At our first house, a cute 1927 Spanish Bungalow, we fought endlessly over colors choices. The fact that Mike is seriously color blind when it come to anything with a touch of green gray, didn't help matters. I think, just based on what I can remember, we must have painted and repainted the inside of that little house more than six times in four years. With quite a few really stupid quarrels in midst of it
Needless to say, the decision to go all white has saved us a lot of bickering, time, and money. I mean, painting is one of my least favorite tasks. And I'm awful at it. So once the entire house was one bright clean color, I felt an inner peace unravel inside of me. Simply retouching the walls every few months when the grime of a four boy household became all too evident.
Yet just as impossible as it was to find the right "grey" that I searched for years before, the right white might be even harder? Our last house was a generic brand of swiss coffee which I liked because it was soothing and warm with a slightly touch of cream to it. But photographed more yellow than I liked so this time around we're on the hunt for one that is a bit brighter and clean but not cool or stark. Just one of countless descriptions I've uttered aloud that make me cringe hearing myself speak to the poor kid at the paint counter. Realizing how ridiculous I sound expressing these variations. Good thing is social media offers up a lot of help in these areas, and as much as I'd like to say we found "The One" based on what provided, I'm actually headed to the local paint shop today to test one more. And then we're tearing a bedroom ceiling out.
Wish us luck.
Top contenders (based on Instagram suggestions) so far being:
Benjamin Moore
Arcadia White
White Dove
Vanilla Milkshake
Cloud White cc40
Chantilly Lace
Designer White
Super White
Simply White
Heron White
Martha Stewart
Glass of Milk
Behr
Ultra White
I let you know what we finally decide on.
Last year I painted my entire apartment the Behr Ultra White, I love it. It's not stark but photographs perfectly neutral and not yellow at all. It took me FOREVER to find the right white, I had 10 swatches on my wall for a couple weeks looking at them in all kinds of light. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI remember Morgan of The Brick House advised the same color. I'm going to test it out this week so I'll keep you posted!
DeleteHa, I saw that post on Instagram and the barrage of white suggestions. I always always use Benjamin Moore. I like thier palettes and paint formulas best, and over time sticking with one brand lets you hone what works (even though of course light and many other factors definitely change the way the color appears). You've got my two favorites:
ReplyDeleteSuper White- it's like 'art gallery white'... very stark. Looks similar to the color of a basic primer. But I love it, especially in bedrooms. And especially matte.
And then White Dove. That's the color I pick for most clients (warm but not yellow). I used it on all the trim in my own house. I use it on all furniture that I paint white. (It looks really good in a semigloss- hence the trim and furniture).
Perfect white is definitely subjective. Hope you find one that's just right, and loving following along on the house progress! (Btw... perfect black is even harder, imo).
Xox Lilly
I am partial to BM as well. It's so hard to beat their selection. But you're right, it all depends of the lighting of the space.
DeleteI still need to pick up White Dove!
And thank you for all the help you've been thus far. Still SO much ahead of us.
xo
Our current set up - BM Chantilly Lace on the walls with BM Swiss Coffee for trim. I absolutely love it; It's really subtle and I only notice it in certain lights but it keeps our place from feeling clinical and the richer, slightly darker trim around doors seems to hide fingerprints well. Also an easy compliment to the few colorful walls we have. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteyes, the cold clinical White is just as bad as the buttery yellow I'm trying to steer clear of. Seems lots of folks love the C Lace, so I've got to give it a go.
DeleteI searched and searched and finally settled on and loved B.M.'s Simply White at my last home, only to find it came across yellow-y here at my new, (old) home.
ReplyDeleteUsing Chantilly Lace, but have not yet finished painting so I won't know if it's a success until then. I'm right there with you knowing how tedious and perplexing the process can be. And it really depends on so many factors- light exposure, floor color, what is outside the windows, etc. I <> thought about painting different walls in the same room a different shade of white,, because the same color would appear different on each wall to create the illusion of seamless white. Thats when I got a grip and tossed out most of the samples. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I let it get that far though! Good luck!
Oh yes, I feel you!
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