"How Does SW Dover White Look in the Snow?"
THE FARMHOUSE
When we picked out Sherwin William’s Dover White as the paint color for our Farmhouse this past summer, a lot of people asked “how will that look in the snow?” A really valid question for an exterior paint color, but with months left before the first snow, we could only guess. But now that winter’s here, I wanted to share photos of how our Farmhouse looks in the snow painted in SW Dover White for anyone else asking that same question…
Picking the right white paint color is no small task! If you're considering painting your house white, you're probably asking yourself a whole host of questions, like... Do I want yellow undertones or cool tones? Do I match the trim color to the wall color? How will my paint look in natural lighting? What about different lighting like sunrise and high noon? And of course there are all 4 seasons to consider! We hope this post will help answer some of those questions and provide an easy white option for anyone painting their house.
About our Farmhouse
There are so many things that go into a color looking good on a home. And I wanted to share a few facts about our house for reference…
The Farmhouse is in Washington state (at about 47° latitude), zip code 98926
The front of the Farmhouse faces south
These photos were taken on November 30th at 8:30am - meaning the sun was low in the sky and the light is a bit gray and cold compared to midday
Selecting SW Dover White
Selecting Dover White was a bit of a process. I rounded up my latest inspiration for historic exteriors and then found a historic photo of the Farmhouse and colorized it. The house appeared to be a white or off-white color back in the day, which is basically what I had been imagining for it. So we selected 6 whites and off whites and picked up samples. Painting a house is a big investment so I always recommend people order samples and try a few colors before picking a paint color! And if you don't want to paint samples directly on your house like we did, you can use peel-and-stick samples (we've used Samplize peel and stick samples before and they're great).
Dover White was our favorite from the samples we tried. It's a warm white that came highly recommended from our readers and the light reflective value was good for an exterior color.
Light reflective value (LRV)
One thing you should consider when picking an exterior paint color is the light reflective value (LRV). LRV is the percentage of light a color reflects - black is 0 and pure white is 100 - so it’s a good indicator how dark or light a color will look. Too high of an LRV and the house will be blinding. Too low of an LRV and the house won't look bright and white. A good rule of thumb is to use whites in the 70-85 LRV range for the exterior of a house, though of course the amount of direct sunlight and products can affect that.
With a LRV of 83, Dover White is pretty bright but doesn’t appear blinding. Other SW white colors in a similar LRV range include Alabaster (LRV 82) and Pure White (LRV 84). All three are some of our favorite colors!
The LRV can usually be found on the back of a paint chip or online from at the paint manufacturer's website.
our color palette and products
We went for Dover White body and Dover White trim. It's a bit of a modern farmhouse vibe, but looks beautiful on this historic home. You can read more about the paint job, including cost, here. And we shared a whole post on the porch stain here.
Here's the color palette and products we used:
body: SW Dover White, Sherwin Williams A-100 exterior acrylic latex paint, satin
trim: SW Dover White, Sherwin Williams A-100 exterior acrylic latex paint, satin
windows: SW Laurel Woods, Sherwin Williams A-100 exterior acrylic latex paint, satin
deck: Farrow and Ball Elephant’s Breath (color matched by SW), PPG Flood acrylic stain
door: wood
Note that products were recommended by paint professionals including our local store rep and our house painter.
seasonal light
When you think about how a paint color will look in the snow, you need to think about how the paint color will look in winter light. I’m probably a bit in the weeds here, but as someone who photographs their house over and over again in every season, I’ve grown to really appreciate how different seasons affect the light.
In the summer months we get a greenish-yellow tint to everything due to all the leaves and greenery outside. In the fall, it’s a bit warmer yellow. The Spring is a bit yellow, but less warm then fall. And winter is my favorite. When the sun is low and there’s snow on the ground, white paint colors are magically bright and clean. Winter makes a creamy white look less creamy and more white and if you compare the photos in this post to the photos of our Farmhouse from the summer you can see it. Seasonal light is a beautiful change all year long and definitely something to be aware of when picking your paint color.
sunshine
The photos above were taken early at 8:30am before the kids had a chance to get on their winter gear and trample the snow. But at 10am, the clouds parted, the sun came out and the house looked like this.
Dover White definitely looks creamier in the sunshine, but still really pretty against the snow. I’m feeling really happy with our color choices. Now I just can’t wait to get holiday decorations up on this beauty!
