How To Pick The Perfect White Paint Color
I get asked this question SO much- “how do I pick the perfect white paint color for my space?”. When I moved into my apartment, I was on a quest to find the perfect shade of white. All the walls/rooms were different shades of white and everything needed a major refresh. I soon realized that spaces, lighting, and preferences all played a huge role in finding the perfect white.
Tip 1: Map out the room
Whether you have furniture in the space or plan on redecorating, it’s important to know if the space will be filled with warm or cool tones. If warm, you will want whites with a warm undertone (pink, orange, red). If cool, you will want a white with a purple, blue, or green undertone. Flooring also plays a huge role in this as well. Make sure to note if your flooring is on the warm or cool toned side.
Tip 2: Know the undertones
Relating back to tip 1, white paint can come in bluish, reddish, yellowish, and even greenish undertones. I recommend going to your local paint store, getting a variety of swatches and holding them up against a white sheet of paper. That will help you identify the undertones. I will then narrow my swatches down to 3-6 shades and purchase the paint in sample sizes.
Tip 3: Lighting is key
Once I have my top swatches in sample sizes, I will paint small swatches on one of the walls I plan on painting. I like to do this in the morning so I can see how the swatches look at different times of the day. Color is a phenomenon of light, the amount of natural and artificial light in the room will impact the tone of the walls. The paint swatches always look different once painted on the wall. Having a few different paint samples will limit the amount of times you need to go to the paint store. I learned that the hard way in the past haha
Tip 4: When in doubt, use a cheat sheet
If you’re still having a hard time deciding what white paint you should use, see below for my go-to’s:
Benjamin Moore- Chantilly Lace (this is the color I used in my entire apartment)
Benjamin Moore- White Dove
Benjamin Moore- Swiss Coffee
Behr- Polar Bear (I used this color in my Grandpa’s room makeover here!)
xx
Drew