The BEST White Paint Options

Let’s start with this Sunday Series with an important basic: WHITE PAINT.

It can be needed in so many situations - walls, trim, doors, cabinets, ceilings, exterior finishes, and on and on. It can also make or sometimes break the look of a space. I’ve seen many times where a client has wanted a nice cool-toned white to go with a gray or blue paint and ended up choosing a yellow-toned white that changed the appearance of the other paint color, and not in a good way. Or I’ve had clients looking for a good trim white to go with a light taupe color but ended up selecting a gray-toned white that clashes with the gray. It’s SO HARD! I have been doing this for years, and it’s still hard. But I have learned some great tricks and have some tried-and-true colors to share with you to help your paint-making decisions easier!

One key thing to consider is a paint’s LRV, or Light Reflective Value. This demonstrates the percentage of light that a color reflects. The higher the value, the more light reflected and the brighter the color. The highest LRV in the colors I included below is 93.586, whereas a true black color like SW Black Magic has an LRV of 3. Always keep this number in mind when selecting paint. And if you don’t know where or how to find that information, shoot me a message and I can help!

Today, I am sharing five of my absolute favorite white paint colors! In our own farmhouse that we are building, we went with Sherwin Williams Pure White for our kitchen cabinets and Valspar Ultra White almost everywhere else - walls, trim, ceilings, and doors. I love this last color for the absolute neutrality is shows - it doesn’t pull cool or warm undertones. Pure White is one of my go-to colors, also, and appears just a bit creamy and soft. The other three colors I included I have used over and over in my own home or for clients. These are all beautiful options for a nice white. Click on the paint swatch photos to get linked directly to more details!