Simply White has a creamy undertone. I like the grays....like Edgecomb Gray and Winterwood (both taupe/gray). The greener grays like Old Prairie are so pretty too with the creamy white. I think it might be good to see if you have a dominant secondary color that you love....to go with your black/white theme. Do you love a jewel tone as a splash of color (red, yellow, lime green), or do you prefer something more understated like a gray, soft sage or soft blue as an accent? Once you look at a few pictures and see the secondary colors you are attracted to, I think you can start narrowing your decision. In addition, if the floorplan is open, what colors are in the adjacent room--is your couch brown or red? That can tell you something too. I love reading the postings by this woman. She has so many good points and interesting pics that illustrate her colour theories. http://colourmehappyblog.blogspot.com/ Here is a link that might be useful: Colour

I love simply white but in a bright interior it looks very white. I really really love ivory white for walls if you want something softer, but I’m not sure if that’s what youre going for

That was a great thread to read. Thanks for sharing it. I totally agree with your thinking, damiarain. I’ve taken my paint sample to the local quartz shop and have found one good possibility (LG Viatera Porcelain white) and am waiting to receive a larger sample from them to consider it further... I think it is a smidge brighter than our paint sample for cabinets, so I need to consider whether that will be an issue. The fact that it is on a horizontal plane and that it has a higher sheen than the cabinet paint makes exact-matching tricky, and I’m not sure that exact-matching is even what we should be striving for... Finding a subtly creamy solid white quartz (not ivory but not bright white either) has proven a little more difficult than I anticipated! The picture below is the look we’re going for - white cabinets and countertops with soft taupe (matte) backsplash. mcgoverntheory, why avoid all-white countertop? Just for the practical reasons of showing dirt?

Large room. Medium light. Chroma is how to calibrate white paint colors to dim, moderate, abundant quality/quantity of inherent light. These are in order least Chroma (aka most neutral) to Navajo which has the most Chroma. Gardenia is same hue family, has the most Chroma, is most similar to Navajo for a monochromatic vibe. Navajo is technically a color because it has too much Chroma (colorfulness) to fit into a neutral category. Which makes it easier to pair with a color of white. Because it brings a healthy bump of Chroma to a +white combination ensuring a necessary level of contrast in terms of Chroma. A discernible level of contrast in Chroma is a good thing because when a color of white/off white shows up looking dirty or dingy it's - typically - because there isn't enough contrast with an adjacent white or off white. Navajo isn't a white or off white so it's not an issue.