Tips on Choosing the Right White Paint

The guest bathroom update is about 90% complete. I cannot wait to share the transformation with you! Until then, I thought I would share a couple things I learned in the process. The first thing I learned what that choosing the right white paint is way more difficult than I ever imagined (and I considered myself kind of a color snob… I blame it on my color theory class in college)! You may have seen my Instagram photo off the myriad of swatches I was considering.  Going into the bathroom refresh, I knew I wanted the walls white, but not quite white-white so here are a few things I found helpful when choosing the new wall color.

– White or ivory? Decide how dark or warm you want your wall color to be. Consider what other white items are already in the room (such as tile, cabinets, molding, etc.)

– Cool whites vs. warm whites. Kinda like the question above, this depends greatly on what other colors you’re planning on pairing with the wall. I went with an ever so slight warm white in the bathroom because the existing shower and wall tile has a touch of warmness to it.

– Compare the swatch with an ultra white. When you’re looking at a million white swatches, they all kinda look the same. If you’re not sure how light or dark a color is, compare it with a pure, bright white swatch. This is also the easiest way to determine if the color is slightly warm or cool.

Here are my three favorite swatches I among all the ones I was considering. I taped them up on the wall with some washi tape and moved them around. It was helpful seeing them next to the mauve tile, the cream marble sink, and the white mirror.

I compared each of the three top picks to an ultra white swatch because I knew wanted to paint all the trim bright white so it matches the rest of the house.

1. Rachel Whiting / 2. My Scandinavian Home / 3. Apartment Therapy / 4. nskwood.net / 5. Design Sponge