Hi jmcgowan, Can't wait to see your F&B Pointing painted cabinets. Pointing was one of our top choices -- such a beautiful color! Our kitchen isn't that big by kitchen standards these days (it is 274 square feet). So the calm continuity of the same color on cabinets and trim works well in our ''smaller'' space. In general, however, I do like the play of different shades of white layered together in a room. So I certainly don't think there is anything wrong with picking a different white for the trim. In some cases it might add the depth or slight contrast that the room needs. My sense from your drawing is that your kitchen is quite a bit larger; perhaps that is why your architect thinks that in your space having different trim and cabinet colors will work well. I'd encourage him to tell you a bit more about his thinking on this. Again, he may well be right. In any case, once your cabinets are installed, if you decide you want to match (or not match) you can make that decision at that time. As for the counters, we had some rough ideas about what our counter top colors/material might be before we ordered the paint color for our cabinets; but we didn't know for sure. That was a bit of a gamble.

We are planning a small makeover for the only bathroom in our small house. We plan to do the following: remove the flushmount ceiling fixture and patch ceiling add an exhaust fan with light over the shower add two recessed lights: one over the toilet area and one between the doorway and the vanity (evenly flanking the vanity) replace the vanity light with a more appropriate sconce remove the wallpaper; paint walls shiplap and paint the ceiling I'd like GW help on the following: What size recessed lights are appropriate for this small bathroom (barely 6x9)? Two 4" or two 6"? I like LEDs. What brand do you recommend? Can we install this in phases, beginning with the recessed lighting and exhaust fan and add the shiplap at a later date? That is, can the fixtures be adjusted lower to accommodate the wood planking when we get to that phase? If the new recessed lighting offers downlight, should we plan on installing an upward facing sconce above the vanity or can we do a downward facing sconce (perhaps with clear or translucent glass shades)? Other notes: We will replace the hideous wall cabinet with open shelves. We are aware that the tile on the floor is wall tile and not floor tile (slippery when wet!), but until we build a second bathroom, we cannot replace it. Thanks!

I would agree with I think everyone so far, that a darker same-color on the ceiling will not support the illusion of expanding the space, and because of shading on different planes, may even appear darker than the walls. As an example, on many commercial projects with open-to-roof ceilings, a suspended ceiling "cloud" is hung over a seating area, retail section, or something like that. Still being maybe 10'-14' high, painting it dark brings it down further and makes it feel "cozier" to those under it, as you do not have the reflection and bounce of light and other colors off of it. When looking across a space at eye level, a neutral (family of) white color on the ceiling will disappear in your peripheral vision. To combat lighting glare, using a recessed fixture where there is a deeper inset baffle will reduce the potential because you cannot see the light from the side. As well BR, PAR, & R 'bulb' shapes diffuse the light on the side of the curved shape. Most of the Edison-socket housings will have deep baffle choices, for LED fixtures you'd have to search a liitle more as most are closer to flush. Also, you can paint the trim and baffle any color. With Edison-socket it's easy, with intergral LED, you'd have to tape the lens before painting.

@palimpsest they are my favorite! We did mint green and black subways for our new bathroom, and I'm itching to redo our existing bathroom with some fun 4x4 tile schemas (but not in the cards quite yet). We're not sure what the original tile for our 1915 house was--it's spec'ed in the plans as 'cement tile to 5' 0"' and you can see in the plaster where there was clearly once tile up to that mark, but it was long gone by the time we bought the house. But pretty sure there was 1" hex on the floor since we've dug up a ton of loose tiles in the yard over the years. (We will either do 1" hex or 1" square tiles when we finally redo that bathroom.)