Some whites and creams go beautifully together. Some combinations just look dirty and muddy - this I know from a disappointing experience in my bedroom! Our kitchen cabs are creamy, and we painted the whole room, except the ceiling to match, including doors in the room, trim, walls, windows and had blinds made to match. Like you, I was worried about the rest of the house trim and doors, which is white. But it's absolutely no problem at all. It doesn't look weird, liked I feared it might. Maybe it's because the whole room is basically the same colour. If you do a search, I think you'll find old threads on this subject.

Absolutely not. You can do whatever you want. The only suggestion would be to match the style of the house. I.e. A super modern white kitchen in a homey cottage would be a bit jarring or if the rest of the house is oak and traditional.

Thanks for the input everyone! We would be doing a similar shade in cabinet paint to the trim paint--both would be shade of white. The trim will be a SW Linen White to match the interior windows--this is not a standard color they carry, it is apparently a special formula they make for Pella (the interior of the windows were pre-painted at the Pella factory). There will be at least 2 places in the kitchen/breakfast/great room area where trim and cabinet would be right against each other, and probably a similar amount of spots in each bathroom. So, I'm thinking from your responses and, given my answers to your questions, I probably should try to match the trim and cabinets--if we do an off-white shade on the cabinet. ontariomom, it's interesting that you feel glaze is not as timeless--I've thought the same thing about the gray, beige, green, etc. painted cabinets that seem so popular right now. My husband and I both really love the weathered or aged look that glaze provides. We did it in our last remodel and were very happy. However, I've heard others in addition to you mention that they feel glaze is not classic or is "out." So, I'm going back and forth on doing what we love (glaze) with chance it may look dated relatively soon, trying a painted "color" cabinet such as light gray or beige, or doing a painted off-white cabinet with no glaze. tcufrog, I'm trying to work with the cabinetmaker to get sample boards, so hopefully that will help the decision!

Thanks everybody for your input. The shaker cabinets are new -- so that's why I hesitate to paint them. True, the lighting in the kitchen isn't that great -- so perhaps it would be difficult for people to notice the difference. I would love, however, to change the hardware. Currently they are the tubular pulls which seem too contemporary for this pre-war apartment. I know I may have to paint the cabinets depending on the new hardware I select. If I can fill in the holes with wood filler and have it paint so it would be seamless, I'd leave it as it is. But not sure if that will happen. If I end up having to paint the cabinets, I figure might as well paint them the same color as the trim/moldings. Decorators White looks good in all of the rooms (with the exception of the master bedroom where colors are more muted) because the furniture tends to run on the fresh clean side.