Kitchen paint color with cream colored cabinets. Help!!

3 years ago

Having the hardest time choosing a color for my kitchen walls! I have cream colored cabinets and St. Cecelia granite. Tried SW Alibaster, it’s darker than my trim and lighter than my cabinets. Also tried SW Shoji White, was too similar to my cabinets. Can anyone help me pick a paint color?? I don’t get the best light in my kitchen and I want to use paint to lighten it up!!

Featured Answer

lwfromny

3 years ago

Hi Allison - picking paint is the worst isn’t it?! When you say you want it to be lighter, do you just mean you want a lighter COLOR, or do you mean you want a lighter color in order to bring more light into the room? If it’s the latter, paint color alone won’t really help much - you would have to add lighting. Light paint colors have a high LRV (light reflective value). Anything with an LRV of about 70 or higher is a very light color paint. The higher the LRV, the more the paint color will bounce any light hitting it back off the wall and into the room. From the pictures it appears that your wall color is relatively light - maybe LRV in the 60s or so? You can go lighter but If the amount of actual light (natural or artificial) stays the same, using a lighter color doesn’t help much, especially since the color of the cabinets, counters, floors etc all have their own LRV and that is staying constant. Not trying to discourage you - I’m all for a new paint color if you’re ready for one 😊. Just wanting to get clarity on what you are hoping the outcome will be.

Comments (18)

Marylee H
3 years ago
Which element are you hoping will be the lighter of the two, the cabinets or the walls?

Which do you wish will to appear the more neutral of the two, cabinets or walls?
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Marylee H
3 years ago
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Allison Marino
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks everyone! To clarify, I want to paint the room a lighter color and have the wall paint be lighter than the cabinets. The wall paint is currently a murky color and I’d like to paint the room a different shade, leaning toward a warm white. We are installing recess lighting which will help the kitchen lighting as well. Thank you for posting the beautiful cream/white kitchens. Do you recommend any specific shades of white? I like BM Simply White but I’m afraid it might pull yellow since the kitchen does not get a lot of natural light. I tried Chantilly Lace but it seems stark. Greek Villa had a grayish hue. Any other thoughts on a specific white paint color for my walls? I would like to eventually do a subway tile backsplash as well but paint first. Thanks all! :)
Marylee H
3 years ago
What exactly was it about Alabaster that didn’t suit? Too light? Too colourful?
ptreckel
3 years ago
Others here can give you better advice on this issue, but....you might want to assess your lighting before you start choosing paint. Are those Edison bulbs? Clearer, brighter lighting, under cabinet lighting, etc. should be chosen first. Good luck!
Gcubed
3 years ago
Switch all your light bulbs to 4000K first. I think it will be best to pick paint after the new ceiling recess lights go in. And make sure you have good under cabinet lighting.
Pairing walls same color as trim but different sheen can look nice. Is the paint just for confine area (kitchen) or does it flow into other spaces?
Allison Marino
Original Author
3 years ago
I do like the alibaster, especially now that I look at it in the morning light again. It’s light but pretty. I wasn’t sure if a color like Creamy with a little more color would be nicer, it’s closer to the shade of the cabinets. I’ll sample it but I’ll take any suggestions anyone has. A painter recommended a pale green but it unsure about it. Good point on the lighting, might be better to wait until that is fixed! I don’t think my kitchen light fixtures will be staying after we install recess lighting but we’ve been having problems with the bulbs, we’ve tried so many! The daytime lights hurt my eyes a little.
Allison Marino
Original Author
3 years ago
And Gcubed, I do want the kitchen paint to flow into my dining room which gets lots of natural light. The two rooms are open to each other.
Ac Lb
3 years ago
I’m in the same boat as you except my cabinets are a horrible antique white (yellowish beige). We just painted our walls alabaster white and love it. Of course my cabinets are still horrible so we’re going to paint them as well. I notice your cabinets are more of a true white... maybe off white, so I think alabaster would work well. It’s a popular color because it can go with warm colors or cool colors. I have warm accessory colors throughout my house and it works perfectly with them.
Ac Lb
3 years ago
Here were the pros suggestions for me
Ac Lb
3 years ago
I have similar granite
Allison Marino
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks AC LB, my cabinets are definitely cream or off white color. Maybe I’ll get a sample of creamy and see how that looks. My kitchen opens into my dining room which gets great natural light. I don’t really want to go any darker than that.
Marylee H
3 years ago
You may find this article about pairing white and off-whites together helpful. It removes a lot of guesswork, so you can just concentrate on what you like and don’t.

https://thelandofcolor.com/forums/color-paint-design/how-to-choose-white-paint-colors-secret-to-getting-white-right/
K Laurence
3 years ago
Have your lighting changed & then, if you have one available in your area, hire a “color” consultant. Best investment I’ve made lately. i was having two rooms painted in my home. They suggested subtle colors completely opposite of what I first thought of doing. Both rooms ( master bedroom & bath + powder room) came out perfect, better than I expected.
Laura Hill
3 years ago
Did you already mention what color your dining room is?
Allison Marino
Original Author
3 years ago
Hi Laura, my dining room is a terra cotta color but I’m going to paint the dining room the same color as the kitchen. The kitchen and dining room are open to each other. There is an island separating the rooms from each other which I also want to paint (pop of color) eventually.
socalgigi
2 years ago
cream cabinets, paint a vintage pretty light green or blue so the cabinets stand out