Thanks, Theresse! Maybe I'll go for the white table and paint it black (or green?). I considered getting the oak table and painting the legs, but it's nice enough that I'd be hesitant to risk destroying it (and perhaps it would still be too much wood?). I knew there had to be other similar threads, and I finally found a couple today with helpful pictures. What color table do you have with a white kitchen? white cabinets - what color is your kitchen table? Do you think black chairs would offer enough contrast or does the table really need to be dark? I finally also found a picture of Pirula's kitchen, and she continues her white and wood theme; however, perhaps it works better in her space since it's so much larger than mine, or with more contrast in other areas?

Ah, a topic I may be able to help out with. We recently installed off the shelf (Lowe's) white subway tile. The brand is American Olean (not sure about the spelling!). I remember reading in a magazine that in a white kitchen there should be varying shades of white to keep it from looking sterile, just as someone mentioned above. When my husband installed it he and my mom both liked how it looked: as if it had been grouted with gray grout. I knew I didn't like this look but was almost talked into it. I mention this because of your previous statement "i have always loved the white subway with white grout look, but i donno, with the different shades, i might have to try something else, and that really worries me because i am detouring from what i originally like. " Stick to what you like or you won't be happy. I almost went with gray grout. Perhaps it may look better or more appealing but it is not the look I'm going for. And since you've mentioned that you are worried about the shade of white you've chosen change it now before it's too late. I personally think it will look great but being that you are questioning it makes me think it is not really what you want and are hoping to be talked into liking it. But if you stick with your tile I wouldn't go with a cream grout but rather one that matches the tile and blends nicely. To answer your question In my opinion the color of the grout makes a difference. Just look at kitchens with white subway with gray grout vs white grout and you'll see what I mean. I don't think an off white grout will make it blend with the cabinets better, it could make it look soiled. White will make it look whiter but IMO cleaner. I say keep the backdrop (backsplash) simple. As someone mentioned above you will have things on the counter to break it up. I plan on putting more items on our counters and the gray grout for me would be too busy. Not to mention I'm not the tidiest-so I need everything else to be simple. I sure hope I did't confuse you! Here are pics of our off white cabinet, BM moonlight white, though not quite as creamy as yours, with white subway tile and bright white grout. Below is a link to segbrowns kitchen. I think the pewter grout in this kitchen looks great because of all the other elements. But with such creamy cabinets as yours I'm not sure about gray/pewter grout. Gray grout look (before grouted). My cabinets look quite stark here but are really creamier in person. Hopefully you can see a difference in the shade of the cabinets compared to the white subway-it is hard to capture in a pic! Here is a link that might be useful: segbrowns kitchen

I am not the best person to offer color advice. But I'm in the middle of planning our project and I too have a DH that makes faces. If you have some time, just keep working on the elements you are sure about. Find a few pics of what DH thinks he wants. Take some pics of what you pick out with some samples of what DH wants. He may find out reality doesn't match his ideas. Find some pics of the colored cabinets you want. Put them in the picture mix. You will both see things differently at some point, and hopefully what you end up liking matches! My DH wanted black granite. And espresso cabinets. And dark walnut door flooring. Our kitchen is small, with moderate light and the new design will have cabinets down a short hall. And no way painted cabinet would look right in the house. I actually had to put up dark brown stuff up for him to visualize along with some pics I found online. Then it hit him how much it would feel like a cave. So we decided on light floors. Then picking out granite, he liked light ones. Go figure. So we have light granite. Then last week I took a ton of pics of medium stained cabinet samples with the granite. Now he wants white cabinets, the dark ones don't look right o_O So now we are down to just a granite color, which we have a deposit on. Everything else is back up in the air. Due to DH who knew just what he wanted at the start. I guess the moral of this story is try to make sure what DH says he wants and doesn't want are based on actual thought processes, not just gut reaction. I found having just 2-3 pics of anything to offer, you know to clarify, was an amount he could handle and see if that's really what he meant. And when he says you're thnking too much, come back here and read a bit. It's normal here :-)

When I was mulling over whites, I narrowed it down to 4, all BM: 1) Mascarpone (too yellow), 2) White Dove (too gray) and 3) Simple White and 4) Cloud White. Simple White and Cloud White were my finalists. My painter painted two old cabinet doors in each color and they lived on my kitchen counter in various locations for a couple of weeks. I loved them both, could discern a difference, but couldn't quite say how they were different. I went with CW, and it was more an emotional decision. SW is whiter and if you want something with a little less cream, it's a very good choice. It's not a stark white. If you search GW for Breezygirl's kitchen, you'll see it in action. BTW, 4 years later and I still love Cloud White and would choose it again for a white kitchen.