We Sampled 8 Popular White Paint Colors, Here are Our Favorites...
THE POPLAR COTTAGE
Picking a white paint color sounds easy, but with hundreds of options to choose from, how do you actually choose? I asked folks on Instagram to share their favorite white paint colors and decided to sample 8 of the most popular choices. And today I wanted to share them with you in case anyone else finds color selection difficult. And please, let me know your favorite!
I should mention that for the better part of the past decade, Garrett and my go-to white paint color has been Benjamin Moore’s Simply White. And we still love the slightly-creamy, bright white. But for the Poplar Cottage, we wanted to try a few more to make sure it was the best choice for this tiny cottage. So we sampled 8 popular white paint colors on our freshly-primed walls.
I had these samples mixed up at our local Sherwin Williams store (except BM Simply White, which we already had on hand). Some of the whites are hard to see on the primed walls, but hopefully you can still get a feel for them. Let’s have a look…
And here they are in a little darker lighting…
A couple of things we’re looking for in a white paint color…
Warmth
We always like warm whites in our homes. Warm whites have undertones of yellow or peach and usually lend a cozy and comfortable feel. Cool whites usually have undertones of blue and often feel a bit sterile. I also like the way warm whites look with brass accents, which we’re planning throughout the house.
Off-white
This time around we’re open to a little bit of an off-white vs a really bright white. A reader mentioned that stark whites can feel too modern for old houses, and I can see where they’re coming from. We’ve always loved BM Simply White in our old homes, but it definitely lends a bit of a modern sensibility to the spaces. For the Poplar Cottage, I’m envisioning a layered, cozy cottage vibe for the house, and a warm, slightly off-white could play to that.
I shot some photos with my iPhone so I wanted to show those too, since the lighting looks a little different.
Our favorites
We’ve had the benefit of staring at these samples for a week now, and Garrett and I are both liking BM Simply White and BM Swiss Coffee (maybe Simply White for the trim and Swiss Coffee for the walls…?). I also really like SW Alabaster.
Do you have a favorite?
