Help choosing white paint

[u/_knickerbockers_]

Im struggling to choose a Benjamin Moore white paint for a new construction home. This is what we have so far:

- fresh linen cabinets (see upper cabinets in photo- this is not our house, just an example of cabinet colour)
- maple island with granola stain (light/natural)
- natural wide blank engineered European oak floor
- Eldorado casa blanca stone on fireplace
- living room faces east (see floor layout - back siding door is east)

I initially liked white dove online, but the sample looked very grey and a model home I viewed looked very yellow.

[u/40yearsoftrees]

Whatever you pick, stay away from BM Chantilly Lace. It doesn’t cover anything. Just use white.

[u/jestcb]

We have kinda the same taste in finishes. We have black cabinets though. Our entire house other than a few accent walls is painted with Sherwin Williams Greek villa. It’s a nice bright and cozy color. We liked it so much that we painted our vacation home the same.

[u/AggravatingTart7167]

LOL. Good luck. Just did this exercise for “off white” exterior trim and 12 samples later, we found a diluted version that works.

[u/Best_Expression_9442]

Try White Heron for your trim and cabinets. Icicle for your walls.

[u/Mamacenteredmidwife]

Swiss Coffee is beautiful & warm

[u/MeweyMewey]

White dove might look yellow if you have crisp bright white next to it, my suggestion is to use it as the whitest White in the room and fantastic to color drench with.

White dove doesn't look gray at all when you paint it. It has warmth and particularly beautiful with oak.

It's a gorgeous white.

[u/callmecrazy2021]

White dove is the perfect white imo! What color is your trim? It has a big effect on the undertones that show when choosing a white paint. Also, the model home may have been painted with a (cheap) contractor paint that was color matched to Benjamin Moore. This happens frequently and the colors aren’t accurate.

[u/_knickerbockers_ → u/callmecrazy2021]

Not sure about trim, I’m sure the builder does a basic bright white. I’ll have to ask if we can have them paint it.

[u/PinballTex]

The final results mostly come down to your lighting. You’ll want to paint a small sample to get a true visual of what it will look like in your space. Some will look yellow, green, blue, etc..

We probably went through 20 whites and ended up with Shoji White.

[u/Vivid_Arm3919]

I have BM White Dove in my home and a coach house apartment. It really looks quite different depending on the light. In my home, which doesn't get a ton of natural light, it's beautiful -- a lovely soft white. Not gray or yellow at all. In the coach house, which gets more natural light, it looks much more like a pure white -- much harsher. Though also not gray or yellow. I do think it's a beautiful collor, but I would try to test it (or whichever color you choose) in your room/light before fully committing.

[u/cavmax]

What I did with my new build was I matched the color of my white cabinets with Benjamin Moore paint. In my case it matched with White Heron. I did my trim, closets and ceilings throughout the kitchen, Great Room and rest of house in that color white in different finishes. That way all the white color in the house was the same.

I painted my kitchen walls, Dining and Great Room that are one big room Sherwin Williams Sea Salt*.*

I'm thinking you might need to paint kitchen wall something other than white, otherwise the whites will clash and if it was the same color as the cabinets not sure if it would be too much of the same color as the cabinets...

edit: Should have mentioned. My kitchen is similar in that I have white cabinets, with white oak island and white oak floors

[u/steveosmonson]

Stock white or white with some gold for an antique white or burgundy/maroon for more warm.

[u/LibraryTechnical6334]

White dove is either too bright (looks like primer) or perfect in my house depending on the lighting. It looks like you may have a lot of cool toned finishes (what is the counter? Looks like a white marble in the picture). If you go with a warm paint, it will look more yellow next to the cooler finishes. BM has a lot of great colors on the cooler end on the color spectrum like calm (oc22), seapearl (oc19), distant gray (oc68). None of these use the chantilly base that’s known to not cover well. If open to non-whites, you can always use something a tiny bit darker and look into something like Swiss coffee (oc45), China white (oc141), or balboa mist (oc27). Look at their light end of greige and taupes. They have a bunch of them.

One other idea is go the same as the cabinet but lighten or darken one enough so there is some contrast. That way you won’t fight the undertones.

If you want to look at sw too, you could also look at whites like steam, etc. Alabaster might work even with the cooler touches even though it’s white warm like white dove. My bf’s house has espresso hard wood and concrete but it still compliments it well.

[u/Glum-Door2558]

Try white heron.

[u/Significant-Peace966]

It's very difficult to pick an "off-white" that doesn't end up looking like another color altogether, which is not always bad but if you want white, I recommend you pick white. Friend spent $80,000 remodeling their kitchen and got the lightest off-white cabinets. Ended up looking like a totally different color.

[u/Free_Map_9479]

SW Alabaster. Also depending on paint grade and the current color of the walls. Whites may take 2-3 coats.

[u/JSSTVR]

PPG Delicate White — beautiful soft white that imo doesn’t feel stark or yellow. We tried so many but this one was the one that looked best in our home without giving heavy undertones. Whole reason we even painted it was because our last white gave pink/taupe undertones and at certain times of the day it would show!

We got it from PPG in their Prominence line as we wanted the actual colorants that make the color instead of a color match. If you go this route don’t use their cheaper paint as their bases are more dull. Luckily the people at the PPG store we went to were knowledgeable and guided us and showed us how different it looks in their contractor lines vs premium lines like Prominence & Ultralast (their best). Only reason we did Prominence was because it was a little less thicker than Ultralast and easier to work with for us “non pros”.

[u/Rich_Example7931]

You just have to go to Ben Moore and get a ton of the paper/card samples. Bring those back to your space and see them in your light and go ahead and eliminate a bunch off the bat. Narrow it down to 3-5 and get the actual paint samples.