Decorating with White. Everyone’s favorite non-color, always classy, goes with everything, crisp, elegant, stylish….it’s just hard not to like a room decorated with lots of white, or better yet all-white. And it’s never more appealing than in the summer months, when you just crave the bright, airy, open, and light-filled in your home. White just works in the sun.
White Walls and White Trim are always in style. White walls with white trim too, although most designers like to use a different shade for each. But how to pick from the KAJILLION shades of white interior paint out there? How indeed.
Most designers don’t use anything near a pure, bright white. They love all shades of off, cream, milky, etc. with undertones of grey, pink, yellow, green and more. And they mostly love paints from FARROW & BALL, BENJAMIN MOORE, PRATT & LAMBERT and DONALD KAUFMAN . Where to buy these brands? Well, you have to have them custom mixed by someone like Frank at Eastway Paints, and that someone needs to have the color cards. Which Frank usually does, except for DK.
We reached out to a few designers for tips on interior whites to use.
Mary Miller’s White Paint Picks:
Farrow and Ball “Slipper Satin”
Farrow and Ball “Matchstick”
Benjamin Moore “Dove Wing”
Benjamin Moore “Decorator’s White”
Front Door Fabrics favorite white paint colors:
Benjamin Moore
Swiss Coffee- creamy and buttery toned verging on off white
White Dove- soft and very subtle grey undertones, clean, crisp, and clear
French Canvas- warm white with subtle green/ khaki undetones
Paper White- clean, cool, with a grey base tone
Simply White- is actually their 2016 color of the year- crisp but not stark, clean without any color notes or undertones
Sherwin Williams
Dover White- warmer white
Alabaster- creamy, not too cool, not too warm
Pure White- crisp, clean, bright
