Help! Trying to tone down brand new SW Dover White cabinet-too yellow
I am really in a pickle here. Yesterday, I had kitchen cabinets installed in my modern farmhouse style home and immediately realized 2 problems:
1) The SW Dover White color I chose was way creamier/yellower than I expected.
2) There wasn't enough contrast between the perimeter cabinets and the island which is painted SW Balanced Beige.
We can't rip out all the cabinets and start over so my solution is to have them just repaint the island a different color to give it more contrast with the perimeter cabinets and hopefully it will be a color that will tone down the yellowness of the perimeter cabinets. The floors have a warm look so I believe that is contributing to the the overall yellow feel in the kitchen. I never wanted a stark white kitchen but this is way too creamy yellow.
Can any color experts out there tell me if SW Moth Wing would be a good choice for the island? Would it give an ample contrast to the SW Dover White. If I painted the walls SW Accessible Beige with a PPG Delicate White Trim, would that clash? I'm hoping the paint color I choose will help neutralize the yellow I see.
Thank you in advance for your help!!!
Comments (33)
waiting4child
5 years agoI chose SW Dover White for my master bath cabinets too and look how yellow it looks next to my tile. Weird thing is that I had 2 designers with me when we chose this color combo. None of us caught it! Way to yellow to me.
artistsharonva
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoI think the kitchen looks nice.
The vanity does show more contrasting yellow with the floor
---
Lighting can help.
Suggest daylight bulbs or cool bulbs.
Different bulbs give off different hues.
Keep as much natural sunlight in the room. Some curtains may prevent or change lighting hue, too.
Related Discussions
Toning down my WAY too yellow-orange walls...
Comments (19)lazygardens, Highway Stripe Orange is how my builder described the color too! He tried to make me feel better by claiming it was growing on him but finally admitted it was pretty bad. Scarlett, we used Ivoire for the ceiling and it's lovely. I took lazygardens' advice and painted some swatches on large white sheets of poster board and checked them at different times of the day. I ultimately decided to go with SW Blonde, which coincidentally is the color my painter has in his own house. He said he'd painted it several times in spec homes and liked it so when he repainted his house, he used it. That made me feel quite a bit better. Anyway, he repainted my walls this weekend and hardly charged me much for the change. It is SO much better. I was worried it might be too neutral, but it still has a golden tone in most light. I don't have fixtures in yet, but as I tend to prefer warmer light bulbs, I imagine the lights will only enhance the golden tones which is what I want. I'm very happy with it. If anyone else is going for that South of France yellowy gold color, I recommend trying it. I almost went with SW Restrained Gold which is one shade darker on the same paint strip, but I'm glad I went with my first instinct. It's perfect. Oh, and for those who asked, the finish was and is eggshell. No problem at all covering the orange color with the new golden color. I'd say there was about four days between paint and repaint....See MoreSW Dover White-Anybody?
Comments (10)For years, I had SW dover white on the walls in my entry way and hallway, with white trim. It was fine. There was enough contrast between the white and dover to see they were different colors--but not very much contrast. The color in the pic posted above looks a bit creamier on my monitor than the dover looked in my house. I do like the dover white for trim and have it on most of the trim in my house. However, in my kitchen I have dover white cabinets with plain white trim. I thought the dover white in my entry and hall was a bit boring, but it was okay as the rest of my house had a lot of color. I picked it because I didn't like the color that we had originally picked, and the painters were on a tight schedule, so I told them to just paint it off white--they picked the dover white. Anyway, I now have a very light tan on the walls, with the dover on the trim and I like it much better. For me personally, the houzz pic is too blah--and I would worry about some of the whites looking dinghy. But, you have lots of color elsewhere, so it may be a nice break. However, I find when I try to do something different, just to be different--I am not happy--unless its in a guest room or bath where I don't spend lots of time. Good luck! I can post a pic of where my dover white cabinets meet white trim if you want....See MoreAnyway to tone down yellow
Comments (18)Are you all finding a "taupe glaze" or whatever in an area besides a big box store paint dept? I've never seen an "already tinted" glaze. Is there such a thing? Or do you always have to purchase seperate paint quart and mix your chosen color with the glaze? Someone above mentioned paint "from the craft section in walmart". Does that mean the little bottles of acrylic paint? Can you really mix that into glaze and have it look like real "paint"?? Thanks for any help. I just washed Ralph Lauren's (from HD) tobacco stain glaze over my bright yellow joint compounded walls (thread is on here) to tone it down. HD mixed that "recipe" for me. It toned down the yellow, but didn't eliminate the fact that it's a darker color than I would have wanted as the base. Oh well. There's always "next time". LOL!...See MorePaint that will help tone down orangy cherry cabinets - help
Comments (20)Million dollar question - how do you determine the color hue of the grey tile? This is where a lot of people go off the deep end with the undertones nonsense. As in those undertones are sneaky and you have to watch out because they are hard to see and only people with a "trained eye" can see them blah, blah, blah. Hue family and undertones are distinctly different. Detailing the difference is long so I'll skip it, but trust me they are not the same thing. There are two ways to determine hue family. The most accurate is to measure the color with a device like a spectrophotometer or a colorimeter like a Color Muse. The resulting spectral data defines the hue family for you. This is how color experts do it. I never go anywhere without a Color Muse or a NIX sensor. If you don't know how to measure color with a device and use the resulting data to determine hue family, then you have to eyeball it. And you do that by comparing colors. Compare the uncategorized color to a big chip of red, blue, green, yellow, etc. and the hue family should be obvious. Color responds to its context. Comparing one color to another is basic context. It is no different from human kids and parents. See a kid running around at the playground and he looks like any other kid. Put him in context with his family and suddenly you are able to recognize similar features and compare attributes, and it quickly becomes apparent that junior is a chip off the old block. Same thing happens with color. Through the process of comparison, you will see the hue family to which a color belongs. More info on this link with a cheat-sheet of hue parents to use for comparison from Ben Moore and SW....See Moreartistsharonva
5 years agoartistsharonva
5 years agoartistsharonva
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agowaiting4child
5 years agoherbflavor
5 years agowaiting4child
5 years agowaiting4child
5 years agoHere is my inspiration pic so I'm not feeling the navy. Also, I think the yellow warm tones in Dover White might not look great with the very cool tone of navy blue. I'm certainly not a designer though....especially since my kitchen cabinet color choices were an epic fail.
I'm still trying to gauge whether SW Moth Wing or SW Virtual Taupe will be enough of a contrast with my SW Dover White cabinets. Any thoughts?
Still can't believe this happened.
PRODiana Bier Interiors, LLC
5 years agowaiting4child
5 years agowaiting4child
5 years ago
beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
5 years agoCall me crazy, but does your inspiration pic not have a dark blue island? Are you sure you posted the correct photo? Because here's another view (from here),
waiting4child thanked beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionallywaiting4child
5 years agowaiting4child
5 years agobeckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
5 years agobeckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
5 years agowaiting4child thanked beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionallybeckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
5 years agowaiting4child thanked beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionallywaiting4child
5 years agoLori-
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your help. I was so hoping you would respond. I don't understand the chroma part and I know there is a total science to all of this but, unfortunately, I'm out of time. At 4:40pm tonight I told my cabinet guy to paint the island SW Moth Wing. I pray he hasn't ordered the paint. He hasn't uninstalled the cabinets yet to take them back to the factory so I guess I have a little bit of time but he's gonna wish he never took me on as a client.
I considered going navy as someone stated earlier but my husband flipped at the idea. For lack of a better way to ask, can you recommend a taupe or brown color that would be the right scientific formula for our island and hood? I will be painting the hood, island and beverage station (see below) all the same color. It all has to go with the Dover White perimeter cabinets. We have 4 beams in the family room just like the inspiration picture above. Your thoughts? Thank you soooo much!
PROLori A. Sawaya
5 years agowaiting4child
5 years ago- PRO
Lori A. Sawaya
5 years ago 
PROCentury Hardware
5 years agoLighting will make a big difference i'm no expert in that area by any means but i have seen it in action! Also have you considered what hardware you will be using for your cabinets? Depending on the finish it would allow you to apply a contrast color directly to your cabinets to tone down the yellow. I would consider something cooler like a [Satin Nickel[(https://www.houzz.com/products/yukon-cup-pull-matt-satin-nickel-prvw-vr~43657292?lid=30727782) or Stainless. you should take a look at Century Hardware they have a large variety of styles and finishes i think my be able to balance out the color in your kitchen.
Belvedere Collection · More Info
Caledonia 4" c.c. Pull - Matte Satin Nickel · More Info
Lori A. Sawaya