Alright, I'll stick my 2cents in. Since she's asking for suggestions for both kitchen and family room, I assume she's got a clean slate to work with other than the hickory...no furniture to coordinate with. Seems to me that there are hundreds of shades that would work and be perfect...all depends on what she likes and how much light the rooms get. But perhaps this will be helpful: Hickory (from my recollection anyway) has a lot of yellow tones in it, so I'd be inclined whatever she does to go for a warm vs. a cool shade. If she chooses a white, it should be a creamy white rather than one with a blue or grey undertone. But she could go with a green, a yellow, a tan, red, organge or pretty much ANY color she likes, as long as she finds the right shade. Have you and she looked through the finished kitchen blog to see other kitchens with hickory cabinets? She might find that helpful. There are at least 7 kitchens that come up when you select under categories "cabinets" and then "hickory". One has a great rusty red paint, which I love. Another has a turquoise island that looks fabulous. I'm less enthusiastic about the one painted light blue. Here is a link that might be useful: finish kitchen blog -hickory cabinets

RL Deep Cream is very pretty, although very changeable, so you'd need to sample it in your house and room before deciding (well, you'd do that anyway!). Other posters here have called it "grey" or "lemon" -- in my somewhat dim MBR, it's a very warm off-white, right on the cusp of light beige and ivory. I don't see either grey or lemon in it at all. Too light for my purposes, but lovely. Maybe right for yours? There's another thread going about neutral paint colors -- perhaps there'd be some good suggestions there? Many people seem to like BM Ivory Tusk. Good luck!

hi blue... I'm sorry that this is so difficult for you..I had a somewhat reversed situation, in that I thought I wanted a white kitchen, (DH and DD hated the idea). DH was going to let me get white anyway...I really love how they look in photographs, but whenever I saw a white kitchen on display or in real life, I wasn't drawn to it at all! I was drawn to the dark wood, with light counters. As we were driving to the store to order our cabinets, I said to my DH, "I think I want to order the dark ones." He and DD were happy, to say the least. When the cabinets went in, I was very pleased. I'm guessing that you feel the opposite way, and are drawn to the white kitchens you see, up close and personal. How do you and your DH feel about the beautiful gray kitchens that are popping up all over?? I think those might be a good compromise. KA:)

it's perfectly fine to paint that window trim above the window a blue( or whatever). there is no rule that says all trim in the house must be exactly the same! found this one w/blue trim to match the cabs. glad you got that light! I love it. traditionally, those old kitchens were tiled around the window 1930's spanish ranch home: This is a Tudor kitchen, but you'll notice all the color is brought in through accents. the wall color, the ceramic dishes, art, matches the linoleum. and while the trim itself was usually white, the kitchen in those old spanish bungalows were quite colorful. Too bad you didn't use this tile! I love this one w/the white cabs and your marmoleum flooring. But, since you do have so much white, think about doing a 2-3" tongue and groove on the ceiling and painting it a shade of blue (or yellow) I like this light too Any chance of you continuing the tile up around the window? If not, either paint that portion a nice blue, or do the trim in the blue (cobalt) and save up for a cobalt stove! BTW, I have a cool hanging piece that came from mexico and would fit your kitchen colors! are you near So Cal?