Considering painting your house white? Whether for trim, cabinets, walls, or ceilings, these are the best white paint colors to consider for your home… or at least our favorites.
Choosing paint colors can be so tricky. Choosing the best white paint colors can be even more so.
Undertones, LRVs, north or south-facing rooms, and SO MANY options… How’s a girl to choose? Scroll on down if you just want the list of the best white paint colors, or continue reading for some background and guidance for choosing the right color for your space.
How to Choose a White Paint
First things first: white paint colors are not actually true white. To understand that, you’ll need to understand LRV.
Light Reflective Value
The Light Reflective Value or LRV of any paint is a number assigned based on how much light the color reflects, with 0 being absolute black and 100 being pure white. The higher the number, the more light is reflected.
No white paint actually has an LRV of 100, though. Sherwin Williams High Reflective White (which is one of the brightest paint whites you can get) is 93. Pretty much anything 80 or above is considered white, and “off whites” can hover from ~70-80. So you have to ask yourself how bright (LRV closer to 90) or soft (LRV closer to 80) you want your white to be.
White Undertones
And speaking of “soft” whites, the less bright the white, the more added colors (aka undertones) to soften the bright white. An “off-white” paint has some added color to it:
- blue tones – which gives you a “cool white”
- yellow tones – which gives you a “warm white”
- a mixture – which can leave you with a “neutral white”
So the question you have to ask is, which undertones are right for my space?
First, you have to consider style. Generally speaking, warm whites will help to create a cozy feeling, and they pair well with a more traditional space. Cooler whites, on the other hand, can lean more crisp and modern. These are generalizations, of course, but a good starting point if you know you prefer a more classic or more contemporary atmosphere.
Second, you have to consider the natural light of the room. North-facing rooms (in the Northern Hemisphere, at least) tend to have slightly cooler light, while south-facing rooms tend to have warmer light. So if your room is north-facing, you will want to choose a slightly warmer white paint to balance out the cooler natural light. And conversely for south-facing rooms.
East or west-facing rooms are tricky because the light quality will change in these rooms throughout the day, but suffice it to say that sunset light coming into west-facing rooms can often be orange or pink. It can also be tricky if the light coming into your home is filtered by lots of tree coverage or close buildings that might reflect their colors into your home.
Finally, you have to try the color in the space. White paints are especially sensitive to the color of the light, flooring, and other elements in the space… So I always test 2-3 colors before committing. It’s worth the extra effort!
The best white paint colors
After years of painting my own homes and helping clients paint theirs, these have become my go-to white paint colors.
Sherwin Williams Alabaster
A (Slightly) Warm White
This is a go-to for many interior designers. It’s a soft white (LRV 82) with a very subtle creaminess to it. But, unlike many creamy white paint colors, the undertones are more of a beige or greige rather than yellow. It creates a lovely, elegant space which still feels cozy. It’s got a lot of similarities to Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee.
Magnolia Home Silos White
A (Slightly) Warm White
A very similar shade of white to Alabaster, but with a touch less yellow (so little, honestly, that my husband swears they look the same š ), Silos White is also beautiful and cozy without being too warm for a more contemporary or modern farmhouse style.
Sherwin Williams White Duck
A (Slightly) Warm Off White
One of my favorite warm white paint colors, White Duck is a creamy and soft off white. It still leans beige in its undertones, rather than truly yellow, which makes for a solid warm neutral. With an LRV of 73, it is an excellent choice for exterior white paint colors because it doesn’t glare as much in the sun as something with a higher LRV would. Exterior paint colors, in general, read lighter than they do indoors. As an interior color, it reads darker than you see below but still soft and rich.
Sherwin Williams Aesthetic White
A Neutral Off White
More gray than White Duck, Aesthetic White is an excellent choice if you want a soft off white that doesn’t read warm. Aesthetic White is not cold either, though, it’s more of a true very very light greige, and an excellent choice if you have colored light coming into the space. For example, at our last home, our bedroom had only one window which faced a red brick house. Much of the light coming through that window was bouncing off the neighbor’s home and casting strange pink hues throughout the room. The off white absorbed enough light while the neutral undertones kept the room from looking pink or purple.
Behr Cameo White
A Neutral (or Slightly Cool) White
All the bedrooms and bathrooms in my home are Behr Cameo White – not sure I can give a better recommendation than that! š My favorite of the Behr white paint colors, it’s a lovely light light gray and blends especially well with Carrara marble (one of my favorite materials). It is not too cold, though, and reads as a soft true white with an LRV of 81.
Sherwin Williams Snowbound
A Neutral (or Slightly Cool) White
Extremely similar to Cameo White, Snowbound is on the cooler side and looks basically true white on the walls. With an LRV of 83, though, it is soft and elegant enough to let the furnishings and art work do the shining.
Other Lovely White Paints
A list like this wouldn’t be complete without a few honorable mentions. My other go-to Sherwin Williams white paint colors are definitely Pure White (SW 7005) and Extra White (SW 7006).
Pure White, with an LRV of 84, is a little softer than Extra White, which has an LRV of 86. Pure White is also a touch warmer. Both make excellent trim colors, though, and can either blend well with your walls (for example: soft, Pure White trim with Alabaster walls) or provide a brighter contrast (for example, Extra White trim with Agreeable Gray walls). Read more about white trim paint here.
If you are searching for a bright white, then SW High Reflective White, Benjamin Moore Simply White, or Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace are all good options. Simply White is a touch warmer than the other two, but with LRVs of 91-93, those three are some of the brightest options available.
Speaking of Benjamin Moore white paint colors, White Dove, with an LRV of 85, is similar to SW Pure White in brightness but is a bit warmer. And Decorator’s White has an LRV of 84 (fairly similar to SW Extra White) with a distinct cool flavor all its own.
Using White Paint
I hope you found this helpful! Have you tried any of these colors? Do you have another favorite? I’d love to know.
Don’t forget to pin this for later.
This is so helpful, because I’m considering painting. It is hard to know what to use, but this will guide me to better choices thank you.
So glad you found it helpful, Diana!
This is the first I’ve heard of LRVs. So helpful! Thanks for this thorough guide.
I’m so pleased you found it helpful, Anna!
Opps – correction on the color number for SW Pure White.
Pure White (SW 7005) and Extra White (SW 7006).
I found this article to be very informative. All the trim and kitchen cabinetry in my beach house is painted Extra White (SW 7006). Would I have made a different choice had I read this article first? Perhaps. But that said, I do love my kitchen. Definitely on the cool side as I have driftwood gray floors but I do think it all works well at the beach.
Oops – thanks for that catch! And I’m so glad you enjoyed the article, Lee Ann. It sounds like Extra White is probably lovely in your home.
Iām always happy to see the color and the explanation behind it with pictures! Thanks for sharing. My favorite white at the moment is SW creamy. It may have undergone a name change but itās what I know it/bought it as a few years ago. It is like whipped cream after you put a few drops of vanilla. Itās my kitchen cabinet color and trim.
š Nicole
Thanks for sharing, Nicole! Creamy is a lovely, soothing color, isn’t it?
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! We’re right in the middle of painting all our walls BM Swiss Coffee right now. We live in the Chicago area, so having a little warmth in the walls is helpful in these cloudy winter months. I’d love your opinon on something….Do I use the same color for the trim? I’ve read that a clean white-white can make Swiss Coffee look a little old and dingy. Who knew how tricky whites could be? Love, love, love your style!!!
Great question, Susan! Creamy walls with bright white trim can be tricky. I would consider either the same color for trim but in a different sheen (like they did in this beautiful home) or something at least a little softer/warmer than bright white (like SW Pure White). I hope this helps!
Wondering what āwhiteā to use in a master bath, on the walls ( and possibly the vanity) when the ceramic tile (floor and tub surround) that it will be against, is more off-white with hunter green tile accents. I am afraid too white a shade on the walls will make the tile floors and tub surround look ādingyāinstead of refreshed. The tiles are old, but homeowners do not want to replace.Any suggestions from your experience would be greatly appreciated. Thank you !
That’s a tough one! I would suggest starting with something that has a creamier base, like Alabaster or White Duck. Hold those up to the tile and see if it’s the right undertones. Hope this helps!
Hi,
I have a chair rail in my dining room. I am definitely going to paint the wall above the chair rail SW Rainwashed because I tested it in the room and love the color. I want to paint the wall below the chair rail white. Unfortunately, paint samples are unavailable right now in my area due to COVID, so I have to just choose a white. I was thinking of using SW Pure White. The trim in our house so far has been Behr Ultra Pure White (LRV: 94). Would it look bad to have SW Pure White on the wall with Behr Ultra Pure White trim? Would SW Pure White look dirty in comparison to the trim or okay? What color would you recommend with that Behr trim? My dining room has a NE window and a SE window. It gets the sun more so in the first half of the day. Thank you!
I’m sorry you’re having trouble getting samples! SW Pure White is softer and warmer than Behr Ultra Pure White… but it will probably look great since bright white trim tends to look crisp and clean. As with all whites, though, it’s hard to know for sure unless you can test it in the actual space (since lighting is key!).