What color will the countertops be?

I'm tempted to say that a subtle color, like a light gray or greige type color, will help the cabinets stand out without being too obvious or out of balance. But that will depend on your overall color scheme and the other colors in your home.

Counter is black. I have blue and white china that will be displayed in glass cabinets along the back.
Colour scheme is cream walls, brass /gold accents, red rugs, pine furniture. I have to buy new curtains and reupholster my couch. Likely in chintzy fabrics. I hope this helps!

I would do a light grey or a light blue in the same tone (though not as dark) as your china. All white would be a bit wearing on the eyes IMO.

I would do a grey beige. That or leave it white. If you have blue, red and black then I would stay neutral. I think a gray beige would help the cabinets pop. However, my friend did her walls the same color as the cabinets or very close and it looked great.

Sounds like its going to be a beautiful kitchen!

Are you going to paint a color onto the interior back wall of the china display cabinet? If so, I would select a white that goes well with that color and The rest of your kitchen.

Hydrangea, are you asking now because you plan to paint it before everything else goes in? If you're planning to wait, then just ask the question once everything's in.

However, if you're planning to paint now, I'd choose whatever light neutral you like that you think will coordinate with everything else, especially the adjacent rooms and walls. As much as I like gray on horizontal surfaces, I'm not a big fan of gray walls, so I won't recommend that.

I have vanilla walls that are slightly darker than my creamy cabinets and I don't feel overwhelmed by that color.

Once everything's in, you will know if it was the right choice or not. You can live with it, or repaint. But you will know. I don't see how you can know the right paint color without seeing everything in its place.

Thanks, Aktillery.

Hard not to like the blue walls in this kitchen (questionable use of space for 6 plates though):

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I have 2 more days to decide :-)

Consider BM's Light Pewter. It's subtle and lovely. I think it would go well with your color scheme and would make your color accents pop.

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[Beach Style Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/beach-style-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2110) by Portland Architects & Building Designers Whitten Architects

Linelle: yes, they are painting before everything goes in, I think. But I'll double check because it does seem insane to pick colours when I can't see the cabinets installed with the correct lighting. I prefer vanilla and creams over greys. What vanilla are you using? I know you used Cloud White on your cabs (through Google searching).

Practigal: Are you going to paint a color onto the interior back wall of the china display cabinet? --> No. Everything is BM Cloud White.

I'd paint the walls unless you want a black and white color scheme. I like what Lisa posted if it's not too gray in your home. Linelle and I both have SW Antique White in our homes, but it does read yellow on bright days. Light colors absorb the reflected outside light in my home.

Since you only have two days, you better get busy sampling!

It's a gray rainy morning here and my SW Antique White walls in my kitchen/dining/living room space are looking decidedly greige. :O

I have SW-AW in 90% of my house, including the ceilings. There is one little spot in my bathroom where it looks slightly yellow, thanks to adjacent carrara and chrome. Just that one spot. Mostly though it is the color of sunshine, more of a cream/gold finish than yellow.

I would be inclined to do a light color to provide some contrast with the cabinets. In my opinion, white often looks best with some contrast. Your counters are certainly going to provide strong contrast, but I think having some color on the walls will also highlight the clean white cabinetry. Besides, it sounds like you will have other color elsewhere in the space (rugs, couch fabric, etc) so it could look a little bland in the kitchen if it's just stark black and white.

Ok, I got an extension on the paint. I only need to decide by Saturday.

Prickly - do you mean a non-neutral colour, or any colour that is different from the white of the cabinets?

For the SW Antique White - Is there a BM/Valspar/Dulux/Behr equivalent? I don't have SW here.

Meant to add that I'm painting my kitchen and FR area in BM Light Pewter. The sample spot I painted on my wall looks more blue than it does in the photo I posted above (I'm not into greige). It blends very well with the blues I have in the FR and really makes the reds pop.

Hydrangea, all my Antique White was mixed by Kelly Moore, the favored brand in my area. Most paint stores have the other manufacturers' formulas in their systems.

I tried painting my walls the same white as my cabinets - didn't like it, too stark/bland. I repainted the walls with BM Manchester Tan. The walls still look white but the few shades difference gave my cabinets the definition they needed.

I think any non-white color would be great: neutral or not.

When we had our first house built I picked out colors for each room. The builder just had the painter spray all of the walls bright white. It was blinding and so boring. If you have a choice I would suggest you go for it.

The walls here (from Houzz) are BM China White.

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[Contemporary Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Boston Interior Designers & Decorators Duffy Design Group

See photo...This way you can have an accent color in a relatively small space that would be easy to change if you decided to go another direction.

I'd do it in Sherwin Williams's Amazing Gray, a beautiful warm gray with some depth to give some contrast to trim and cabs and counters.

The way to do the same color is different finishes. For example, walls flat or eggshell and cabinets and trim high gloss. Even though they are the same color the light hits them and reflects differently.

This is also one way to go if you have an old house with uneven walls or trims. It masks the uneven planes.

I'm using SW Dover White on my cabinets and trim. I'm considering the same on the walls, but I'm waiting until I make a decision on the countertops.

Ok thanks for your input.
I'm going to bring home a few practice pots of greige and grey. I don't have SW here, so I need to use another brand.

I have to say, I'm not particularly excited by grays and greiges, but do think they'll work the best as a backdrop for some nice fabrics (which I hope to post in the home decor forum later).

Practigal: Thanks for the pic showing the painted backs. I'll keep this in mind.

Perhaps a light yellowish (vanilla?), sort of like the cabinets with the wasted space plate display you posted, maybe a smidge more intense. It would be nice with your dishes but not bold enough to look off-kilter.

But white would be blah. It's only paint, and not that much of it, so have a little fun.

Thanks, fori. I got a practice pot of BM 'honey harbour' (light yellow) and it looks good. I also got a pot of light blue, and it looks good too. So I've decided on the blue, and if it looks bad, the backup is yellow.

I got a greige and it looks very chalky and beige (not enough gray) and I just don't feel like buying more practice pots, so blue it is!