Author Topic: Help me choose white paint  (Read 5707 times)

lizzzi

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Help me choose white paint
« on: October 10, 2015, 05:36:45 PM »
So I'm painting five rooms in my house an off-white with eggshell finish, with the trim being a white-white semi-gloss. One room will be medium to light gray. The brand of paint will be Sherwin Williams. I'd like a white for the walls that is a little creamy but not yellow-looking and not beige.  I do need a little warmth in the color, but I definitely want off-white. It has to be a color that continues to look nice as the light changes through the day and evening...not something that becomes drab. I'm wondering what some of you have used and why, and if you're happy with your choices. Thanks in advance.

Frankies Girl

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Re: Help me choose white paint
« Reply #1 on: October 10, 2015, 06:33:58 PM »
http://www.stopandeattheroses.com/2011/08/perfect-paint-palette.html
^love her color pallet, and I think the Roycroft Vellum is a very nice cream shade that might be a nice neutral. She also says it is not going to look too peachy - a true cream color.

(I have a SW pale yellow on all my wall right now - SW 6900 Optimistic Yellow, and still love it after almost 10 years - but think next house, might be going either her cool silver or green as a neutral - but then I love color on the walls)

lizzzi

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Re: Help me choose white paint
« Reply #2 on: October 10, 2015, 06:52:51 PM »
Thanks for the wonderful link. I'm now in a quest for Roycroft Vellum!

jb14

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Re: Help me choose white paint
« Reply #3 on: October 12, 2015, 09:15:52 PM »
For our trim, we used Sherwin Williams "marshmallow." I used the green can (emerald interior acrylic latex) semi gloss, and love the way it looks. The brush strokes disappear upon drying.  It's amazing stuff.  Also, SW paints go on sale every few weeks, so wait for a sale! Great paint.

lizzzi

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Re: Help me choose white paint
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2015, 07:12:43 AM »
Thanks--I like Marshmallow, too...had it on the walls in a previous apartment. The  SW 2833 Roycroft Vellum is a great white, but is too off-white for this house...I've ended up with SW 7008 Alabaster for the walls--I painted some posterboards and keep moving them around to the different rooms as the light changes through the day. In this particular house, which is a small,  woodland cosy-cabin  with metal awnings...and can be dim...I needed something light...but not the glaring white of a Manhattan art gallery or the inside of an igloo. Alabaster is a light white with just a little warmth to it that picks up the warmth of the hardwood floors and seems to work well in all the rooms at all times of day. In this house it does read as a white and doesn't look yellowish. I have not used it before, so hope I'm right. I'll use SW 7005 Pure White for the trim (agree with jb14 about the semi-gloss finish--I always do eggshell finish walls and semi-gloss trim). I like the SW 7006 Extra White--a white-white with no added pigment--but it was just a little too in-your-face white for the trim in my rooms. The gray bedroom will be SW 7668 March Wind. Just seems like a nice, medium-light gray, which is pretty much the color that's already in there. Getting the paint samples and painting all the colors on posterboard was really helpful. The paint chips and looking at colors online...and reading online reviews...helped up to a certain point, but I would not rely only on that if buying paint for a major project.

Bob W

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Re: Help me choose white paint
« Reply #5 on: October 13, 2015, 08:57:47 AM »
I used to paint houses.  Painted them all the same.  Off white walls,  semigloss trim and doors.

I used to refer to the color as "China White"  and the SW people seemed to know what that meant.   It isn't beige and isn't bright white but has just enough brown in it to contrast with the white white trim.   It is similar to the dried color of many drywall muds as well. 

You are smart to go neutral.  IMHO if people notice the color of your walls you have done something wrong. 

lizzzi

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Re: Help me choose white paint
« Reply #6 on: October 13, 2015, 09:08:20 AM »
+1


index

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Re: Help me choose white paint
« Reply #7 on: October 13, 2015, 02:19:45 PM »
Make sure to sign up for Sherwin Williams emails. You can stock up on untinted paint when they run a 40% off sale and take it in to be tinted to your color of choice whenever you decide to paint.

We used SW color greek villa on all of our trim.

begood

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Re: Help me choose white paint
« Reply #8 on: October 13, 2015, 02:31:25 PM »
I have been on a quest for the perfect off-white paint. Thanks for these ideas! Natural Choice is one I'm considering.

former player

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Re: Help me choose white paint
« Reply #9 on: October 13, 2015, 03:05:24 PM »
I'm currently using Farrow and Ball Shaded White in the dead flat finish.  Love it, but it might be a bit drab for you.

I've also tried the cheap knock-off mix of the same colour.  It was a good colour match, but didn't have the same depth/richness of colour, which really showed up in the way the shadows fell on the walls - this I have discovered is a major part of what makes the off-white shades work, as they pick up colour from the light as it falls around the room.  Fortunately the cheap knock-off was only one tin, so it will be covered by a second coat of the real thing.

cheddarpie

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Re: Help me choose white paint
« Reply #10 on: October 13, 2015, 03:07:36 PM »
I just painted my whole basement this way with Valspar "Dogwood Blossom" on the walls and the whitest white (don't remember the name on this one) trim. The Dogwood Blossom looks great -- warm but not too warm -- and a few of my friends have used it in their houses too.