This is quite a dilemma and I'm afraid I don't have specific recommendations for you. Could you perhaps try a different approach? If you could redo the kitchen, what would you choose for cabinet color and appliance color? Do you anticipate having any funds in the next five years to spend in the kitchen? If you can get the cabinets painted in the somewhat foreseeable future, pick your materials to that end. As the appliances surrender, they will be replaced to your style. You don't want to have to repaint soon or regret your counters, backsplash or flooring (love your floor choice).

As an aside, a short while ago, I had to get a small piece of laminate counter made. The price was much higher than I expected. The cost of lower grades of granite might surprise you. Just another design choice!

I share your soft low contrast neutral look, but there is quite the mocha-latte-golden milk thing going. There needs to be some contrast in texture, gloss, or color lest the look be less of a transformation than you are hoping for. Bring home samples that are outside your comfort zone. You might be surprised. I did a 180 and it's pulling my kitchen together. A bold and honest friend might help to get you to think outside the box.

I hope other readers have specific suggestions for you. If you have local Benjamin Moore dealer, they should have, hidden in the back, large samples you can ask for.

Best wishes. I feel your pain!

Thank you for taking the time to respond! As far as approaching this from another way, we can't. As I stated our kitchen flooded, and insurance is covering cost to replace floor and counter top, which they then come back to inspect once work is completed. Those things have to be fixed now. Which means now is the time I have to pick out countertop and flooring (we pay for back splash). As to when down the road we might be able to save enough to replace all appliances, or have cabinets repainted I have no idea when that might be an option. That is why I am focusing on what I have to and can fix now. When you stated there is a golden latte golden milk thing going on, you are ABSOLUTELY right! That is exactly what I am seeing myself, I just never tried to change it until now because I thought I would wait till some sort of kitchen upgrade happened. Then it flooded.

Can you take a pic of the kitchen with better lighting? From a preliminary look I'd say I would question that countertop with that cabinet color. You will have a warm/cool clash going. Do you have a sample of the counter you can bring into the space and put next to the cabinets? It's VITAL to see it in the room, next to the other finishes.

Your problem is the stark white appliances. Can they be replaced with stainless? If not, you are just going to have to live with a kitchen that really clashes. Your countertops won't affect that.

Bri Bosh, I just bought new lighting so it would not be too warm or cool reflection from the bulbs and to be honest its already brighter than we can stand. The reason I picked the gray stone looking countertop (so far) is that all of the beigy or sandy colors looked way to pink toned and horrid with these ivory cabinets. In person, this sample of the countertop has a warm undertone, not a cool undertone. It looks cool online. And I only have a 5x7 sample so not sure that will tell you anything from a picture. I also tried looking for laminate countertop with actual ivory color in it and almost all match a more true cream, and again had beigy and pink tones. This is the closest I could find to the countertop color I have now which I love. I just took these at night at your request, may need to retake more during the day tomorrow.

sorry the lighting is so bright in here at night it is washing the photos out a bit. best I could do right now. And these pics make the cabinets look less yellow than they do during the day with natural light.

If anyone knows of a light neutral (not busy bold pattern) laminate that would have any ivory in it or subtle neutrals that would blend with that I am always open to better suggestions. I have over 15 samples here and immediately had to get rid of almost all cause they looked too cool under toned.

I also try to google tile samples to get them here (I am medically unable to get out to the stores right now) but I have no idea whether to be searching for white, creme, bone, ivory, biscuit, or light gray or what color this really is. Seems all companys have there own versions of what colors are called. Again, that is why I came here for advice, maybe people can point out tiles to try and sample.

From the blog post I linked above

I think you should consider repeating the white of the appliances to make it look deliberate. I would at least consider a white countertop and white paint. And then a backsplash that has both the cabinet color and white. From the same source:

Anglophilia As I mentioned earlier, I understood the white appliances are part of the problem, but I can't replace them right now. The wall paint is another large problem making everything even worse. So I am trying to tone down the look of the yellow in the cabinets as best as I can for now. As I don't like white appliances with ivory, there are kitchens in existence with the same combo and don't look nearly as bad as my kitchen does. But sadly they never listed exactly what color of wall paint they used so I am left guessing what will make my situation better. Right now I am dealing with replacing parts of a kitchen that was damaged from flooding, so even though some aspects will remain a tad unsightly, I have to do my best to replace things that maybe one day will look even better with stainless steel.

crl I like the photo and do think it is sound advice with repeating the white. But, do I want to be stuck with plain white counter tops forever? The appliances are already killing me. My husband is not the type that will go for redoing a kitchen every 10-12 years. lol And I wonder about stains that could occur and never come out? Had our kitchen not flooded lord knows when I would have ever even been able to update this one. So if I can find a counter top that will work, maybe someday I will have stainless steel and it will work with that even better.

Plain white corian countertops don’t go out of style and can be kept quite nice for a long time.

If it has not already been mentioned, get sample jars of paint and paint large pieces of foam board. Place them around the room and look at them in different lighting and time of day. I am so sorry that you are medically dealing with stuff at the same time - and this is getting in the way of your looking around. If possible, do only what needs to be done to get your kitchen functioning, and save other decisions till you are feeling better.

I initially thought the gray was too cool until I looked for pics - notice the first pic I posted has gray, almost cement looking counters. It might actually be a soapstone. Ask if there is a "soapstone" look laminate. If you do a backsplash, perhaps a cream / ivory that matches the cabinets - as also in some of the pics.

I have white appliances and don't think yours are that bad - even with the ivory cabinets. The second pic I posted did bring in white - window trim and millwork. I did repeat white quite a bit in my kitchen.

If you do not have under cabinet lighting, please get some between the sink and stove at least. I realize you may be on a tight budget. but do the under cabinet lighting and wait on a backsplash if needed. It will lighten you space and make it prettier. I started our with some DIY from the home center store - three LED strip lights that connected to each other and plugged in the wall. ($75) Later, an electrician wired it to a switch. ($350 - I think. It was part of a group of things I had done and that is my estimate.) Although my kitchen is reasonably light, the under cabinet lighting adds a pretty glow, and I find it so helpful this time of year when I am cooking and cleaning after dark.

The whole area from my sink to stove (stove lights are on) is lit up:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~109854029

I wish I could be more helpful with paint. I struggle with my own so much I don't feel competent:) Wall paint does come last as it can be affected by countertop and backsplash choice.

I do like this color - it is either SW Rainwashed or Sea Salt - both can look either green or gray - both look gray on the paint chip - but if either one really has this touch of green, its a possibility. Looks great with the white, not sure with Ivory.

One more thought. This could wait, but one thing that works with painted cabinets is building up the soffit with millwork and then painting it the same color as the cabinets. This looks like it was done somewhat in some of the pictures I first posted.

Thank you jhmarie! A family member also suggested building up the cabinets to ceiling look too some day. I did order some paints to paint on boards just thought of anyone knew of good choices I would buy those as well. Underlighting cabinets would be great at some point too! I actually did find a soapstone formica that is what was in the picture I posted. It's made by formica. If I could find a lighter version I would but so far that is the only one I found that looks ok. And it does look lighter in person than in pic. Laminate is the best for the budget.

Here is a pic of possibly new counter top sample with new floor we are getting

click on pic to enlarge to see floor

I thnk either of the countertops you have picked out will work fine. I also think a black would look good. Not fond of the cabinets with white countertops. You might see if you can find a countertop with a bit more gray in it, since these two appear a bit on the brownish side. Nothing wrong with laminate counters. They last forever, unless of course, you sit hot pans on them, which most dont. My bathroom counter is laminate and was put in this house in 1966 and is a solid white. I am going to replace it shortly because, it is finally showing a small amount of wear, but,mostly because, it just isnt what I want in there. It will be laminate again.

Yes - if I would just read I would have seen your original sample is listed as a Soapstone look formica:) I think that would look similar to the first pic I posted. I like it. Black would work too, and you can get stock black laminate really inexpensively, but I like the lighter gray better. That is just personal preference because I don't like working on a dark surface.

No problem with formica / laminate counters at all. It is true that some granites have come down in price while some laminates have gone up, so you can always compare, but I think finding a granite that works with the cabinets would be a challenge. I thought many of the laminates I saw recently at the home center store were very pretty.

It might be easier for an electrician to do under cabinet lighting before a backsplash goes in. You do not need to rush the backsplash. Choose it after the countertops are in and can see the big picture of how the kitchen looks with the new counters. There is also nothing wrong with forgoing a tile backsplash and painting the walls. Beadboard is also a possibility if you like that style.

If you are set on a tile backsplash, order the new countertop like your present one - without the 4" splash that many laminate have built in. It looks best to tile from the counter, not on top of a small splash.

Thanks again for the feedback! And laminates DO look allot better without that 4 inch back splash! I will stick with lighter counter top as when I saw really dark it made the white and ivory contrast look even worse together.

We have a similar kitchen, white/ivory cabs. We used a Benjamin Moore "Eggshell" color that turned out wonderful. It is a warm white, but has just a bit of cream in it and depending on light and time of day can either more cream or less. It works excellent with the white ivory cabs. And still stands out against the white trim.

I agree the grey laminate would work.

Paint should be your last pick. Ben Moore's Man on the Moon might be one to look at. Here's a house that used that in the living room and kitchen and Healing Aloe in the adjacent dining room, with wainscot. Man on the Moon Post

Aunt Arctica, first and foremost I love your username! Do you happen to have an photos of your kitchen on Houzz? Just curious! Thanks for taking the time to give feedback

barncatz, Thank you for the pictures and information!! I appreciate everyones feedback and help!

Sandywjo93, I don't yet, but I will try to take one. You'll have to ignore the ancient stove. I will get you a picture. I went through a ton of samples, mainly from Benjamin Moore as I love their paints (they have less of a yellow base in them then the Sherman Wms so you get really clean whites.

You flooring and counter selections are fine. I would pick a paint that is close to the cabinets as the paint will give you a more spacious look and the soffit will be less noticeable. This will make the cabinets look less short. See this pic.

I just looked at Typhoon Ice and think it might work well. Did you look at Spring Carnival or Cafe di Pesco?

I'd replace the floor with exactly what you had. (Does it flow through the house?) Black countertops would pull that and the white appliances ( with black grates and trim) together.

Filipe Custom Woodwork: Thank you for the advice, and you are not the first to suggest this. There is only one thing stopping me from matching it to the cupboards too closely. Our kitchen is open to a dining a back family open area and our cupboards color changes from a yellow to peachy yellow depending on what time of day. At night I have lighting that corrects it but the daylight all day long does nothing to help these kitchen cupboards. A similar color to them was continued into the dining and living area when we moved in, and it looked so bad with everything we had as far as furniture, art, and decor and just plain could not stand to watch the variations of peach and cream across our walls any longer so we got rid of it. Ivory is in our kitchen cupboards and nowhere else in our house. That is what led me to come to houzz more than anything, I was pretty confident about picking a floor and counter top that was ok with the cupboards, it is the wall color that is throwing a monkey wrench in my whole system. (and those stark white appliances I just can't change out right now) I envision the perfect off white with the perfect undertone that will flow nice through everything I have which includes a cranberry red sofa in the back room. Every time I get a sample up it looks bad up against the "ivory" cupboards.

I wish I could paint the kitchen one color (really close to cupboards to make them blend up to ceiling better) and then do the dining and living a coordinating color that I liked would look good with my stuff and in the lighting all day, but I'm not sure if it is ok to do that when you have a U shaped kitchen with an island on one side and only a top row of cabinets coming down. If people do this, what color goes above the see through cabinets on the Dining side of that island? The same you painted the kitchen or is that where the dining room color would start, there is also that short wall to the right of walkway into the kitchen. The other part of me thinks it might be weird to have those see through cabinets have a different color of wall above them on both sides, but I'm certainly not an expert.

This is a (bad) pic I just took quick to show the way the kitchen is separated from the dining/ living room areas. Any thoughts?

Katinparadise: Yes I have all of those samples, but in my actual space the undertone of the two of those just looks really off with my cabinets. And the final one typhoon ice Is GORGEOUS and has so many wonderful colors in it, but does nothing to tie it in with the exact kind of weird Ivory/creamy color in my cabinets. That one really was one of my favorites. I have about 15 more samples coming as well, but right now the soapstone sequoia is my best option.

I have not read through all the comments, but your first picture screamed at me. You made the most basic mistake with assuming neutral is neutral, but all neutrals have an undertone and pink undertones and yellow undertones do not work well together. Your paint and counter are both pink undertones like the couch below.

Maria Killam has a blog "Color me happy and discusses undertones in many of her posts.

Renov8tor: These old floors are 17 years old and cannot find the exact floor. We wanted the flooring I showed because in person it is just like the old but a bit more blonde and neutral and to be honest our current ones have a bit of an "orangey" undertone to them and didn't really do anything for the space it was in. The floors do run through half of our home, and the new ones look much better up against our living room carpet as they are more neutral. As far as the black counter tops you are not the first to suggest this, but I have looked at some photos and in my (un) professional opinion it just created even more stark contrast sitting next to those bright white appliances and ivory cabinets that are already fighting against one another in my particular kitchen. I figured going with a bit lighter counter top and light neutral wall it might make everything flow better, and probably as good as it can until I can replace those appliances with stainless steel (hopefully). If you know of a photo of the ivory cabinets with black counter top and white appliances that is a good example please share! And thanks for taking the time to give suggestions!

I wonder if the pink based mocha paint currently there is throwing off the way your paint samples look in the room. It certainly makes the cabinets more yellow. Would you be open to going ahead and painting those areas with a plain white, or something like Simply White (which has a teeny bit of yellow) just to cover that mocha, then work on choosing the other elements?

My first thought was to bring more white into the room also. But, to make the cabinets look whiter, I think you have to go with a yellow based tan or beige on the wall. I am not sure but maybe a green like a soft sage, or a bluish green would also work.

Here is an idea. Go to the website of Sherwin Williams (or any paint brand probably), find the color that seems to most closely match the cabinets, then go to their room color visualizer. Pick a kitchen similar to yours, paint the cabs in the scene with the color that matches yours, then try out different colors on the walls until you find a couple that seem to give the effect you want.

Yes the wall color is definitely a huge problem. I did it years ago before I understood about the color theories. It went with it the living area which is where I started and when I got to the kitchen and realised how horrible it looked I decided I was going to leave it be till I did something to the kitchen as far updating in some way. I agree it needs to possibly match the cabinets to calm the contrast down or go off whites or white family as others suggested. These colors are harder to pick then solid dark ones cause they appear differently on every wall at different times of day even more so give me problems with . As as I have already mentioned the problem with using an ivory is ivory shades look bad going into my back room with the stuff I have and carpet color and always look so peachy during the daylight and I hate it. It will take allot of samples and trying them at every angle to get this to look right. The kitchen is open to dining and living so unless I can figure out how to use two different colors the one will have to work for all 3 open spaces.

Everyone on GW knows how much I love my Glacier White Corian countertops. I’ve had them now for over 33 years - kept them when I redid my kitchen 2 years ago. They are SO easy to keep clean! But I am the kind of person who wants to know if the countertops are dirty, not just “hide” the dirt with a busy granite pattern. When I redid my kitchen, I needed a new 5 ft piece of countertop, due to changing the location of the refrigerator. Easy wit my Corian! You would never know the age difference!

Chris S creme mascarello sample is here and is one that we like for an option aside from the soapstone sequoia!

Update: I just found the closest match I could find to my cabinet on a Sherman William's paint card. The color is called Muslin! (SW 6133)

Blue neutralizes white. I know you said you wanted a warm white, but they're going to have yellow undertones and therefore will make your white appliances stand out more. You might look at a color like Site White or Rarified Air to see if those don't give you more of what you're looking for.

To (sort of ) answer your question about having different paint colors even with the open kitchen -- yes, I think you can. The key will be to have colors that work well together.

I still encourage you to go ahead and paint over the current color -- it will take a couple of coats to cover it anyway, so you can prime with white. Then you will get a better idea of what colors will work in the space.

You mentioned the peachy-pink tone that you see in the back room with ivory paint. I wonder if you are experiencing the same phenomenon that I have in my LR: my walls are Behr Navajo White, which is a pale muted yellow (and in the upstairs more yellow, but in the LR/DR seems more tan). However, in the afternoon, the walls get a pink-peach tone from light reflecting off the neighbor's red house through my windows! Do you have a red house next door, or large red furniture in the room?

katinparadise I think I'm more confused now. lol Others have said mixing the warm and cool undertones was my problem, ( see cool paint up there already) which means I would need to get a warm toned paint color in there to mesh with the cabinets better and to stay away from cool undertones. I actually like cool better than warm usually but sound like its a nono for this particular kitchen because my cabinets are warm. Now I agree that the cool maybe would have went with the stark white appliances better but remember the appliances are the cool and the cabinets are warm. I think I need to focus on first making the cabinets mesh with the wall and maybe I will get lucky in a few years and get stainless steel appliances. With the cabinets and appliances being opposites in undertone, nothing I do will blend well with both at the same time so I have to pick my battles. And also, blues make that yellow look even more prominent and I am trying to make them appear softer and more neutral. Thank you for taking the time!

So much is contingent on the direction of the light coming through the windows and the reflection of the light off floors, countertops, etc. I had an accent wall in my bedroom of my former house but because I had a huge 7x4 pentagon window on the same wall, the opposite wall reflected the green color from the trees coming through the window and it made the opposite wall look like it was an accent. Perhaps choosing your countertop first will help you decide which way to go with the paint.

UPDATE in renovations! We have painted the walls Sherwin Williams Muslin, which almost exactly matches the cabinets, so If you want to picture it, literally look at our cabinets in first photos, it's the same color. We have picked out a Wilsonart Pebble Piazza Counter top. And we found a way to get some new stainless steel appliances! They are not here yet, but next week.

After doing alot of reasearch with colors, Sherwin Williams Alabaster White goes really well with the Muslin on walls and Cabinet color, and ties in the Pebble Piazza Countertop. I can't speak for how it shows on your computer monitors, but it is a perfect neutral to warm cement looking countertop close to the first soapstone I posted only without the loud streaks of color in it. It is not cool undertone gray at all! Sorry the photo is not showing the colors better, I tried. But in the end, all I need to find now is a warm white subway tile that is really close to the Sherwin Williams color Alabaster! When you put an 8x10 sample of alabaster under the muslin, it still reads white but NOT a stark cold blue white. It is and off white yellow undertone white. Does anyone know of a specific subway tile (name/ brand/ color) that looks like the Sherwin Williams Alabaster paint?

My subway tile is called "Alabaster" - it is by H-Line. Both my local tile stores (not home center stores) carried it two years ago, so hopefully it is available and you can get a sample. It was very reasonably priced - I think about $6 sq ft.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~57088087

I just went to look for this tile you have. For some reason it will show examples of all the other colors Of the H-line but the alabaster on 2 different sites. It lists it, but in the color chip samples with info it is missing both times. I wonder if it was discontiniued...

It is still listed on the Arizona Tile web site:

https://www.arizonatile.com/en/products/porcelain-and-ceramic/h-line

Call a local reputable tile shop and see if they carry it. If they do, but don't have a sample, they should be able to order you one.

Great color combos I think now for your solution! Just make sure that counter is not cool in tone, or it will drag all that warm tone back into a strong yellow. I totally got the peach issue...hate that in white...really doesn't go with much unless you live in AZ! Here is our kitchen with the BM Eggshell. Cabs are in simply white. backsplash is one tone darker than the eggshell.

Yes, as I mentioned earlier it may look cool toned in the photo but in person it is not at all. To be honest it is barely even that warm, its like its the perfect neutral. I made absolute sure of this after learning the old counter WAS cool temp with warm cabinets and I was not about to let that happen a second time. To me it looks like a warm to neutral cement color. I asked why the counter looked so good with cool paint samples and warm paint samples and was told, its probably more of a perfect neutral!

sandtwjo93- would you please post pictures of your after? I have Muslin cabinets too and am trying to crack the code of making the room look better without changing the Muslin. I really like your countertop selection. Would love to see them with rest of the room. Thanks.