Janice, you're kitchen doesn't look dark at all, even with the dark backsplash and dark paint. Thanks. Plllog, I see what you are saying about competing with the fruit bowl. Here are 3 backsplash ideas, tell me which is best: The first idea is to use the monochromatic matte white fruit bowl large decorative tile with matching monochromatic matte white frame, then the rest of the backsplash with glossy white field tile with slightly darker than normal grout to make the grout lines stand out. The second idea is to use the monochromatic matte white fruit bowl large decorative tile with either matching monochromatic matte white frame or marble frame with grey veins. Then the rest of the backsplash with marble tile with grey veins and grout lines that would match color of the marble and disappear. A third idea is to have the rest of the kitchen in either glossy white field tile with slightly darker than normal grout or marble with grey veins and matching grout lines that disappear. Then in the area under the hood bounded by the windows have the monochromatic matte white fruit bowl large decorative tile surrounded by black tile taking up the rest of the space to add high contrast (such as tantrum 1 inch or black marble or black granite field tiles). (There is barely enough room for a 1 inch pencil or a 1 inch field tile like tantrum between a 1 inch frame and decorative fruit bowl and that would bring it to the 30" boundary line exactly with the tiniest of grout lines. I could also use a smaller fruit bowl decorative tile and have a larger space around it to work with. I am not sure what color or material would enhance the design or if the design is better with or without a pencil in between.)

Suezbell, In the first half of the day there’s actually a good amount of light, we just block much of it out. It’s not a basement room, it’s directly off our kitchen (2 steps down). We are set on painting the entire main level greige so that’s not changing. The accent wall will be a *dark* blue, teal, or green (dark as the in LRV of 20) so I if we do the ceiling dark we’d probably just extend that to the ceiling. The flooring will be a LV rigid plank from Flooret (stock photo attached for color).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><md>Thanks PPF for the suggestion! I appreciate someone actually giving me some practical advice. I will pass this on to the contractor. Wow Jan, you’re quite the positive one aren’t you?! I wasn’t asking for your opinion on the overall design of my house. I’m quite pleased with everything I’ve done in there! And I AM friends with a great electrician, but he hasn’t installed any of the lights in the living room yet. Nor has he finished installing all of the kitchen lights. Plus, I took this picture in the middle of the night last night so it looks much darker than it actually is in there. Thanks for your thoughtful input though. Patricia, it looks like flooring because it is flooring! I couldn’t find any “ceiling” boards that I liked or were wide enough, so we got creative. It’s acacia wood and it looks beautiful. I just wanted help with a trim piece, not redesigning/deconstructing my room!

White is only white when light is reflected off the surface. The ceiling has less light being reflected off the white than the walls and the angle of the light is hitting your retna at a different angle. Many people will try to cut white or light paint colors and have the color shift and they do not get the color they expected. I have a can of paint handy that is a BM Satin Advance Base 1 custom color. Bright warm white that was a color match to Devine Icing - one of my favorite whites for trim, cabinets, ceilings. The formula is simple: Y3 (Oxide Yellow) 0x0.75 and W1 (White) 0x31.25 So they added a pinch of Yellow Oxide - a slightly orange yellow and they added a good dose of Titanium White No sense adding a picture of white - the description of the color from an artist pigment manufacturer explains it better than a picture will. Titanium White is known for being bright white, almost bluish, and has excellent opacity and high tinting strength. When mixed with another color, it rapidly lightens the color. The drawback of Titanium White is it can be over-bearing at times, especially when you are just looking to lighten the value a bit and not greatly change the color it"s mixed with. If I cut the pigment by 25% I am going to end up with a color that is darker and grayer than the original color because the main additive is Titanium White which is whiter than the Satin Advance Base 1. To make it lighter / Whiter I actually would need to increase the W1 pigment. and may need to increase the Y3 to combat the blue of the W1. Honestly, I don't know that lightening the white will do anything in your circumstance. No matter how light you make simply white you still will not have light reflecting off the ceiling and will end up with something that appears darker than the walls. This is not always bad - it is expected and appears normal when we walk into a room with all white walls. Our brains compensate for difference in colors based on light and shadows. Personally, If I loved Simply White on the walls I would paint the ceiling in the color, same brand and line of paint and just use flat on the ceiling, eggshell on the walls and satin on the trim.