My 7 Favorite White Paint Colors!

Erin Martin Design for House Beautiful

Myra Hoefer for House Beautiful

Designed by Tobi Fairley for the NYC Holiday House 2012

  White is hot!  Are you following the trend and using white to brighten up your home? If so, what are your favorite white paint colors? I find white so calming when used alone, yet  becomes so vibrate and crisp when paired with colors.

Are there secrets to making white work in a room?  Is it interesting architectural details? Texture? Addition of color? Is it a restrained palette?  Or all of the above?  If you don't have interesting architectural details you may, still create a beautiful room with a few well placed unique pieces of furniture or art.  Texture becomes really important to the success of an all white palette.  Choosing the right white is also paramount.  Just like all colors, white can have warm and cool undertones. Choosing the right undertone to work in your house and with your color palette is a must.  There are several things that can determine what undertone your white should be.  If you are starting with an empty room, things like the natural light, hard furnishings like wood floors, tile and fabrics can dictate which white is best. If you already have  furniture and will be painting your walls, furniture will be important to consider.

White is versatile.  If you get tired of an all white room, you can easily add accessories or art and instantly gain a fresh look with color. Changing out accessories is the least expensive way to give decor a different look, so this is something to consider.

In the first photograph above, color comes from the flowers which can change every season giving the room versatility.  In the second photograph, Myra Hoefer keeps the palette very neutral with only a pillow and flower arrangement adding color both of which could easily be changed to vary the palette.  In the  third photograph, Tobi Fairley designed a white room with pops of color  for The Holiday House in New York City.  The room has black and white wallpaper  within white trimmed walls, along with white sofa, white draperies and other white furnishings, but this room is definitely not void of color.  In this room white lays the foundation for the other colors to shine.  This room has interesting architectural details, but if yours doesn't you may have to  work a little harder to make your room interesting, but it can be done by  just as Tobi has done with the addition of wallpaper, interesting furniture, art and accessories. 

Below are some of my favorite white paint colors.  What are your "go to" whites?

My Top 7 Favorite Whites

“Benjamin Moore White Dove, Behr Swiss Coffee and Benjamin Moore Simply White OC117 are all consistently good for trim and work with most color palettes. Sherwin Williams Alabaster 7008, Sherwin Williams Marshmallow 7001, and Farrow & Ball (1/2 formula) ”Lime White” are my go-to whites for creamy white walls.  If you want a deeper, creamier white, I love Sherwin Williams Casa Blanca SW7571 for walls too. It is soft, creamy and luscious.”

Today I'm over at Fieldstone Hill Design with several other designers sharing our favorite whites. If you would like to know our our top white paint choices, pop over and check them out here.  Darlene, the editor & designer at Fieldstone Hill Design is getting ready to have a baby and is decorating her nursery.  Darlene thought it would be fun to ask a group of her designer friends for recommendations of favorite white paint for the walls. "If you don't currently follow Fieldstone Hill Design you are missing out", Darlene is a doll and a fabulous designer!  She is always offering great tips on design and sharing her own projects as well as those for clients.  It's fun to see what we all chose.  Some only chose one and others (I won't mention who, looked piggy and chose 7!)  Oh well, you got a list of the ones I do love! This group has a board on Pinterest called "Must Follow Interior Designers" where many of the groups projects are pinned. I invite you to follow, if you want to see more of this groups work!

Also, take a sec and check out my PInterest board dedicated to "White Rooms"  if you want to see more white room goodness!  Enjoy!

On another note, I would like to thank House Beautiful for naming me one of their Top 5 Blog  Post of the Week this week!!!  What an honor to be among such awesome company! I love to visit their site.  It has so many interesting articles. 

This week's favorite links:

• Design Spotlight: Bright Accents. [Life In Sketch]

• Amazing Dine-In Libraries. [Centsational Girl]

• 11 Summer-Inspired Art Prints. [POPSUGAR Home]

• Anatomy of a Gallery Wall. [The Long and Short of It]

• Color Palette Ideas Inspired by Nature. [Lisa Mende Design]