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Paint Design Dilemma

White paint help, please!

last year

I am moving into a new (to me) house and having most of the rooms painted. The trim and doors are currently painted SW Alabaster. My previous house was BM Simply White, which I loved.

Hoping to keep costs down and stay with the Alabaster trim (kitchen cabinets are also Alabaster).

I thought the way to go would be to use Alabaster on the walls in flat or eggshell. But sampling whites, Alabaster looks too yellow to me, even against the Alabaster trim (which I think is satin oil based). Simply White looks the best (to my eyes).

But sampling a 12” square isn’t quite the same as painting a whole room/whole house. I’m afraid of making the trim and kitchen cabinets look yellow.

Anyone have this color combo and can tell me it will be ok? Any thoughts?

As a side note, the house is generally darker than I would like, so maybe that is why I am drawn to the whiter white. Ceilings look dingy but thinking flat ceiling white.

My other concern is that it will look TOO white. Since the kitchen cabinets are also Alabaster. Windows are a taupe color. (Considering painting the insides of the windows in living areas Tricorn Black).

Thanks for any help!

Comments (4)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
First you get a big poster board to test drive colors paint the board 2 coats and move around all over in your space and your lighting. I will suggest the lighting all be LED 4000K if keeping the colors true all the time is the aim. You never test wall color over another wall color IMO whites are hard to mix at the best of times and colors change over time too so what was Alabaster SW years ago might not even be the same out of the can and for sure not on the walls and cabinets just from years of being there . I love this color cut 25% for a hint of color but a true neutral . I use it often when new homes need to choose wall color before most things are in place .
kandrewspa
last year
No matter which color you choose it will look different on different walls in the same room and different in different rooms because of lighting. You can drive yourself crazy trying to match whites, so try Patricia's suggestion if you like green, or try BM Soft Chamois, which is a little darker than Alabaster. It looks yellow in southern exposures, but brightens up rooms with less light. Classic Gray looks good in southern exposures - no yellow. Other popular colors which are even darker are Edgecomb Gray (is a greige - not very gray) Pale Oak and Revere Pewter. You can always paint a whole wall before committing to the whole house, but remember what I said in the first sentence. Sampling is very important.
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I would bring sample paint chips to where your slab is (paint chips or sample cabinet doors with your chosen paint on it). The lighting will most likely be different there than your home light, but it should give you a good idea of how the colors blend together. I would also try to get a sample of your slab and bring it home along with your sample paint chips/cabinet doors. I would not automatically paint your cabinets the color of your home doors and trim because unless you’ve matched up your slab to the color of your home trim, you could be making a huge mistake. It’s a lot easier to paint the trim in your kitchen to match up with your cabs and slab than to have to repaint your cabinets should you find that when the slab goes in there’s a terrible clash.
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Your flooring, furniture and lighting are going to impact the final color as well. Can you tell us more about what you are going to do with the room? That would help narrow things down.
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No regrets at all. I think it looks gorgeous, especially since I have white faux dupioni silk drapes in the living room and bedroom and real linen drapes in the family room. (All have blackout lining.) The walls and ceiling are matte, the doors, kitchen cabinets, and trim are semi-gloss and there is glossy too (where I can't think of right now) The different textures are fabulous, especially in the living room where the drapes play off the matte shade. I feel very fortunate because it all works so perfectly together. I have been reading and enjoying various home decor blogs, websites and more for many years and it paid off for me when I was able to make choices quickly and find they were excellent due to a combination of natural talent and a lot of listening to and learning from others.
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I googled for more info. It appears Pigeon can be chameleon depending on your lighting. BM Oil Cloth comes up as a match. This looks more green. However, they say Pigeon can skew gray, green and blue. You need to test drive. Personally, I have not had luck color matching. I would rather use a similar BM color. Get samples and make large prototypes. Set up and see how they look in your kitchen with your light. I actually like BM Oil Cloth too.
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elcieg
last year
last modified: last year
Keeping cabs and trim Alabaster, yes, you can do the walls in Alabaster eggshell. The result will be a lovely warm room.

If you are determined to have white, yes, you can do that too. Choose a white that is very white. B.M. Super White would work well.

For the walls that are very light, but not white, and I love this look...B.M. Gray Owl on the walls.

In this photo, ceiling, trim, cabinets are all Alabaster.

With the Gray Owl walls and Alabaster trim a suggestion for a sofa color would be this green (green with blue gray undertones).
amckeon
Original Author
last year
Thanks for all these great responses! Curious if anyone has seen Simply White on walls with Alabaster trim? Want to avoid Alabaster throwing more yellow. I prefer a warm white, so probably not Ultra White for me (and wouldn’t that make Alabaster trim/cabinets yellow maybe)?

I did love Gray Owl in my kid’s room at our last house with low light. But it looked very blue in our family room with lots of light. Repainted with Simply White recently and looks amazing a wish I had done it sooner!

Part of this is also wanting to simplify. The numbers of colors and sheens ones my last house drove us crazy when trying to touch up or patch after repairs!

Send more opinions if you have them! I need to buy more poster board to keep sampling! Thx!

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