Picking a white paint can be one of the most overwhelming choices when it comes to decorating your home! White paint is notorious for being difficult. How do you choose one when it seems like there are a million different shades of white on the market?
Sometimes it’s easier to have your options narrowed down for you. These are my favourite white paint colors that I have used in our home or other peoples homes. Within these 5 options there is sure to be one that is the perfect white for your home!
Picking a White Paint Color For Your Home
We get asked often what white we recommend for painting and today I have rounded up my top 5 favourite white paint colors!
White can be a tricky color to pick when painting a home because it can lean towards a color very easily. Often white will read as yellow, or even a hint of blue and green. So picking the right white for your space takes a little bit of research and some sampling on your own walls to make sure you end up with the perfect white for you!
What White’s to use for Walls and Trim
When it comes to picking separate white paint colors for your walls and your trim it seems almost impossible to pick the perfect pair!
My friend taught me a little trick that we use all the time now for picking a white for both our walls and trim! Use the same color but in different sheens!
We always paint our walls eggshell or flat and then paint our trim semi-gloss. This adds enough of a contrast to almost make the trim look like a different shade of white even though it isn’t. They blend perfectly in shade but the trim won’t fade into the wall color if the sheen is slightly shinier!
The Beauty Revival’s White Paint Color
Cloud White by Benjamin Moore
Out of these shades of white , I definitely have a favourite that we have had in our other house. I am slowly painting almost every room in this house with.
Our home is painted almost entirely with Cloud White by Benjamin Moore. I also used this paint color in my parents recent renovation and loved it there too.
Cloud White does lean a little on the cream side though, so I always recommend painting samples in each space you are painting. Lighting and the direction your house faces plays a huge part in how paint is going to “read” in your home. In my house it may look like a true white and in yours it could almost look like yellow or sea foam green so always always always sample.
Pure White by Sherwin Williams
We ended up trying a new shade of white to us in our recent renovation project and loved how it turned out. We went with pure white by Sherwin Williams. This is a much brighter white then Cloud White, but it does have a drop of warmth in it so it won’t be cold.
We loved it so much we used it on our electric fireplace project we did. It stands out from our cloud white walls now but isn’t a really stark white so it doesn’t look like a blinding white thing sticking out from our slightly warm off white walls! Thank goodness!
As an alternative to painting both your walls and trim the same white in a different sheen, we also love using pure white as a trim color. It works with almost any shade of white and gives your trim a little extra pop! Always always make sure to sample first though as each house and the lighting and decor can dramatically change the color it looks like in your space as opposed to mine.
Sea Pearl by Benjamin Moore
I included Alabaster by Sherwin Williams and Sea Pearl by Benjamin Moore. Both of these shades are not considered true white’s however if your entire home is painted one of these shades, it is still going to read as a white.
My sister and her husband recently did a Reno on their farmhouse and they added on this beautiful open concept great room. This room is very large and although she wanted it to be white we thought a true bright white would be too much in this space.
We ended up going with sea pearl by Benjamin Moore. Sea Pearl when painted on a swatch looks almost grey but I promise spread throughout an entire room it looks more like a true white but not so stark.
We absolutely love how sea pearl ended up looking in my sisters space and I would love to start seeing more homes using it!
Alabaster by Sherwin Williams
Alabaster is another white paint color that isn’t a true white. This is the only paint color I haven’t used in a large room but ai have used it on the trim in our back boot room.
I wanted a subtle shade contrast to our cloud white walls and I had a sample can of alabaster from another project floating around so I decided to go for it. I love the subtle contrast it adds with still being a shade of white.
Its almost like a muddy white with very very slight hints of grey/brown. this is definitely a popular color right now. It seems like every home on Pinterest is using Alabaster and it always looks simply stunning!
As with all these options I do recommend painting a swatch on your walls prior to committing to this shade just to make sure its the one for you!
Simple White by Benjamin Moore
Lastly I included simply white by Benjamin Moore. This is a favourite on the internet, and I have seen it in other peoples home and love it!
I do recommend with all the paint colors but especially simply white that you have it mixed at Benjamin Moore and not color matched at another store.
I have tried color matching twice, and both times mine was almost a sea foam shade of green rather then a warm shade of white. ChrisLovesJulia mentioned recently that this happened to them as well and that confirmed to me that it really is best to get your colors mixed at their original store if at all possible.
Our Top 5…
- Cloud White by Benjamin Moore
- Pure White by Sherwin Williams
- Alabaster by Sherwin Williams
- Seapearl by Benjamin Moore
- Simply White by Benjamin Moore
Bottom left: Alabaster, Bottom middle: Cloud White, Bottom right: Pure White
These colors are not great representations of what the actual paint colors look like. We always recommend getting a sample and trying in your own home.
The Beauty Revival Wall Color
Again our home is painted entirely in cloud white by Benjamin Moore minus our shiplap fireplace as shown above. Here are some photos of different areas in our home with the same paint color.
Check out more of our home decor tips and tricks
- Our Modern Farmhouse Home Tour
- Not So little Farmhouse on the Prairies
- How to Paint your Tile Floor
- How to paint your laminate countertops
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