apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you don't want to go dark (though a midnight blue would be awesome), I would try a warm yellowy-beige that is just a tad darker than the cabinets...this should make them appear more white. right?

Ivory walls the exact same color as these cabinets will help the entire space read as "white" and appear much warmer and more cohesive. You'll probably want to have the ceilings painted the same color as well to eliminate contrast.

Just take have your painter take a door to the shop for color-matching.

aaron that's what I was thinking. Maybe even something bold like mustard yellow. Definitely don't use pale grey, or anything with a blue/green undertone.

if you can't hide it - make it big


so i say roll with it, check this out

http://xf4.xanga.com/cd3d954301c34119255689/w85754750.jpg

you could go greens or browns, but with the dark grey counter and stainless appliances i like the blue in the picture

I feel like a bright cobalt blue might do the trick. It's kind of a commitment, though.

my aunt did a huge kitchen renovation and has the same issue with the cabinets being more yellow than white. so they painted the walls gray and it looks amazing. they found the right shade to offset the yellow - but, because i'm ME, i can't recall what that color is. i think they did a redder hue of gray (whereas i much prefer blue tones)

pewter. shimmery grayish-taupe. BTW, i love your cabinets!

anything with a blue tone.. i say this because i've read that using lipstick with a blue tone (obviously not BLUE lipstick) makes your teeth look whiter than those with brown tones (make them look more yellow).

Any color that has a yellow component, but is at least somewhat darker in value than the cabinets, should make the cabinets appear more white: yellow, green, orange, warm browns/tans , even an ivory white should all visually diminish the yellow caste of the cabinets. Changing the spectrum of your light bulbs may also help. If you've got compact fluorescents, try to find some warm-toned ones. Or -- and I know this is eco-unfriendly -- go to natural spectrum incandescents. Cool-colored lighting will only make it worse. Cool blue fluorescent lighting makes yellows *pop* yellower.

At all costs avoid cool paint tones and colors, especially purples (opposite of yellow on the color wheel), but also blues and bluish grays. If you want to go with a gray, make sure it's a warm one, not a cold one, or the cabinets will look more yellow, not less.

Also, get anything and everything that's true white out of the kitchen, and yes, that includes re-painting the ceiling. Anything that's a true white anywhere near those cabinet doors will make the doors look dingier and yellower by comparison.

Using color theory, painting walls BLUE make the cabinets look whiter... could be dark blue, could be tiffany blue,

The cabinets look ivory or cream, so any colour besides the stark white (with cool undertones) you currently have will let them read as "white".

You could paint the walls a warm ivory to match, or choose a complex grey (something greige?), or pick another colour you like.

You might want to test paint on large cards and hand them next to the cabinets for a few days to see the colour you're thinking of in different lights.

Oh! One other thing that might help is looking at the lighting you have in that room and how it affects the look of the cabinets. Sometimes changing the light is all you need to do.

wow, love cblls's suggestion.

Me too re: cbll's idea - that would look great I think. It's a nice looking kitchen and although I can't be sure it is a window to the right in the photo - it looks like a nice big one so it will be bright.

Take a door into Sherwin Williams so they can make a computerized color match. Like others mentioned, they should read white then.

What kind of kitchen is that by the way? It's quite sharp.

Smokey plum

as previously stated, a rich like yellow or blue does sounds fantastic!

check out these blues and yellows for a little inspiration, from past at tours.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/house-tours/at-house-tour-party-mini-tour-of-sam-rosens-loft-038555
i too am obsessed with this color, i can get enough!

and two nice blues found here.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/house-tours/house-tour-marjies-coastal-cottage-033513

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/flickr-finds/sf-flickr-finds-dityfleurs-redone-living-room-043528

hope this helps, good luck!

red!

so take those suggestions above that you like - get samples of paint and paint some swatches on your wall. the only way you'll really know is to try it out!

Donald Kaufman Color collection has some nice warm grays:
DKC-7 (pale)
DKC-16 (medium)
DKC-12 (almost taupe)
and there is a warm white that looks nice with them
DKC-5
You have a very nice kitchen, it would love these colors.

I had the same issue and painted my kitchen a blue-based red. The name was "poppy" and I think it was by Behr. I purchased it at Home Depot, so if not Behr, it was one of the others which HD carries. My cabinets do appear a lot whiter and brighter. I agree with some of the above posts that a blue based shade is the way to go.

Hmm. I am not sure, but I had to chime in. I think I am the odd one out here, but I think a blue shade would only accentuate the yellow tones of the cabinets since there is no yellow in the blue tones. If you are looking for a brighter white, I think a color that would drown out th yellow would work. I hate to say it, but green may be helpful.

But I do see that I am alone in this. Maybe I am wrong.

annaland, I agree with you. A cool color will only serve to contrast and accentuate the yellowness of the cabinets, so if you want white-looking cabinets you have to put something more yellow next to them.

Now, that's not to say it's what I would do. I think you should just go with what you have. cbill's photo idea is gorgeous. The lacquer on these modern cabinets makes the cream color seem very "new." I think that if they really were stark white they would appear too harsh.

If you eliminate anything that is whiter than the cabinets and use that shade of cream as your "white" in other accents, it will appear to be more white than it is.

Blue will not make it look whiter but that's not to say that it won't look good.

I think pewter (suggested above) would be a very good choice. OTOH, you might enjoy consulting this site for ideas. I think either of the two blues in the "Birth of Venus" palette would be great with your cabinets... which are gorgeous BTW.

http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2007/06/20/color-inspiration-from-the-masters-of-painting/

I am no color theorist, so will not join in the "blue tones" vs. "yellow tones" argument above, but it seems like the problem now is that the cabinets and the wall are pretty close together in color, but the cabinets are yellower, so they look like a dingy version of the walls. I think if you pick a color that's far enough away from the color of the cabinets, the two colors will stand on their own and the cabinets will stop looking dingy. If you like grey, go with grey. I don't know if they cabinets will look cream or white next to the grey, but they'll look like two different colors, which will be an improvement.

Fight yellowish with real yellow!

Part of my job is setting color standards for a personal care company (soaps, body sprays, etc.). I'll check our color standards booth tomorrow and see what would dampen the yellow in the white. You might not have to go so extreme.

Who ever knew that there were so many shades of white, right?

This may be absolutely stupid, but I'm wondering about the fact that the cabinets are lacquered. Does anyone think that if the surface is this reflective we might see some of the wall color picked up after all? I'm new to this discussion, so this could be the very reason so many people are voting on a yellow-based hue...

You can mash up cool blue and gray and warm grays and yellows.
http://www.fernlundlogan.com/residential-sag_house.html
Scandinavian design like this is kind of mono-saturation, as opposed to monochromatic..they often put a spot of light blue in the mix.
http://www.holkham.co.uk/linseedpaints/
this site has a nice range of complementary colors. You could add the ice blue in or use the linseed blue, which could be lightened with white.

Paint the walls the same cream as the cabinets - then they will both look white - its the contrast between the cream cabinets and the current white walls that is making them look so discoloured

i think those cabinets are beautiful.

wow--my head hurts--you guys have sooo many suggestions. Not that I don't think you all know what you are talking about, but I feel like this would be a case where I want someone to pipe up, "I'm a professional and you should do xyz"...

although the wisdom of crowds says the opposite..hmmm...this post is like a giant experiment! (can you tell it is way too early for a friday)

goonie, this is a prime example of "be careful what u wish for", lol.

ice blue/grey

Beautiful cabinets. Since they are a warmer white (ie: ivory) they will obviously never look white next to a cool white wall. I think painting the surrounding wall any darker color will make them stand out. Personally, I feel painting the wall the same color is going to result in blah, not wow. Have you considered chalkboard paint in black? Benjamin Moore makes one (called black) that is a deep slate color. I think it would tie in your counter, appliances and make your cabinets pop. You need to paint above and below the cabinets and the small wall on the left. Stop at the natural wall breaks. The color will keep your kitchen looking modern but bold and cohesive. Good luck

Lovely cabinets. I vote for the colors in cblls' link in the fourth comment.

Coral. See here: http://www.colorcharts.org/ccorg/resources/results.aspx?find=1B2N-6ARK-H019

I had the same issue with yellowish-white bathroom tile and ended up painting the bathroom Benjamin Moore's Racing Orange, which is a dark orange that looks fabulous! Link here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/monsteryoun/200414171/

Take a picture and fill in the walls in the picture with photoshop or gimp or paint.net. Select and try to use hue/saturation or use layers so the shadows stay intact.

This should give a reasonable idea for contrasting colors at least.

I love the white/ivory thing. Go with it. Black and yellow accents may be nice too.

The walls are a 'cool' (predominantly blue tint) white and they are making the 'warm' (predominantly yellow tint) white of the cabinets appear more yellow. When they are put together they usually also make one another look a little dingy.
You can keep an all white theme by painting your walls a warm white. Go to your local paint store and speak to them. Dulux do a very large range of warm whites and your cabinets won't look yellow anymore.
Painting the walls blue would be lovely but it is a contrasting colour and will make them seem more yellow.

OK....

I just had a quick consult with our production guy about this issue with regard to color standards.

You'd want to go blue, any shade. Light to dark, it doesn't matter as long as it's not such a light blue that it reads white. When you want to drab a color, go across the color wheel. Since your white is reading yellow, you'll go blue and it'll crisp that white right up.

Wow...I just read through the comments. You must be really confused by now!!!

I think the main thing is to get the two whites away from each other. Just about anything will do it as long as you don't use another white.

It's interesting how many people said "DO use blue" and how many said "DO NOT use blue"!! Your poor head!

Well Pxlchk1 sounds like the expert. I would go with her (???) suggestions, plus it makes sense.

And to add my $0.02, that is why laundry detergent is usually blue, it makes whites look whiter.

"When you want to drab a color, go across the color wheel."

Not back in the old days when I took color theory. Any color which contains none of the hue of the color you're juxtaposing it against will make the other color seem brighter. Blue tones make yellow tones more obviously yellow.

If you look at the link cblls gave:


http://xf4.xanga.com/cd3d954301c34119255689/w85754750.jpg


you see that the cabinets in it do not look white. They look yellow, because the gray is bluish.

Whereas monstertruck's link


http://www.flickr.com/photos/monsteryoun/200414171/


shows the tilework now looking white, against the much brighter warm orange-red.

Nothing wrong with bringing out the yellow in those cabinets, if that's what you want, but it's not what the OP was asking for.

"When you want to drab a color, go across the color wheel."

Oh, wait. Yeah. I think I get the wire-cross here. That quote is true if you're mixing paint If you add purple pigment to a yellow paint, it will go much drabber very quickly. Same with adding green pigment to red paint, etc. But if you're juxtaposing colors, complimentary colors make each other more vibrant. Most obvious example of this is red & green stripes in op art -- a trick of how your eye works will make the two colors appear to literally vibrate.

show us a picture of your project when it's done!

hi everyone,

OP here. thank you for all the comments and suggestions, i really appreciate them. just got back from a holiday and it's such a treat to see this post! there's quite a few good ideas here, and i'll be trying a couple of them out on large swatches to see how they work with the cabinets.

i'll be sure to update you with the "after" photo.

thanks again!
chris

ps. the cabinets came with the apartment and unfortunately, i don't know the manufacturer.