Ok thanks! But what if I were to go half way up the wall to create the illusion of wainscoting? I get what both of you are saying about leaving some of the grey paint, I think I like that too. If I end the tiles at the cabinets I didn't purchase any finishing pieces of tile just yet or even a ceramic crown piece. However, if I do the wainscoting look on the lower half with tile I could always finish off the edge with some wood trim but again, I'm not sure if that will look weird? I think it's safe to say going all the way around the door in my kitchen just won't work if I can't go all the way around the window and because of my bulk head, so that's out.

I painted trim in our last house with aura and it held up fine. We were only in that house for about 18 months so I can't say anything about durability for longer than that. I recently painted a dresser with advance based on the advice at my local paint source. I found it very hard to work with. They told me it would have a longer open time, but I found it to have an incredibly short open time. Maybe my particular weather at the time I was painting. But it oddly also had a long drying time for me. So it was difficult to work quickly enough while painting, yet I had to wait a full twenty four hours or longer between coats to be able to sand the brush marks, etc that I couldn't get out during painting due to the short open time. It was weird and frustrating. I would suggest buying a small quantity and painting with it to see what you think. There are additives for extending open time, I'm not sure if they are compatible with advance. If you have the same issue I did, maybe a paint shop can make some recommendation to help. The end result is that the finish is very nice, except on the top of the dresser I was painting, where I never could get it quite right.

I do not like a yellow cast to whites and make sure before choosing any white you have all bulbs in LED 4000K or you will get that yellow cast for sure. You need to get some poster boards paint them with 2 coats of the colors you think will work then move them around on all the walls ans ee how they look in your space

You can’t go wrong with either Simply White or White Dove for kitchen cabinets. Both look great with dark countertops and gold accents. Some of my favorite projects have been Simply White, especially with dark countertops. But if you are feeling stuck or need more ideas for white kitchen cabinets and how to pair them with countertops, we’ve written posts on both to help you decide.