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faline_gw

Color family for SW alabaster? What nuetrals go with

faline
13 years ago

I'm painting my kitchen cabs, downstairs trim, and stairway SW alabaster. I'm having a hard time choosing colors to go with it. I want a white-on-white palatte or natural colors, i.e. cottage style. Anyone know of some whites, nuetrals, tans, etc I want to keep it light.

Comments (5)

  • canuck88
    13 years ago

    Gris is a light gray/blue that works perfectly with Alabaster.... we painted our cabs and all trim in Alabaster as well.

  • tansunny
    13 years ago

    I used SW Alabaster for all of the trim in my living room, dining room, bedrooms and hall. (Haven't repainted the bathrooms or kitchen yet-when I do, it will be there too). In addition to the trim, all interior doors and closet doors are also painted this color.

    I chose this because I went to SW and asked recommendations for a trim that would go with anything because I did not know what colors I would be using. It is a white, so it truly goes well with anything.

    In my living room/dining room/hallway, we ended up using Restrained Gold. Its kind of a gold/tan. Took me a while to get to this color, but its perfect with my rug.

    One bedroom is Reflecting Pool, another is Rose`. Those bedrooms are fairly bold colors to me, but I am very happy with them. A third bedroom which is used as an office/computer room is painted Sand Dollar which is a very light beige. The alabaster looks fine with all of these. I honestly don't see how you could go wrong with the alabaster.

    All of my colors are SW. One that was suggested to me for my kitchen was called "Online". Its like a very soft grey/blue. When I held the paint chip to something white, it seems to have a grey tone. If I hold it up to grey however, I see that it is also blue. Might be something for you to consider. I don't think I'll be going with that color. I've been trying to do bolder.

  • faline
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thank you both so much your help. It is VERY encouraging to hear that alabaster goes with anything.

    I don't actually live at the house yet that I'm going to be painting. I bought the paint but then was getting cold feet about it. I'm not very confident with color and it is hard to pick without living at the house. I'm thinking about doing walls in alabaster too but am not sure if it would be too bright. At any rate I want only a subtle contrast between the walls and trim if I do decide to do something else on the walls--another white of some sort.

    I know I don't want blue/gray or yellow tones. I would rather have tones from the brown family (I think). I like browns tans, greens (sage, olive, etc not bright). So would tend toward whites or nuetrals with these color tones if I knew how to find them.

    I love the white rooms I'm seeing online but am very nervous about doing it in my own house. Isn't that weird as it's just white! It's all the tones that have me worried about mixing and matching and having it come out right.
    Thanks again!

  • tansunny
    13 years ago

    You know its funny. I have only been in my house 5 1/2 years and I'm fairly young (31). I grew up in a house where everything was painted neutral. Some sort of beige, or white with a green tint to it. Everything is so light. Getting comfortable with color for my home was not easy. I am not good with colors, but I had a couple friends take a look at my choices before I did anything. I chose paint for 3 totally different rooms.

    What I learned is that balance is key. The reason the white trim is so important in my home (and also maybe 10 inches of white wall above the trim molding at the top) is so key is because it provides balance with those bold colors. Maybe its because my house is fairly small, but I just can't picture everything being white or off white.

    I am not sure the pictures you are using for inspiration, but I imagine they are incorporating splashes of color elsewhere in the room. Just remember, if you do all white walls, you can get away with darker furniture or floors or something. Good luck! I'll try to post pictures of mine when I can, but I usually have to get my husband to take them and its been pretty busy with the holidays.

  • faline
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Oh I'm sure I won't be able to pull off ALL white/cream rooms (even though I've seen them online and love them if they're done right). I also love white rooms with splashes of color. My floors will be hardwood, so that will warm it up a lot right there, and I will have a few aged wooden and metal accents here and there unless I decide to paint them all. It's all sort of evolving as I go along and I don't know how white it will be in the end. I love simple, clean farmhouse style and cottage (if it's not too fluffy) and will actually be living in a farmhouse. So will be incorporating rustic/vintage/aged pieces (junk!) and interesting textures throughout my home.

    The house I'm in now is fairly dark and my style until now has been dark. But I'm ready for a change, and am excited about having a light house (first time homeowner). The grass is always greener, I guess! I know white is associated with apartments, but I've never lived in a house with white walls (or very light) and want to try it out for awhile. Also, since I'm not actually living in the house yet I thought it was too risky to choose colors at this time. Next time I paint I may go with a completely different scheme, who knows. Guess I'm boring... I also prefer nuetral walls over colors at this point (even though I like other people's colorful homes). I find it easier to incorporate color through the home's furnishings than on the wall.

    Thanks for all comments so far and for helping this newbie out.