corner. She is a perfectionist when she paints furniture and cabinets. I believe her kitchen cabs have a faint glaze over them. She painted these ten years ago and they still look brand new. Your floor tiles are going to really look gorgeous with the yellow cabinets!

I think it's a great idea. It will compliment your sink, too.

Are you repainting the walls? I love how the dark trim looks against the yellow cabs in your second inspiration pick. I can see your walls painted in a similar tone. Maybe a reddish brown from your tile.

The monchromatic look is nice, as well.

While I admit I am not a huge fan of yellow, I think it will look great! Especially with your floors, you will really have that French Country vibe that all of you Tulsans love. Plus, yellow cabs seem to be trending up right now, if it matters (which, of course, it shouldn't).

I think it will be fabulous and look forward to seeing the finished result! Knowing you, you should be done in about 7-10 days, right? It would take me at least eight weeks.

Nicole

I have a friend who has a kitchen very similar to your inspiration pic #2, and it is incredible. I think your kitchen is already beautiful, and will look even more so when you are done.

Jana

I love your present kitchen, but understand you wanting it more creamy. Ours is almost identical to BM's Rich Cream. We discovered that when we put them on the wall next to the Rich Cream and realized they just kind of blended in. Ooops. So we then painted the wall green to give it some contrast and show off the cabinets. We really like the look now. My kitchen will be completely put together in the next 3 weeks. I'll post a photo then for you to see. Right now, with in shambles it's really nothing to admire.

The yellow, black and white will be beautiful.

Reno-

Are the inside of your cabinet doors painted white? Perhaps you could experiment with a glaze(inside out of the way) to see if that would change the shade to a more creamy yellowy color. It would be way more simple than undergoing a whole cabinet do over. Like you, I have painted my share of kitchen cabs and know what kind of work that is!!! Last time around I glazed mine and was so happy with the outcome. I don't have any pics you'd be interested in since I went from red cabinets to mahogany but if you look into glazes I think you may find what you are looking for.

N.E.

Reno, it's going to look wonderful. I love soft yellow in a kitchen, it feels like the sun is shining even when it's raining. You have a gorgeous kitchen there and leaving the back splash will pop the new color. I was just thinking while looking at the picture that you have the perfect opportunity to make it even more interesting by painting, either the island base or the area above the stove, a similar color to your beautiful tiles. Just a thought.

Neverending, I was thinking the same thing. I was just thinking if Reno had a maple glaze that has yellow-brown undertones or an oak even, to see if she could get that well-loved, well-worn, warm creamy look of a Tuscan kitchen without a lot of sanding and preparation.

Neverending and Patricia, I did try glazing the inside of cabinet. To get the look I'd be going for, it would take multiple glaze coats, and would still be not quite what I had in mind.

There are some areas of the older cabinetry that have chipped and really need to be sanded and repainted properly. I'm unsure if I want to hire this done, or tackle it myself. I'm seriously considering just hiring it out, though I'm sure I'll reconsider when I get quotes!

Your kitchen is as beautiful as the rest of your house, reno!

I have a lot of yellow and black, too. What colors are you considering?

The chandys are so elegant, great job.

I think your kitchen is beautiful as is, reno, but I, too, love pale yellow cabinets. In that Country French Decorating magazine, there's a yellow kitchen which is just beautiful--I think it might be the color you're shooting for, so if you can find a copy of it, take a quick look! :)

I love the idea! (then again, not sure if you remember any of my previous comments, but my style seems to parallel yours - although you are better at coming through and getting it done!)

What colors are you considering?

Even though I sound a bit "single, white, female", I have the same color cabinets and countertop and similar paint color. I had thought about doing exactly the same thing as you, so of course, I'd love to know color choices!

I have long been an admirer of what you did with your kitchen and I have to say, I LOVE the idea of a buttery yellow kitchen. What a happy yet restful place to be .... Your inspiration pictures look so inviting -- I am esp. fond of the first and third photos (for your kitchen).

Do you know bayareafrancy? She is currently in the process of painting her cabinets a muted yellow (I think she's using BM Barley ... but I cannot say for sure).

I'll be looking forward to seeing your in-progress and finished photos!

I agree about yellow looking beautiful and enhancing the flooring, but it depends on which yellow. To me, saltillo floors remind me of a kitchen that is rustic in nature, not fancy or "elegant". I would try and choose a yellow that is a shade of ochre, not a creamy, delicate yellow. The cabinets and flooring should complement each other, not make either look "out of place" (as I think your current white cabinets do. Please don't flame me). Case in point...friends of ours have a lovely home with an almost well done kitchen. The floors are an earthy cream colored tile that are a matte finish, very rustic looking, with a border of deep brown tiles. Their cabinets are very formal dark-stained cherry with braided accents. I love the flooring. I love the cabinets. Just not together.

From the little that I have seen on here, I would say that you have done remarkable renovation projects and that you definitely have great taste and visualization skills. Go for it.

If I could blend BM Barley and Philadelphia Cream, it would be perfect. (May just have to do that...)

Philadelphia Cream is pretty but a tad light, and Barley is gorgeous, but a tad too deep.

DH is having convulsions. He's refusing to even acknowledge that I'm serious! LOL!! It's his only protection, bless his heart. Just act like he doesn't hear my ideas, and then he's not responsible for them!

Mrsmarv, no flames from me. That's exactly why the white has been bugging me from day one. I personally love the marriage of rustic and elegant, so I love the style of my cabs and the chandeliers, etc. But the white just looks wrong with the floors. I reminded DH that I had suggested yellow from the beginning. (More of a reminder to me, really, to follow my gut next time!)

I'm going to Charleston tomorrow, or else I'd have the doors off and I'd be getting them ready!

Adding to what mrsmarv said, I have a lot of warm colors around the house and rust in my granite. I knew a lemon color wouldn't cut it but the ochre in the SW Blonde strip allowed me to have yellow that worked.

SW Ivoire works well with the warm hardwood I have in the hall/living and dining area and I did Blonde in the kitchen.
Ivoire might be worth looking at for your cabs. I know this from experience :( .

Make sure to test a gallon not the little quarts-to-go if you decide on any SW paint. The amounts of red/ochre that go into paler colors may not be enough for them to put in the quarts and you won't have a true representation.

Here is our yellow kitchen. I have to say I'm getting a little tired of it after a little more than a year, though I do have it in the rest of the downstairs too, so maybe it's just overkill. It's BM America's Heartland, which is the lightest on the Barley strip. It appears to be very yellow, but on the strip, it looks beige. Yellows are SO hard!

Please keep up posted on what you come up with!

SW Ivoire may not be yellow enough---I used it on our cabinets and it seems very creamy to me.

Wow, it sure is yellow on our walls. Did you just glaze with it?

The cabs are painted SW Ivoire and then glazed...I thought it would be a richer yellow too.

bungalow_house: Your kitchen looks like a photo from the Rejuvenation catalog. I love it. :)

Renofan: I'm going to Charleston tomorrow, or else I'd have the doors off and I'd be getting them ready!

Rhett said something similar to Scarlet about going to Charleston where there still remains culture and refinement. LOL. Are you telling us "frankly, my dears, I am going to paint them the color I want, they are mine." IF so, good for you. You will do a great job whether you do it yourself or have it done and I am sure you will end up with a good color.

That's funny...I've been looking and looking and looking...and finally decided to paint the cabinets in our rental yellow with a glaze to soften the finished look. I can't wait to see what you choose :)

renofan, I say go for it. Love your inspiration pic, especially top one for color. You know what you want. It's going to be beautiful. Isn't that the great thing about paint, you can always change it?

My dad is slowly building the cabs for my parents country house. Obviously my mom likes her colors a bit more bold (and I always tweak the color, white balance and exposure before posting) but you get the idea.

Reno, you're inspiration pics were in my own catch of inspiration pics . . . love them! Please keep us updated on your renovation process. I think your cabs will look wonderful in a pale yellow.
BTW, Scotmel mentioned that a woman on RMS posted complete detailed instructions for painting cabs. Does anyone have a link to those instructions???? Although I'm very happy with my kithen cabs, I'm anxious to paint my laundry room cabs as soon as I can get up the nerve . . . and get some good pointers! Do you worry that they'll easily chip?

I would love to see that link as well. I want to paint all of our cabs but want to know a bit more about what I'm getting into before I start.

If you go to the paint forum, Brushstrokes can give you that information which are basically what her instructions were. I recall seeing them but do not recall anything different from what Brushstrokes has always advised.

Reno, your kitchen has been one of my favorites on this site, but I also understand that feeling of it not be exactly the vision you had in mind...so I say go for it! Do you remember frenchkitty's kitchen? Hers was a diy and it turned out gorgeous. I am linking to it. She used Ivoire with a chocolate stain. her walls are blonde. It looks probably lighter on the monitor than IRL, but might be something to help envision your what you really want. HTH. Whatever you do, it will be gorgeous !

Here is a link that might be useful: frenchkitty's kitchen

Even if it turns out half as gorgeous as your current kitchen it would still be magazing cover worthy. You have great taste. Go with your gut.
And please show us pictures.

Yellow? Did someone say yellow kitchen??

Whee! It's the best! I'm on week 4 (or so) of painting just 1/2 of my kitchen yellow (barley, as rm said). Only half for now, because it is so exhausting and time consuming. I searched for the right yellow for about 6-7 months. It drove me nuts! The lighting in the room changes the color so much! I am wild about the barley color during the daytime. It is impossibly creamy without screaming 'yellow.' But at night, with the (incandescent) lights on, it starts to holler (not quite scream) "yellow, yellow, yellow!" I think I'll try cf lighting to see what that does.

Those creams can turn really yellow as soon as the sunshine hits them. I see tons of kitchens that are called yellow, but painted cream (e.g. phila cream and precious ivory are a lovely yellow when the sun hits them).

I"m also doing a yellow/black/white sort of thing. I have soapstone counters (which were blackish, but are now grayish), and will have subway tile with a black and white accent strip. Here is a pix (doors are just balanced in place, and don't have final coats on them yet). I think the barley needs 3 coats to look really rich, and the right paleness (it seems to get a bit paler as the coats go on).

I can't see bungalow_house's photo. Rats! I really want to see it, but it appears to be gone. Can the rest of you still see it?

:-)

francy

Here is a link that might be useful: My yellow inspiration

The barley color is beautiful. It goes great with your floors. Don't forget to post lost of photo's when your project is finished.

Sorry to dissent...I just can't see the yellow. Some whites look cold but yours doesn't b/c it isn't a huge expanse. But it's your vision, so follow your heart. If the yellow doesn't work you'll know it pretty fast, before all the cabs are painted.

I love your kitchen as is, but understand your desire to have it "your way." My DH did not understand why we had to renovate an already renovated house, lol. :) In your house, though, I would simply put in a floating hardwood floor over the saltillo tiles. They are lovely, but awfully rustic for the elegance of your kitchen. When I see the photos of Christopher Peacock or Smallbone kitchens, those terra cotta tiles are always French and flat, never Mexican. Changing the colour of your cabinets may still not result in detente between the other disparate elements.

When you picture what you want in your mind, nothing will ever quite measure up. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. But for the most part, go with your gut.

I happen to like the white cabs. As I am planning to paint mine black. lol

Reno, IMO the yellow cabs will be gorgeous and something different in your kitchen. Don't get me worng, I love the white, but don't feel you'll be making a mistake, and besides, your mind is made up already!

If you decide to do a DIY, take the doors off, and find an automobile paint company that will spray them for you, with no brush strokes or worry of small hairs, etc. Just something to think about.

I wonder what the cost would be to have an auto paint company do the job? What a good idea.