The Design District

The Right White Paint

Posted By Lisa Radon on 01/24/2009

I know the feeling I think I want. Clean, fresh, modern white walls. Art galleries, loft dreams that date back to teenagerhood, gesso, plaster, crisp white sheets. And I’m not afraid to say that the clear white walls that dominate interior photos in design*sponge, Domino, IKEA have no doubt influenced this decision. And it’s definitely a rebellion against earthtones…especially mucky greens, that Portland, especially SE where I live, tends toward. Seen a jewel-toned interior in PDX lately?

There’s no danger of a jewel-toned wall in my little home (above). There is a room painted in a color called “brindle” which has nothing to do with the actual meaning of the word, but is a nearly indescribable brownish grey that might perhaps have a touch of purple to it. I think I’ve said before that while I appreciate a ripping good bloody red or a superfresh apple green, I am comfortable living within a fairly limited range of hues ranging from white to grey to taupe to black…the 120 year old snare drum, the honey colored floors, 1970s World Book Encyclopedia set (brown+black), an aged black and white photo, and the colors of the art we own that mirrors the objects I gravitate toward: weatherbattered redwood planks, rocks, shells…you get the picture. The color is in the plant life here and there, an iron ore-colored cotton that I used to cover one of our lounge chairs, and the books…lots of books.

The walls now, are an antiquey white. It’s a cozy color that my mum suggested when I moved in and was too overwhelmed to decorate let alone dig through a blizzard of white paint chips. I have suspected that every object in my home might feel more cracklingly alive were the walls a whiter white. And at this time of year, one feels as though any bit of reflective light one could pick up from a whiter wall might be a very very good thing during day after short day of overcastness.

from the book, The Way We Live With Color (Rizolli)

I love this interior (above) from The Way We Live With Color (Rizolli). If it’s more shabby-grand than my place, the owners’ taste in art and color is strikingly similar. But wait, those walls aren’t bright white, are they? Maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree. Hmmm.

Which White is Right?

Assuming I do go bright modern white, how do I find that right white? There’s part of me that feels like this is like cutting out a picture of a celeb from a magazine, taking it in to the hairdresser and saying, “Make my hair look like that.” The last time I did that, I looked more like Dorothy Hamill than anyone, even Dorothy Hamill, should.

Which was kind of the result when I once painted an open entryway nook a rich red. I’m just no Diana Vreeland and putting on her Billy Baldwin living room just looked like hell. At least I now follow Thales’ dictum to “Know thyself,” which is where every decorating project should start.

Baby Steps

So I think I’m a white walls person, but just to be sure…let’s test it out in daughter’s room while I ponder. Her light blue room was ripe for freshening with white walls and IKEA linens and rugs, some quick curtains stitched up from a graphic IKEA fabric.

Speaking of graphic: I love this room from boligmagasinet.dk:

Research

Fortunately, in addition to the wall-o-chips at the paint store, there’s the internet and the back few pages of decorating magazines where they typically source things like this. It’s quickly apparent that Benjamin Moore must have a wicked PR budget because their paints are everywhere: Decorator White noted repeatedly as a favorite of interior designers/stylists, as is White Dove. Also mentioned, Benjamin Moore’s China White and Cloud White.

This website breaks down whites into several categories and makes suggestions for each. For modern whites, they recommend Farrow & Ball All White or White Mountain and of course, BM Decorator White.

The blog, Desire to Inspire runs down a similar dilemma. The writer had used a Behr (cheap Home Depot brand) Ultra Pure White that was too bright, then she did Benjamin Moore Cloud White which she found too off-white (good to know…I might have leaned toward the Cloud). Someone tells her that Decorator White can read blue and suggests Pittsburgh Paints Gypsum saying, “It has a warm grey undertone to it that looks good in the dim light of the evening, but looks like pure white in the daytime.” Someone suggested RAL 9010 saying, “RAL is a universal color code used for paint and every paint shop should be able to mix this color.”

Somewhere along the line, Sherwin Williams SW 7006 Extra White was suggested.

Apartment Therapy did a top 10 whites, but 9 of them are Benjamin Moore from Super White to Cloud Nine to Mayonnaise. (Yes, Decorators White is included.) The tenth? Kelly-Moore White Shadow.

I can’t imagine anyone painting their walls Mayonnaise colored. This funny piece about the right white from the New York Times from the late 80s here talks about how a change in a name can up a paint’s popularity.

And another Apartment Therapy post on whites that are also all Benjamin Moore.

Any other suggestions? Have you had successes or failures in trying to get modern white walls in the great Northwest? I’m leaning toward Decorator White (swayed as I am by the power of marketing and a smart paint name).

Dorothy Hamill photo via msn lifestyle.

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Nice—people seem to think white is stark, but there are so many shades that comprise “white” that it can be warm or cool, depending on the tones. I personally like Benjamin Moore’s OC-65 (Chantilly Lace, a soft white, but without beige tones), and OC-69 (White Opulence, which goes a little pink and warmer).

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