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Paint Design Dilemma Kitchens

Paint help - kitchen cabinets: monotone kitchen?

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

My walls are SW Repose Gray and cabinets are currently SW Dovetail, which is on the same card. The colors go well together but I am refinishing my cabinets (replacing doors) and want to refresh and use a lighter color. Is Mindful Gray too close to Repose Gray to paint the cabinets?

I bought samples of Mindful Gray and Dorian Gray and have been very surprised by how warm MG is and how cool DG is. They don't even seem like they belong on the same card, somehow.

They're both very close to the walls, so my question is: are the colors too close to use in my kitchen? Or does it work to have walls/cabinets only one shade different?

Walls: Repose Gray; Left: Mindful Gray; Right: Dorian Gray

Walls: Repose Gray; Left: Dorian Gray; Right: Mindful Gray

Current cabinets: Dovetail

(Had to paint my swatches with a kiddie paint brush so they could be better!)

Featured Answer

camwell
Original Author

2 years ago

FYI for anyone who comes across this post later:

I ended up going with SW 9170 Acier.

It's perfect! All the info/pictures I found online made Acier seem like it would be a LOT warmer than Dovetail. However, I relied on the fact that we use daylight lightbulbs in the kitchen plus spent countless hours comparing both colors on this site: https://thelandofcolor.com/dovetail-7018-by-sherwin-williams/ and I've been pleasantly surprised that it's very neutral in our space!

I have been living with it for a week now and haven't felt like it is too warm or too cool, too light or too dark. It's a great compromise in our specific space.

Photo for reference. Still waiting on backsplash and countertops but the new doors and paint have really transformed our space. Thanks so much to everyone who gave advice!

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Comments (9)

cat_ky
2 years ago
Please post pictures of your kitchen.
Lyn Nielson
2 years ago
photos would help, but you'll be painting the walls a different sheen than the cabinets, so that will change the look as well.

Personally, I like shades of the same color...

after all, when complete, the room won't be empty.

all of life's accesories change the look in the end.
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Lyn Nielson
2 years ago
camwell thanked Lyn Nielson
kandrewspa
2 years ago
Unfortunately, sometimes colors on the same card aren't shades of each other. Those colors are some of their top colors so they may have grouped them because of that, not because they're really related. Eider White, SW 7014, is shown as a complementary, lighter color that goes with Repose Gray on their website. You can also have the tint of Repose Gray cut by 50%. I find 25% doesn't make enough of a difference.
camwell
Original Author
2 years ago
@kandrewspa I have literally never heard that. That might be the most helpful thing I've ever learned about paint. I just assumed if I used the same card, the colors would go well together. I really don't like Repose Gray and Dorian Gray together, though!

How do I find the darker version of a color, then? Like if I want Repose Gray but one shade darker, or two shades darker - how do I figure that out?

Thank you so much!
camwell
Original Author
2 years ago
@cat_ky Added pictures! Thanks for the reminder!
kandrewspa
2 years ago
Here is the spot on their website where I am getting the information:

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW7015-reposegray

Pavestone, Coral Clay and Eider White are shown as complementary colors to Repose Gray. That doesn't mean Eider White is necessarily a lighter shade of Repose Gray. That's why I said either Eider White or Repose Gray cut 50% might work for you.

Where it shows 244 - Repose Gray it shows gradients of the color, getting darker. Mindful Gray is the next darker one. However, once again, I can't be sure that Mindful Gray actually is Repose Gray darker. Someone at the store who can see the formulas should be able to tell you that.

While I have had paint colors cut back 50% to get what I wanted, I don't know if it works in the opposite direction - can they increase the tint 50%? Probably, but you would have to ask someone at the store.
camwell
Original Author
2 years ago
@kandrewspa Thank you so much for the thorough response. I actually love the guys at my local SW store so I think I might go visit them!

I also just discovered a site that shows the colorography of all of these paint colors. I found Acier (which IS on the same card) that seems to have very similar "hue" and "chroma" to both Repose Gray and Dovetail. No idea what any of that means, but I think I'm headed in the right direction!

Thanks again!

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