There you are on a Saturday afternoon standing in the paint section, questioning yourself as to why there are so many different shades of white. We get it, you have more important things you could be doing instead of staring blankly at 10 different types of whites. But we know you won’t give up because you’re not a quitter! That’s why we’re here; to hold your hand on this quest to find the holy grail of white paint.
First thing to consider is how vast the white paint world is. It’s far and wide and can be a scary realm to enter into but when broken down into hues, it’s not too bad. Artists and others who work with colours on a daily basis can tell you that no two white shades are the same. Once you notice the complexity of the different shades of white, you’ll began to understand what type of white paint you’re looking for and which ones you want to avoid.
The type of white paint you’ll want is going to depend heavily on the type of furniture you have. Before hitting up the paint section, take a good look at the room you’re working on. What types of colours are you already using? Do you have a lot of cool palettes going on with blues, greens and purples? Or are there warm undertones to your room such as oranges, pinks, reds and yellows? If you’re flashing those cooler palettes, you may want to go for whites with cooler undertones. If you’re really digging those warm palettes, choose whites with warmer undertones as well. If you find you use mostly neutral tones, we recommend a warmer white. If you are using pops of colours everywhere, maybe try a cooler toned white. Always remember that your furnishings will change your perception of the paint. Any undertone you have in the paint you use will be drawn out by your furnishings.
You may have heard how lighting can really affect the way the paint on your walls appear. You heard right. Picking a paint colour can depend on the room you’re painting, which direction it’s facing and whether or not it gets a lot of natural lighting. North-facing rooms typically have poor, cool natural lighting while south-facing rooms have strong, warm natural lighting. In this case, choose the opposite hue of white when it comes to the state of the lighting in your room. Poor, cool natural lighting can be paired with a warm white where as strong, warm natural lighting can be paired with a cool white.
So, maybe you’ve hit the end of this blog and you’re thinking “just give me some good white paint colours so I don’t have to measure the light in my room.” To which we respond “sure!” Here are our most tried and tested, BEST white and neutral paint colours we swear by.
