Take a door to the paint shop and have it matched in a semi gloss

Thanks. I didn't know they could color match this way without me buying umpteen sample jars of white paint.

I would have guessed it was high gloss since it's so shiny. Thanks !

petlover, paint store is NOT a big box store. It would be a private store like a BM paint. The old-timers at stores like that base their success on personal service and are very valuable to many communities, but there are not many out there anymore.

Also, your cabinets may be high gloss, but you asked about your front door and baseboard and semigloss is what I recommend. Others may recommend Gloss, but I find it too high maintenance for my tastes. You will have to make your own decisions.

Ironically, when I went to try to figure out how to remove a cabinet door I had to move my iPhone. As luck would have it, the top of my phone is a bright white (like an appliance color white) and matches the color of my cabinets and base board. Tomorrow I'll go to the local BM with my iPhone and I think my problem will be solved getting a color match semi-gloss paint.

Hey, if I were you, I’d take out a door as you were advised. Don’t use the phone. It is quite unlikely to be the same color, when there are upwards of thousands of white shades. And, you were looking at that match in the lighting of your kitchen at a specific time of day, which may very well confound matters.

As long as you are color matching, do it right, at very little trouble. I do prefer semigloss for molding, as well.

I agree with Beverly, you want a paint store, the kind with an older man who's worked in the paint business for decades. And please don't bring in your phone to match this, bring in a door or drawer. My suggestion for a quality paint is Ben Moore. The best.

When you go to small paint stores (like BM or Sherwin Williams) there is usually one employee who really knows their product. Can you take a drawer or door front with you? They could help you with sheen choices.

It's a great Kitchen! A colorful valance ABOVE the window would add nice color & texture (I say above so it won't block daylight or view)

Thank you. This sterile photo was taken the day they finished the kitchen in 2012. It doesn't look like this now...more lived in with a corner banquette, woven woods on all the windows, framed art on the walls etc. This was intended to just show the cabinets.

my guess is that they used the untinted base color of whatever Valspar was selling. that should be a quick and easy test -- you could always take it back to be tinted if I'm wrong.

agree with semigloss for woodwork.

Yep I agree with acm. Its probably the Valspar pure white base. The cabs may be high-gloss, but you probably what semi for the trim.

Ellsworth-Hallett,

Given enough time, I can mix just about any color. The problem with mixing by hand is that it is like baking a cake by memory, you know what is in it and about how much, but not exactly. This is critical when it comes time to reproduce it.

Back in the days when we routinely custom mixed, we made darn sure we mixed enough so that we did not run out! We had a lot of left over paint. Paint, then as now, is less expensive than is labor.

Now a days, the color matching machines are really quite good. When they miss, it is usually by getting the ratio a little off. Often they have to be tweaked. When this happens, it is usually a question of why did it get a little too green or red, etc., and then analyzing which tint is causing the problem, then negating it.

The hardest thing for me in adapting to the machines is that I had no idea how much 1/384th of an ounce is. By hand, you just put in what felt right, just like baking a cake. Even now, I make an educated guess and then watch it being dispensed to evaluate if it seems like enough. Grandma would have been proud of me! :)

The basic white pigment in quality white paints is titanium dioxide. You can't get whiter than that. If you see calcium carbonate ( chalk ), talc, and such on the label, it is not a really top notch paint. In some paints, such as oils, the resin itself adds it's own shade. This might be able to be compensated for.

Waynette,

Home Depot will be initiating such a data storage system in a few weeks. It always has had the option to store your data if you requested it, however, in the near future, all sales will be recorded by your phone number.

I have no problems with BM products other then there high prices. During my 4 decades of contracting, BM was my primary paint company. BM has high prices, as does SW, but at least BM gets high ratings from the national rating companies, something that SW does not always.

I always consul those contemplating having work done, to ask the contractor to state exactly which paint he intends to use. DO NOT simply accept SW or BM, but ask specifically what label he intends to use. All the major manufacturers make really good paint, but they also make that infamous "contractor grade" stuff that so many new homes get stuck with. THEN CALL THE PAINT STORE and ask where on the quality scale his paint stands. If he is not using top of the line paint, find another painter. He is looking out for his bottom line, not the quality of your paint job!

AT least as far as residential work goes, the price of the paint is only a few percentage points of the total bill. You are paying for labor. Hopefully, honest, quality labor.

During my contracting years, I was selling a complete service. The cost of the paint and getting it to your house was part of my service and included in the bid.. Often, a BM color fan would be left with the customer for them to choose colors in advance, or at least get an idea of what they might want to use.

Finally, be wary of any painter who asks for money up front. If he doesn't have good credit standing down at the paint store, he is living close to the edge. NEVER make final payment until you are completely satisfied.

My local BM store is fantastic. And those they usually use a machine to match colors, the day I went in there with my "omg I finally mixed the color I want" sample, their computers were down. So they matched it by eye. Perfectly. Nothing but good things to say about the store, the staff, and the paint.