kpaquette - What you said makes sense. I guess I'm just a little bit of a chicken! Everyone in this forum seems so talented. I feel like I'm just taking a stab in the dark. Do you think it would look okay if the sink was the only white element in the room or would it look better if there was more mixing?

inlauren,

If you have white somewhere else (like the window trim, and/or base moulding) it will look fine. Promise.

I have 4 shades of white & cream in one small bathroom and the variety adds interest and texture.

Rubyfig - Wow!4 shades of white and cream??? That takes talent. Thanks for your reassurance :)

Hi, I bought a white fireclay farmhouse sink and I'm thinking of putting it with either Ivory or Buttercream cabinets. I think it looks absolutely fine. My window trim will also be white.
To highjack this thread, my dining room furniture is a distressed painted glazed ivory. The room is separate from my kitchen but you can see the kitchen from the dining room through the doorway and the dining room from the kitchen. I really would like whitish painted cabinets in my kitchen as it's on the small side. What would look better? Ivory with a glaze or buttercream with a glaze? The ivory cabinets match up pretty good to my dining room set color but is that too much Ivory? I love the buttercream but is that too many different painted finishes? I'm also doing a buffet/hutch in the kitchen dining area in a maple chesnut stain for contrast. Help! I have to decide soon .....

This kitchen isn't mine...I really don't remember where I got this picture. I think the contrast between white and cream works well because there are a few elements of white, not just a single one. It makes the white look intentional and tied into the overall scheme. I also love the way the wood in the island warms up the whole space. (I love this kitchen!)

{{!gwi}}

arlosmom - Thanks for the pic. It goes right along with what rubyfig was recommending - to repeat white in another area besides the sink. I also have a request for you. I have seen the sink in your kitchen (it is awesome!) and am dying to see your whole kitchen. Every time I think I've found a link to pictures it doesn't work! Are there any pictures I can view?

Marcy - I think I would stick with the ivory on the cabinets. I don't think it would be too much, but obviously I'm no expert b/c I asked this question!

Umm, I love that picture. Another trick: Run by a fabric store and check out all the patterns in mixes of white and cream, and associated neutrals. Choose one you like and use it somewhere to pull the various elements together. Same for linens departments if you don't do hemming. You'll see lots of whites wtih creams and beiges.

inlauren,

I bought two _different_ fluorescent bulbs 24" long and installed them side by side in my wall undercab lights that light up the cooktop counter and backsplash. This improved the eye tremendously. I thought of this myself. You can do stuff like this too. It's only a bit of money and a bit of experimentation time. I figured this out when I noticed how stores with only one type of artificial lighting always seemed so boring and drab, no matter much light (how many lumen) they had, but that stores with two types of lighting on the ceiling and perhaps a third kind of lighting as accent or focal lighting always seemed better environments to look at things in.

I have a large number of white and light color surfaces. At every change of plane, there is another color, either white-ish or light light colored. Askome fronts from Ikea (some with frosted glass), plaster, white (off white) floor tile, backsplashes of glass or mirror or light material, and soon a white (off white) Quartz countertop.

In a gallon of white paint base, a half drop of color changes everything once you paint a whole wall with it. Just like in a white painted room, your light source changes the color of the walls and the entire room. So, have fun experimenting with your light sources. You have to start buying a number of different bulbs.

The good thing is that under sunlight you get one effect and under artificial light you get another effect.

I can't take pictures of this because variations of white don't show up on photos.

hth

All great tips!

I think that, with a beautiful white farmhouse sink, which is a point of visual interest, it's fine--even beneficial--for it to stand on its own.

If you want to introduce more pure white, look for white clay pitchers and other decorative elements to intersperse throughout the room.

Yummy, I love that kitchen! Thanks for posting it, arlosmom. That's the direction we're taking more or less with a bit more wood and color. We have existing white appliances that we're keeping (new fridge, newish DW) and we didn't want to do white cabs and end up with the close but not quite match so we went for more contrast between the appliances and the cabinets. We're going to paint the uppers, and the fridge and oven columns in BM Hush, which seems awfully close to my eye to the color on the cabs in the kitchen above. We're also inserting white 1x1 tiles in our soft beige subway tile backsplash.

Cream and white, beige and white, or white on white are common fabric color combos (I used to work at a fabric store). Looking to them for inspiration is a great suggestion, rosie!

Thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for all of the tips!

I like the ideas of playing with the lighting and using fabric for inspiration.

ebse - I agree that it may be beneficial for the sink to stand out.

lisa - Can't wait to see your kitchen. It sounds like it will be beautiful!

Neither can I, inlauren ;-) but we'll have to be patient for a bit longer. My crazy busy schedule and changes in design direction has delayed this project beyond our expected start and finish dates. For instance, we went from just painting our existing cabs to replacing all of them. Talk about a design change! Still, I'm glad we've taken this direction. It will cost more but in the end, I think it will all be money well spent.

Sometimes I wonder if my kitchen will do more than simply exist in my imagination but with luck, we'll start the remodel in September.

Good luck with your project!

hi inlauren! OK, I think I fixed the link I sent you in the other post. It was no problem, I was just trying to fix the wrong thing. So this link should now work to my photos:

Here is a link that might be useful: arlosmom's kitchen

arlosmom, what color are your kitchen walls painted? Yours is still one of my favorite kitchens!

Arlosmom - Thanks again! I responded in the other post.

Pluckymama - LOL I'm so glad you asked that question because you saved me from doing it!

Thanks so much. We're pretty happy with how the kitchen turned out. It's a really nice space to work in, and most important it functions extremely well. And I'm glad I got the link to work -- that was going to bug me until I figured it out!

The walls are Ben Moore providence olive (HC-98).

I finally made window treatments for the back window, so it looks a little more finished:

{{!gwi}}

Lovely kitchen, arlosmom! I envy you your counter space in front of those windows. What a great space to prep and daydream.

Cool hood, too. I'm guessing it's custom. Wood?

What a beautiful kitchen arlosmom! (And what a clever use of the blind corner for the bath cabs).