01
The colours clients actually chose
Four kitchens, four different answers to the same question:
- Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace OC-65: a near-black espresso shaker kitchen in Westmount, August 2026. A bright, clean white against quartz counters.
- “White chocolate”: a classic cream kitchen in Dorval with corbels, columns and lit glass uppers, September 2026. A warm white that suits the traditional details.
- Swiss Coffee: a cream MDF kitchen with deep burgundy walls, May 2026. A soft off-white that freshened a kitchen that was already light.
- White uppers, soft sage lowers: a dark cherry raised-panel kitchen in Montreal, July 2026, with the butcher-block island top kept natural.
02
Start from what stays
Painting changes the cabinets and leaves everything else. So the colour has to work with the counters, the backsplash, the floor and the walls you are keeping.
In Westmount the quartz counters stayed, and a crisp white made them read clean. In the cherry kitchen the natural butcher-block top stayed, and sage below kept the island warm next to it. Put your colour chips on the counter, beside the floor, and look at them there.
03
Bright white or warm white
Going from dark wood or espresso to a bright white gives the strongest change. In Westmount the room reads twice as big with the same boxes. Dark to white needs a sealing primer, so that is part of the job from the start.
When a kitchen is already light, a warm white is the gentler move. The Dorval kitchen went from worn cream to “white chocolate”, and the Swiss Coffee kitchen from cream to a soft off-white. Both are quieter changes, and the whole kitchen reads fresher.
04
Look at it in your own light
A white on a paint chip under store lighting and the same white on a whole wall of cabinets are different experiences. North light makes whites cooler; warm bulbs make them creamier. Look at your colour chip in the morning and in the evening, with the lights you actually use.
The sheen changes how a colour reads too, and a sprayed 2K finish has the same sheen on every door, so the colour reads the same across the whole kitchen.
05
Two-tone kitchens
Different colours for uppers and lowers, or just for the island, work well when the room has enough light. Lighter on top keeps the room open; the colour goes below, where it grounds the kitchen.
The cherry kitchen with white and sage is the example on this site. Put the two colour chips side by side on your counter to decide the pair.
06
From colour to quote
You do not need a final colour to ask for a quote. Send photos with a free photo quote, tell me the colours you are thinking about, and we settle it before the colour coat goes on. The colour change service and the projects show more real before-and-afters.