9 BEAUTIFUL REASONS TO PAINT A ROOM WHITE
Painting a room white is a game changer! White is classic, clean, bright, and chic and shows off the furnishings in a room. No matter your color palette there is a white that will look gorgeous in your home. Here are 9 beautiful reasons to paint a room white.
I LOVE white! And living with white is such a natural choice for me! But just for this post let’s remove my love of living with white from the table as we chat about why you should consider painting a room white.
Let’s look at 9 beautiful reasons to paint a room white that is based on fact, home decor trends, and color theory.
WHITE IS ALWAYS CLASSIC AND CHIC
White rooms are classics! Right now white walls are still trending. Someday they might not be trendy but they will always be in style. And they exude a classic chic attitude!
A classic is a classic because it has stood the test of time. While decor trends come and go they still make the list of the best decor practices! And white is always there!
I’m a classic kind of girl! I love to live in classic style. I dip into trends for a little fun but I always wander back to my first love…styles that are classic and stay in style. And white paint in all it’s tints and shades is the ultimate color classic!
Just like a winter white suit or a white coat or a crisp white shirt or a luxurious and luminous string of perfect pearls! Chic, chic, chic! White paint is a most gorgeous blank slate!
THERE IS A WHITE PAINT FOR EVERY COLOR PALETTE
Not all whites are the same. There are hundreds and hundreds of whites to choose from.
Mostly, white falls into two main categories. Warm and cool. There is a third kind of white paint, but unless you live in an art gallery you won’t want to use a white that is that stark.
Color is VERY complex. And white is probably the most complex of all! Technically, white is a shade and not a color. But for this post, we need not split hairs.
White paint is really all about undertones! All colors, unless in their purest hue, have undertones.
Undertones are colors that are mixed into a pure color to make it more interesting! Think of undertones in white as other colors hiding under white paint that make them feel cozy and warm or bright and cool.
I think every home decorator should know about undertones. Here is a post that explains what they are and will give you a working knowledge of them. See CAN YOU MIX WARM AND COOL COLORS IN DECOR. This is a very important read!
Warm whites have undertones of yellow, pinks, peach, and other warm colors. They make white feel happy and cozy and warm and welcoming.
Cool whites have undertones of blue, green, and purple. They make white feel clean, bright, and crisp.
It’s important to know whether your want your room/ home to be cool or warm and choose the right paint color accordingly.
BEST BACKDROP FOR FURNISHINGS
White sets the stage for the star of our rooms, the furnishings! Furnishing and your color palette and texture are all amplified by white walls.
I think that is one of my favorite reasons for choosing white walls in our home. I don’t have to worry about working with the wall color as long as I paint the walls the right white. Everything in our home looks great against a white wall!
WHITE PAINT LOOKS DIFFERENT IN DIFFERENT FINISHES
We talked about how the undertones in white paint can make white look different so now let’s talk about how different paint finishes or sheen do that too!
And this is a marvelous thing to know if you want to paint a room white.
Most paints come in different finishes. Flat, matte, eggshell, semi-gloss, high-gloss, and primer. Each finish reflects light differently and therefore looks a tiny bit different to our eyes.
So if you are considering painting a room white it is also a great idea to paint the trim the same white using a different sheen. It will look slightly different but will look beautiful together.
We painted our whole home Simply White by Benjamin Moore. It is a slightly warm white that reads neutral white. Our walls are flat and our trim is semi-gloss. Because semi-gloss reflects more light our trim looks a little brighter.
If you are considering painting a room white or even your whole home, like we did, think about using the same paint color for your walls and trim.
PAINT A WHITE ROOM WITH FLAT PAINT
One thing about choosing flat or matte paint for your walls is that they can be touched up so easily. All other paint finishes, although somewhat easier to clean up scuffs and marks, are not friendly to touch-ups.
Marks and scuffs can easily be painted over on flat painted walls. We love this. About once a month Bobby goes around with a paintbrush and erases all the little marks on our walls and our home looks like it has been freshly painted.
WHITE LOOKS CLEAN
White paint has the wonderful ability to make a space look clean. When you choose the right white to work with your decor white will brighten your space.
White reflects light to make a room look brighter!
One of the main reasons a room might look “dingy” is the paint on the walls is not the right color for the furnishings in the room.
Painting a room white will solve that dingy look and make a room look clean.
WHITE MAKE A ROOM LOOK BIGGER
This is not a myth! White does open up a room by fooling the eye and we perceive a white room larger than it is.
Dark colors, although pretty and moody, have the tendency to make a room look closed in. White rooms on the other hand make a room look light and airy and bigger.
And if you use the same white paint throughout your entire house the rooms not only look bigger and lighter but your home also looks more cohesive. Because our eyes can travel from one room to another without a color break the whole house will look bigger and more open.
WHITE IS AN OPEN CONCEPT HOME’S BEST FRIEND
Painting our open concept home white was the best choice! Our home was three years old when we bought it and the whole house was painted, Manchester Tan. Although a gorgeous color, with khaki (slightly green-ish) undertones, Manchester tan made our home look closed in and dingy. Again read my post about WARM AND COOL COLORS.
What a difference when we painted the whole house a slightly warm white. Our home looked so much brighter, open, and light! And that is exactly what an open concept home should look like.
If you have an area of your home that is open consider painting it white!
THE BEAUTY FACTOR
Here’s the bottom line, white is beautiful! Not because it is any spectacular color but because of what it does for a room.
If you are thinking about painting a room in your home white I hope this helps you to consider giving beautiful white a try!
OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY…
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT USING COLOR IN YOUR HOME
6 TIPS FOR CHOOSING THE PERFECT PAINT COLOR
CAN YOU MIX WARM AND COOL COLORS IN DECOR?
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE COLOR BEIGE
7 TIPS FOR DECORATING WITH NEUTRALS
10 WAYS TO WARM UP WHITE AND NEUTRAL DECOR
I do like white walls BUT some of the rooms I’ve seen on Instagram Of people I follow also have white furniture, white shelving, white accessories and white rugs. When you look at the pictures you can’t see any definition in the room. I love having color in my rooms, not overwhelming but enough that it catches your eye.
This is a hot trend right now. The thing many “white room” bloggers are missing is texture. You are so right.
When we moved from out of town into our new build our home has stained woodwork throughout. Our previous home was painted woodwork and white walls! At first I liked the change to the stained wood. The problem was – I didn’t think that most whites looked good with the darker trim. We decided to use a very very soft yellow for the family room and kitchen, and then I chose a soft white/cream color for the other rooms. To get that white feeling I chose all creamy white draperies, lampshades, etc. A lot of my accessories are white so at least I get the feeling of whites while making it work with what we had. Oh, we plan on downsizing next year, and one of the must haves is painted trim.
White can look gorgeous with stained trim, it just has to be the white right with the correct undertones. But I bet your home is beautiful.
We are moving in to a new home soon. The entire house is painted with the original “builders beige” on the walls with white trim. We plan to paint every room white before we move in. I have two questions: 1). What color white did you use in Tanglewood and 2). I have antique white cabinets in the kitchen. Can I still go white in there? Thank you! Barb
Our home is painted Simply White by Benjamin Moore. We painted our kitchen Simply White also but in a semi gloss. Hope this helps.
So did you paint your kitchen walls with the semi gloss simply white
All the walls in our home are painted flat. So much easier to touch up. We did paint the cabinets in semi-gloss.
Loving the all neutral color pallet of your home.The white walls compliment the furnishings and make the rooms cohesive.The natural light from the windows just adds to the beauty of the rooms.
Thanks, Doreen! So sweet!
Hi Yvonne!
Would you happen to have a suggestion for a cool white paint color?
Thank you!
Cool whites can be crips but they can also be very harsh. So be careful and paint lots of samples. Decorator’s White and Chantilly White are cool whites to try. Both are from Benjamin Moore.
Thanks for this article, Yvonne. I’m ready to take the plunge and paint my entire house white. I went to SW and took a few swatch cards but none seemed to look bright enough. I read that Alabaster White was the perfect white but it seemed to be a bit dull in my house. My windows face north and northwest and although I get some late afternoon sun shining through the bay window in front, I’m always wishing for more light. Presently I have warm shades of a “French Vanilla” white but it’s just not bright enough. I’m going to go to BM today and pick up a sample of Simply White upon your recommendation. I do have a question though, did you paint your ceilings the same color and did you use flat paint for the ceilings or satin as you did for the trim?
We painted our ceilings BM Simply White too in a flat finish like the walls. You don’t want shiny ceilings.
Benjamin Moore White Dove is a nice warm white. My daughter just moved to a new home and refinished the floors in a walnut tone and used White Dove for millwork. They changed the baseboards to 5 inches due to tall ceilings
I have seen beautiful rooms in magazines such as, Veranda with painted millwork to match the wall color
Your thoughts?
Yes, that is exactly what we did with our home.
My living room walls are a dark grey and the kitchen is a suade color.
What do you suggest for a white color to paint both rooms?
Love all the valuable information.
Thank you.
Hi Gwen, it really depends on the rest of your furnishings I would try to find a white with the same warm or cool undertones.
Is your kitchen walls cabinets the same white?
Give details please.
I am going to have a white kitchen but don’t want it stark white.
Your suggestions to avoid this.
My kitchen is small. My one accent color is red with some black. Help!!!
Also in your open home did you actually use the same white through out?
Thanks.
Every speck of walls, woodwork, cabinetry, and ceiling are all Simply White. The different sheen and reflectiveness of the same paint make it look a bit different but the walls and cabinetry look great together. My walls and ceiling are flat and all the woodwork and cabinetry are semi-gloss. Hope this helps.
I love my beige & taupe walls in our house but I’m actually painting my north facing bedroom a warm white soon. I never choose white but am looking forward to it!
Just remember the undertones! Make sure the light in your room does not bring out too much yellow in a warmer white. I’m sure you will LOVE your white bedroom.
Hi Yvonne, I have been following you for years. We are building a new home and have decided to go with white flat paint for the walls like you recommend. What finish do you use on your trim?
Since we asked for flat, the builder is saying we might want to go with satin for the trim as the semi is shinier. What would you advise? We have never used flat before but agree it makes much better sense for touch ups.
So happy a friend told me about your blog. It’s wonderful
I’m getting ready to paint several rooms and I wanted a light color so I’m thinking your simply white would work. My living room has no light coming in an it always feel dark. I want to upholster several pieces and the only color I have that I will be using is a blue leather wingback chair with ottoman to match. I love getting back to blue and white. My house is opened with dining room in front with 3 windows with transom above. So a little light. I want to paint it something different but also a light color. Any ideas. My house is just too dark.
Hi Linda, if you are thinking about blue and white you might want to go with a white that is not quite so creamy as Simply White. It has a yellow undertone and might fight with the blue. Try a white with less yellow in it. Hope this helps.
I just found your blog. So informative. Could you please tell me where the rug in the kitchen is from?
Thank you
Hi Deann, welcome to the StoneGable family! See the rug here:https://rstyle.me/+-UX8bAV_8h20_no9ILyvTQ