front doors have to be yellow for me. don't care about fashion - we lost the house we wanted in 1984 [it had a lovely yellow door] and so we bought this one, painted the door yellow, and it's been that way ever since. i hate my yellow walls in the kitchen, though. they've got to go...

If your contractor is preparing them - ie sanding back - then you could maybe use Neptune Isoguard treatment oil. I've used the seasoned oak finish ( on an oak floor admittedly - not Pine) and it gives a lovely whitened wood finish similar to their Henley kitchen colour - but you can put more on or less to alter the effect ?! It's in our lounge - so pretty high traffic - and stands up well ! It's a bit expensive ... But worth it in my experience!

I personally would not use any brand of eggshell paint on a kitchen cupboard, it is not robust enough for the job. Gloss or satinwood is what you should be looking at. I've always used Dulux, but have recently defected to Valspar ( crown ) at B&Q due to issues with colour mixing, colour matching. We have just painted our utility room using this including plastic pipework. It's holding up great. ( Valspar for wood and metal is what i've used ) - Just get a good all round primer which will be dictated to by the type of cupboard door you have - The Armstead range of primers at Dulux trade centres is great paint.

I like Crown's Sail White in a Matt Emulsion. We have used it in several rooms and it has worked everywhere. It does not have a grey, pink or yellowy undertone and would go well with pebble grey.