Silly question - what color to paint a closet?

[Anonymous]

We are prepping a room for baby #2. As part of the process we cleared out the closet and took out the existing hanging structure in preparation for hanging a new Elfa/Container Store closet system in there. The closet paint (which now needs to be repainted due to patching) used to be a cream color, the same color as the molding in there and as the closet doors. All the Elfa components we are installing are stark white. My question in repainting the closet is do we:
A) Repaint it the same neutral cream color? (Which we'll need to search for a match as we no longer have that paint.)
B) Paint it white to match the closet components? (with closet and room molding and closet doors still cream - we're not changing those)
C) Paint it the color we are planning to paint the rest of the room? (Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage)

We can't decide the right answer. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I'd go with white, to keep it bright and help see things in the closet, and use a glossier paint--closets get scuffed.

[Anonymous]

i would use the color of the room

[Anonymous]

I second 1:55. We used the same whitish color in the closet that we used for trim in the nursery.

[Anonymous]

White, so colors of the clothes in there will appear true.

[Anonymous]

We got tired of white closets and painted ours chocolate brown. The walls sort of disappear, and at the same time the space feels cosier. I love it!

[Anonymous]

Unless you are putting a bright light in the closet, paint it white. Otherwise you will not be able to see the clothes.

[Anonymous]

If is it cleared out, I would paint it the same color as the room.

[Anonymous]

Our closets are white (same color as trim). And, I agree with the PPs that brighter colors help you see a little better.

[Anonymous]

white, otherwise you cannot see a damn thing. trust me.

[Anonymous]

White. I know you are not selling, but I would keep it in mind as you don't want to have to go back and re-paint the closet when it is time to list the property.

While brown might make the pp happy, I doubt the next owners will be as happy.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all the replies. Okay - so seems like white is the main consensus, which I'm totally good with as it will match the closet components.

Only thing I'm confirming is that no one thinks it would look strange to have the inside of a closet painted stark white with cream molding along the floor (molding is large) and cream closet doors? (They are wood and the folding type of doors which I'm guess I'll end up keeping folded open a lot versus closing them every time - so they are a large presence...it would be a very obvious lots of cream next to lots of bright white.) As I mentioned, all other molding in the room is also the cream, as is molding around the window and the door to the room.

[Anonymous]

Our painter painted all our closets the same color as the rooms. I was unsure about it, but he was very insistent and I loved it (none of these are dark or loud colors -- in which case I would not do it because I do think it would compete too much with the clothes -- but silver sage is pretty neutral).

Closet doors get left open a lot and somehow having it the same color just makes it feel like part of the room and it looks nicer.

The molding in the closet also got painted the same color as the molding in the room so the closet entirely matches the room it's in.

I hear about resale but if someone who buys hates the room color they wiill need to repaint the whole room and doing the closet at same time is no big deal.

[Anonymous]

I would vote the silver sage - it's light enough so you shouldn't have a problem not being able to see in the closet. And I actually do think that white will clash with your cream contrast color (esp if closet door cream). I think the sage will be lovely.

[Anonymous]

Cream moulding will contrast nicely with a white closet