I love simply white.

I think that whatever white you pick, you will be happy with it. The reason I say that is because we had found a color we liked (City loft by sherwin williams) in a house we built. we loved it. It is white with maybe a bit of grey in it.
BUT everything depends on what it is next to. If it is against something that is not white, ie wood floors, black granite, wood cabinets, furniture, anything - it looks White. basic white. I don't think the naked eye would be able to tell otherwise.

Try looking at pictures of rooms with that paint color in it either on the paint company's website or you could try Houzz.com.

I think white is easy=), you just can't go wrong. Don't worry. And if you really feel like you need to see what it looks like, just buy a quart and paint some poster board=). If you paint white poster board, it may or may not look white. if you paint any other color poster board - it will look white. =). dont' worry - it will all be beautiful (and over soon).

Simply White is very popular. I also liked Cotton Balls. My favorite (which we used) is BM Mascarpone. A beautiful creamy white : )

i believe north east facing = less afternoon light. I would go with simply white also :)

Thank you all!

@lesyeuxbleu, this is what I was thinking! I really don't think I will be able to tell the difference and I think I will be happy with the transformation no matter the color.

@2littlefishies, I have Mascarpone in my bathroom right now. It is a very nice color but too off-white for the cabinets for me.

Thanks again to all who replied! Makes me feel at ease.

Decorator's white is fool proof. I have it in my kitchen and love it. I seems a perfect all purpose white.

I have Marscarpone in my basement and there is quite a lot of yellow in it. Be careful

Good Luck.

Mascarpone, while a yummy color, had too much yellow in it to be my white cab color. I used BM Simply White. It's a very clean white. The formula is pure white with a couple of drops of black. I'm very happy with my cab color!

Another vote for Simply White! I am doing all my trim, baseboards, interior doors, ceiling, fireplace in Simply White and love it. My kitchen cabs are a different white that my cabinet guy offered (I don't even think it has a name) but just happened to be a very very close match to Simply White.

I AGONIZED over picking just the "right" white. Not again. If there is a next time, I would use SW again in a heartbeat!

Good luck! Whatever you choose will be great I am sure!

I've had BM White Dove in the last 2 kitchens. Beautiful color. The oil based tends to turn very creamy after a couple months, though, which is not a bad thing necessarily.

I chose Simply White after looking at various samples provided by my cabinet maker. White Dove is his most popular, he said, but in my space it looked very grey.

Keep in mind colors look different depending on what is next to it. If you have taupe-ish yellowy counters and flooring, i would make sure you choose a white that goes with that as it sounds like you are not planning to change counters right now. White dove may not be a good choice, it may have too much grey in it.

I also have warm counters (calacatta marble with a lot of coffee colored swirls) and ruled out White Dove as it looked too grey and dingy next to the marble. I also checked Mascarpone but it was too warm/yellow against the marble. I also went with Simply White and like the color. It is white and in a north facing room should brighten things up.

Pic of white below. For context, this room as a southern exposure.

My cabs are Cloud White, but Simply White was my second choice. It's a beautiful soft white and I know I would have been equally happy choosing it. In my kitchen lighting, there was very little separating them but a coin toss.

If you prefer SW paint or it's more convenient, Westhighland White is a nice choice. I'd caution you against choosing a white based on kitchen photos. Invariably, the whites look whiter and brighter in pictures than IRL.

Thank you all so much! Love all the pics. It seems as though Simply White might be the way to go.

@babushka, I had the same thought re: White Dove being a little to gray with my counters. You are right in that we aren't changing the counters at this juncture. Just painting to update the space. Your kitchen is lovely!

@breezygirl, love your kitchen too! Love the counters especially. That is what I want to do one day...

@blackchamois, I am thinking I should use SW as my go to white for all trim, fireplace, etc. throughout the house. Glad you love it!

Can't wait to transform the kitchen! Even though I am not doing a full reno, I will be sure and post before and after pics.

Thanks! I like Simply White so much that I ended up using it as the trim and door color for my whole house. In thinking about this more tonight, I do think Simply White is your best bet for a simple, clean white. White Dove, while some folks love it, sounds like it can read much differently in different lights for folks. I had the experience of it looking gray with a sickly yellowy-green undertone. It was horrible, and it sounds like others saw a color other than white also. If you cannot test samples in the light of your new kitchen, I think you're better off going safe with a simple white that will read white in every space.

Good luck, and please do post pics for us!

Just to update. We have decided for the sake of our budget to live with the taupe for a while. We are doing a whole interior paint, which will cost quite a bit of $. So, we will remove the wallpaper and paint, as well as replace the hardware. Just for reference, here are a few pics of the kitchen:

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

We are pretty bold with colors, so we are thinking chocolate brown paint in the kitchen and then a fun wallpaper in the breakfast area. I will be sure and update once we get in the house!