Knowing Your Whites: A Guide To Choosing White Paint
"White paint isn’t JUST white paint! They aren’t all the same babe!” I’ve heard myself utter this over and over again throughout the last 9 years of our marriage.
I think now though, after flipping houses together over the past 6 years he finally understands me (or at least he pretends he does!). You see, there is SO much more to white paint than meets the eye and I wanted to take the time to break it down for you so that you could explain to…*enter spouses name here…the next time they yell at you for fussing over white paint!
Generally speaking, we’re all probably somewhat aware that some whites are “warmer” and some white’s are “cooler” based on that specific paint’s undertone (aka the underacting color that makes up the base of that specific white). For reference…white’s that are cooler have blue, green, and purple undertones and whites that are warmer have red, yellow, and orange undertones. While this is all very elementary art class knowledge you might not have known that these undertones are largely affected by the amount of natural light distributed upon them at any given time throughout the day.
Knowing Your Whites: A Guide To Choosing White Paint
We use Simply White by Benjamin Moore in our entryway.
Have you ever went into a paint store to pick up paint cards and then when you got home realized that that paint chip looks completely different in your home than it did in the store? Or have you ever walked into a space and thought WOW the paint in this room looks really green in this part of the space but over here looks actually pure white, or something similar?
That’s because natural light highly affects the undertones in your white paint to bring out different colors in your home. So even though you may have the same paint color throughout your entire house, I can almost guarantee you that it looks quite different from room to room based on the amount of natural light each room gets.
Now this is all very basic “paint know-how” but what you might not take into consideration when choosing your white paint is the exterior of your home! Did you know that the landscape that your home is situtated on can greatly effects the undertones in your paint? For example, if you live with a lot of greenery outside the windows of your home, or have a pool located outside, these green and blue exterior accents can reflect on the paint color inside your house!
For instance if you have a white paint with green undertones, this color can read even MORE green with a green covered landscape outside. But on the flip side, if you live in the “concrete jungle” surrounded by highly reflective buildings, a paint with blue undertones can begin reading a little too cold and even sometimes “purply.”
We chose Pure White by Sherwin Williams in our Flip House on Main Street.
That being said 3 major things come into play when choosing the perfect white for your home.
Natural Light - we’ve talked about this briefly but if you don’t have a lot of natural light in your home, stay away from whites with very yellow undertones. Not having that balance from natural light can cause your white to look even more yellow-y or beige-y. To avoid this try to pick a more neutral white. Some good neutral whites include: Pure White by Sherwin Williams, Simply White by Benjamin Moore, Snowbound by Sherwin Williams, and Milk Glass by Dunn-Edwards.
Flooring - it’s very important to note the base undertones in your flooring as well. These undertones will largely affect that paint color you choose. It’s important to note that when looking at the larger color palette of your home (like your floors and walls) you should still with complimentary colors (that compliment each other). So if your floors are cooler and dark try and stick with more neutral white with undertones of blue or green. On the flip side of that, if you have warmer floors, try to using a neutral white with warmer undertones of yellow or red.
Furniture - the last piece to this puzzle is to take into consideration the majority of your furniture. Again, keeping it complimentary and looking at the general undertones of your larger pieces of furniture. Do they read warmer or cooler in nature? Generally, you want your tones to compliment each other or at least tie in together. You can 100% mix match tones by bringing that in within your drapery, pillow covers, rugs, etc. But when you’re looking, again, at the “big picture” keep it simple by complimenting the floors, walls, and furniture.
These are all general rules of thumb but listen, feel free to break the “rules” and go with your gut. This is for those of you that really struggle with making a decision (especially when it comes to white paint!) because you feel overwhelmed by all the options. I get it! I’ve been there before! Another great “hack” if you’re unsure if it’s going to be too warm or too cool is to paint everything the same color; meaning your trim and your walls (and even your doors…if they’re white). By doing this, you are saturating the room in one color so nothing is clashing.
Check out our latest project over on instagram. We are working on adding some fun box moulding and currently in the process of picking the perfect white paint for that space. Click the image below to check out the progress.
Finding the perfect paint for our living room
!
As always, thank you for being here! We hope you enjoy this cozy corner of the internet. And we hope you’ll join our mailing list to get fun updates and more!
