A great question landed in my inbox last week, it was from Dakota, she writes “I was trying to locate what color you have painted the trim and doors in your home? Your cabinets in the kitchen appear to be more of a creamy white, which I also have in my home. We are looking to have our entire home repainted, as the current trim is a very pinky beige white, but nothing seems to go with our kitchen cabinets. They are a linen white, but I don’t want to use such a creamy color throughout the house. How did you choose your trim color and is it less of a creamy white than your cabinets?”
Yep, my kitchen and family room cabinets are creamy white and the trim and crown in my home are painted a brighter white. I’ve had the same creamy white cabinets in my kitchen for almost ten years. I haven’t photographed the space in a few years but you can see older pictures of it here. The crown moulding and trim in our house is a brighter white (Kelly Moore Swiss Coffee). I painted my family room cabinets in a creamy white (Benjamin Moore Linen White) several years ago to complement the creamy white cabinets in my adjacent kitchen.
Yes you can blend different white paint colors the most important thing is to make sure the undertones don’t clash. It’s great that you’re giving your trim a refresh. You can choose a white that is brighter for your trim or you can stick with a creamy white paint color for your trim too. I’d avoid anything too stark white, it can come off as cold or clinical. Below are some off whites that I love, the colors on the screen appear a bit more vanilla than they are in real life so I’d encourage you to pick up a few samples and try them out in your home!
benjamin moore swiss coffee via houzz
sherwin williams dover white
benjamin moore ivory white
Darlene rounded up some decorators’ favorite white paint colors, also don’t miss colour expert Maria Killam’s article on mixing white and cream paint colors. I also shared five tips for choosing the right white paint at My Colortopia two years ago, those guidelines still apply!
Do you have a favorite creamy white paint color? If so share it in the comments!
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People forget or are unaware that it is really important to get your sample pot and tint in the correct brand of paint as the tints vary from brand to brand. From experience I found that my local mega hardware store mixes all the sample pots from the same batch of tints which alters the true colour. In my case all my sample pots had a yellow undertone (which I did not want) and it was not until I visited the actual brand retail shops did I get the correct colours in the pots. I thought it was the light in my house or other factors that affected the paint colour and was getting quite frustrated that none of the whites I selected looked as I wanted. It wasn’t until I went to an independent branded paint store for advice that I realised what I was doing wrong.
well, that explains A LOT!!!! I thought I was losing my mind?!?!?
I like Benjamin Moore better than Behr’s (my husband’s favorite) and here’s another reason.
This post came at the perfect time for me. My cabinets are also a creamy white and I’ve been wanting to paint the trim a brighter white. Maybe you could also suggest some pretty neutral….other than tan or beige…wall colors that will compliment the cream trim color. I have noticed that some wall colors will bring out the yellow in a cream colored trim work. Thank you for the helpful post!
Perfect timing. I was just wondering the same question, as we painted our new office cabinets White Dove by Benjamin Moore (and we also used this on all the trim in our basement) but our trim in the office is Cabinet Coat (just the white color-no tint). I notice a difference in the colors when I look in the room but they all go together. Now I officially know that I’m not breaking any decorating rules!
Thank you for all of the wonderful color suggestions! I am planning to pick up a handful of paint samples and start testing them out!
Noticed your post had Swiss Coffee by Kelly Moore in one part and the photo says it’s by Benjamin Moore. Which is it or do they both use the same name? Thanks
Behr Falling Snow is the perfect white–never dingy, yellowish, or bluish. It’s a subtly warm white any time of day.
We are planning to use Alabaster (Sherwin Williams color) on this mudroom
http://www.ourcorneroftheworldblog.com/mudroom-crawling-to-the-finish-line/
However, we are using PPG Breakthrough and planned to color match it. I’m now worried that might be a bad idea after reading Alison’s comment. Hmmm..thoughts?
The same color can be so different in different rooms! It’s so hard! I live in the PNW now and I’m from Louisiana. Down South you could pretty much pick your colors and go throughout the house. Here in Seattle, every room has such different light. I wanted to paint the kitchen the same beautiful warm white that’s in one of the bathrooms. In the kitchen, 12 feet away, it’s a wretched weird lavender pink color.
The light is also very different at different times of the day AND different seasons. Am I just imagining this???
Thank you for this post, I need it!
Your kitchen is so beautiful Kate, it’s still one of my very favorites in the blogosphere. For our kitchen cabinets, all the doors and trim in our house we have used Sherwin-Williams Alabaster, (which I have heard is the same formula as Benjamin Moore Dove White?) and we could not be happier. It is a beautiful white, not too bright, not yellow, just right :)
thank you for all the color suggestions. i like turquoise blue but creamy white is a really good idea, it’s well blend with other colors of our furnitures.
Cottage White by Behr (Home Depot) fits the personality of my old farmhouse. Having lived in California and New York, I have found that the light values in different geographical locations make a world of difference. Colors that I could not use in California look lovely here in the Northeast.
I was looking for a good neutral color for a repo we got – it has a LOT of yellow pine (walls, trim, etc.) that we wanted to stain dark and paint the “walls”. I was thinking Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee – I need to have something that can match both browns and grays.
I originally came through the entry/banister blog page, but I couldn’t find paint colors anywhere! Is there somewhere to look?