How to tone down white wood work & white kitchen cabinets?
by
Tara
+3
Hello All,
We are updating a 70 year old, small home. The work will include sanding the original hard wood floors back to the natural wood and sealing. My problem is that the walls are painted gold and all of the wood work & kitchen cabinets are painted white. I'm not a fan of the painted woodwork, but the paint is in good shape...maybe just too much contrast. I'm planning to paint the walls a lighter, creamy color, but is there a way to "tone down" the stark whiteness of the wood work and / or cabinets without making them look dirty?
Thank you!
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I would think your only choice on this is to live with it or repaint it all.
Since you already plan to paint the walls a lighter color, don't make a decision about the woodwork and cabinets until after you've painted the walls. It may be that after you lighten the walls, the white trim and cabinets will work better.
If not, you could certainly paint over both, or just the woodwork. One option would be to make the woodwork a subtly less stark white (Benjamin Moore's White Dove is actually a neutral cream, but reads as white: https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/white-dove-paint-color ).
However, since the white paint is in good shape and you just aren't crazy about it, the quickest/easiest solution might be to apply a glaze. You can judge the effect based on these before and after projects: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/glazed-kitchen-cabinets/?lp=true
I would paint the walls first,that me make the difference without touching the cabinets.
I think the change in wall color will make the white on the cabinets less stark. You may be able to find something less opaque than regular paint (tint or glaze?) - go to Home Depot / Lowes and ask one of the paint consultants.
to tone down the stark white, decide on a color of acrylic paint &
Thank you all for taking time to share your thoughts on this subject.
Tara. :)