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Design Dilemma Home Decorating Paint

Help! SW Alabaster looks Blue on walls!

last year

SW Alabaster looks Blue on my Walls. It is not supposed to have any Blue or yellow undertones and yet it looks baby blue in all light through the day. I have it on my cabinets and it looks like a nice creamy white. This is two coats over what was a darker Tan wall (they didnt prime before but the paint had primer). My walls from my kitchen and cabinets into living room were all supposed to be the same color with
different sheens but they look so different. I am panicked! Should I add a 3rd coat and hope for the best, or choose a new color.

Featured Answer

K O
Original Author

10 months ago

The Moulding is Alabaster and Looked correct so it must have been the base color coming through even though the paint had primer in it and the painters said it wasn’t necessary to first prime. I also realized our windows in that room have a UV film on them with a tint as well so perhaps that was part of the issue.

I ended up painting the walls SW Creamy and it thankfully somehow balanced it all out! I left all the cabinets and moulding Alabaster so we didn’t have to redo it all. It somehow all works together and is doing the more tonal thing that I intended it to do.

Note to self for next time…peel and stick samples do not always tell the truth and make sure everything is primed without negotiation before any painting.

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Comments (9)

Susie .
last year
The first two don’t look blue to me, but the last one does. It is in the yellow family, but not sure why it’s blue unless it’s reflecting something (it does have a high LRV) or it was mixed wrong. Is it in the shadow of anything? I have had issues with paint mixed incorrectly, so I would double check that first. Put a paint chip on the wall and see if it matches. It should disappear into the wall if it’s the right color. If it is, then something is going on in your space. Color is relative, but honestly I’m shocked it would be blue. Maybe green, but blue is a surprise.
K O thanked Susie .
kandrewspa
last year
Since you are covering up a dark color another coat might be a good idea. Different people apply paint with varying degrees of coverage. We had a couple rooms painted recently. DH usually does all our painting. We found the pros applied a thinner coat than he does. They were using the same brand of paint we usually use. You could always just try it on one wall to see if it solves the issue. Alabaster certainly shouldn't have any blue tint to it.
K O thanked kandrewspa
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tracefloyd
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Try warmer not cooler white in yout light bulbs.
K O thanked tracefloyd
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
last modified: last year
You have to prime over a darker color. That is a color bleed-through.

You can't add another coat of alabaster. Use a primer that is tinted and then apply the final coat of paint.
K O thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
cahibiscus
10 months ago
KO, I have the exact same issue and we painted our entire house except for bathrooms and bedrooms Alabaster over a medium brown (KM Graystone). The Alabaster walls look blue. Our kitchen cabinets are Alabaster and look exactly how it should which is the creamy off white. I’m stuck and not sure if we should try to primer and do another coat of Alabaster or just choose a darker paint color that isn’t whiite. What did you end up doing?
Lyn Nielson
10 months ago
last modified: 10 months ago
I think it is your lightbulbs.

I have SW Alabaster in a bedroom... walls, ceiling and built in wall unit and I never see blue... sometimes yellow, but never blue. FYI never put bright white against SW Alabaster.
Susie .
10 months ago
If it were her lightbulbs wouldn’t the cabinets look blue also?

It’s possible that Graystone is showing through and you need to prime. Although I wouldn’t expect to see blue.

Is your molding painted alabaster or something else? Maybe being next to a warmer color is making it seem blue?
Susie .
10 months ago
Creamy looks great with the Alabaster trim. Glad you were able to solve your issue.

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