Hey there! Thanks for clicking on this week’s video where I am going to help save you from going down the rabbit hole of the wrong white paint colours.

White walls are having a real moment in design right now. All those beautiful Instagram images of homes with white walls, black windows and open concepts have all of us dreaming of how we can turn our homes into these dreamy like spaces. But for most of us, if we painted our homes white and changed nothing else, it could mean potential design disaster.

I can’t tell you the number of times clients or trades I have been working with told me they “just want it white!”. Not realizing there are actually hundreds of different “white” paint options out there. Just look at this one fan from Benjamin Moore that is labelled “whites/neutrals”.

If you are building a new home or completing a renovation where everything is being replaced, then your options are really limitless when it comes to your paint colour selections. If however, you have existing finishes like cabinets, counters and woods that are going to stay, then you have a bit more work cut out for you when it comes to selecting the right whites to work with these elements.

Undertones in your Finishes

Your first order of business is developing an understanding of the under tones of your existing finishes.

If your home has finishes and furnishings that lean towards very warm colours like browns, reds and oranges, the whites you select for walls or trim should also have a warm undertone to them. What do I mean by that? Well if you look at a paint fan and open all the whites, you will start to see that some of the whites will look very cool with maybe a hint of blue under them, some will look very warm and creamy with maybe a hint of yellow or brown under them and then some will start to lean to the pinks. It is super important that you are comparing them to YOUR finishes, in YOUR home, not just looking at them in the paint store or comparing them to each other. You might be very surprised how the whites change their appearance when put next to your finishes. Almost all of these colours will read white when put up on walls, but if you choose the wrong white, it could make not only your walls look a funny colour, but it could also make your cabinets, counters or other finishes look really dirty or just off in colour.

One way to make selecting the right white a little easier, is to find the paint colour closest to the finishes that are in the area you will be painting and then move up the row in the fan deck to find the whitest option. This can work as long as you are comfortable matching paints to your finishes. If you have multiple finishes that appear to have different undertones, you might want to select the easiest ones to change and add them to your project scope. If your finishes don’t work together, paint isn’t going to save the day.

Lighter on the Walls

In my experience, I have also found that most paint colours WILL appear slighting darker when you are looking at a tiny sample than when they actually go up on your walls. So, if you are feeling a bit nervous that a colour might be a just a tad darker than you are after, it’s likely that that is the perfect colour for you.

It is really important to not just look at a pretty Pinterest picture and take the white colour they used and apply it to your space. You need to do your homework to make sure it is the right white for YOUR space.

I do have a few favourite white paint colours that I am going to be putting into our next downloadable PDF – so watch for it over the course of the next few weeks.

Who Lives in the Space?

Now, there is another point I want to discuss as we explore the white paint craze, and that is “who lives in your space and how does the space get used?”.

So, if you have children, big or small, understand that with white walls, you are going to be cleaning more and doing paint touch ups more frequently. White will always show normal wear and tear more easily – so make sure you are going in with eyes wide open before committing to painting your whole house white. Going with a white that has a touch of grey or brown in it might just buy you a little more forgiveness, so give that some thought.

Mismatched Whites

The last thing I want to talk about is matching whites. If you have white cabinets or white furniture in a space and you want to add in more whites, I do suggest trying to match the whites as close as possible. If you can’t get a very close match, then make sure the new colours you add have the same undertone as we discussed earlier, but maybe go further away from the original colour, so it doesn’t look like you tried to match, but missed.

And if this is still just way too overwhelming, there are professionals that can help. Whether it is enlisting the help of someone at your local Benjamin Moore store or hiring a designer to come to your home – if it means getting the white right from the start, you will be glad you did.

Until next time – happy designing everyone and feel free to reach out to me via Instagram (@flawlessinteriors) or here on our Contact Us page and we will do our best to get your questions answered in a future video.