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

Here is the link to the White Dove page on the Benjamin Moore site. On the bottom there are color combo selections. You can click the button to see what BM suggests. White Dove is so neutral you can match it with virtually any white. I personally would want to see some contrast, otherwise the trim blends into the walls. Here is a link that might be useful: BM White Dove color combos

You are so very welcome! :-) We tested a "gajillion" colors for the FR (this room is off the FR) until we finally settled on Mascarpone (one of my first choices, BTW, but DH wasn't too keen on it at first). Somehow I just knew that the Muslin would be the winner in the Guest Bedroom from the get-go. I did look at a two or three darker colors in there as well, just to be 100% sure, but really wasn't ready to go darker in there. Muslin is a terrific neutral color. We both absolutely love the Muslin. It looks a little creamier during the day, leans more toward khaki at night, but looks great either way. We are very happy with the Aura matte--have used it in every room we've painted over the past 5-6 years, incl ceilings (used matching colors to the wall colors in the satin finish on the baseboard molding in all rooms).

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?