I always use an extender with Aura. It gives you more time before drying. If you're painting a bathroom, research "surfactant leaching." This happens when the paint in a bathroom isn't fully cured, and you use the shower. Google photos of surfactant leaching. Most paint stores will say latex cures in a few days, but I had this problem in two homes and did extensive research. You get ugly drips down the walls, and they are yellow or brown. You can wash it off, but it comes back. Now, when I paint a bathroom, I wait 30 days before using the shower. That may be overkill, and if you only have one shower, that would not be possible.

I'm not a color expert, but I have 2 kitchens each with different shades of white painted cabinets, so I'll offer thoughts based on my experience. For our lake build I wanted a crisp white cottage look that would complement the blue stained island. I was planning on going with the whitest white option. My KD convinced me, as yours did, not to go with stark white. Like you, I was worried it would read creamy, but I'm glad I followed her advice. The cabs positively read clean white in the room. We did go with the stark white with the bathroom vanity and, as she had said, it lacks the richness and depth that the kitchen ones do and looks less like wood and more like a builder grade cab. We did go with a warmer shade on the walls in the open area of the kitchen and I think that helps them stand out as being more white. I wanted a completely different feel in my home and chose creamy cabinets. In both homes I have standard white ceiling paint. This is where the color experts may advise differently, but to my eye it works just fine in both spaces because the ceiling & cabs are on different planes & with the play of shadow & light the whites don't seem to fight in either case. Hope this helps as you sort it out.

I'm having custom kitchen cabinets built and the cabinet maker needs a color selection from me to get them painted. He asked if I wanted a base white or something else. I was thinking of something very bright like Chantilly Lace or Super White since my kitchen doesn't have a ton of natural light. But I hadn't considered the base white. Should I? Wouldn't the base color depend on the actual paint he uses (tinted conversion varnish)? Thanks

Found some photos of a kitchen with lighter floors and Chantilly Lace on everything. Scrolling down the fireplace panels are painted Balboa Mist OC-27….nice combination. Make sure that you are using appropriate finishes so the you see a distinction from walls to cabinets to woodwork to ceiling. Otherwise, the interior will look like the paint was sprayed over all.