[martinigirl]

White is one of the hardest colors to pick for all over the main walls for a home, so I need some expert advice from someone who has painted alot of white! I am an interior designer in CA that is designing an elegant spanish style home.

I have picked out several whites from Sherwin Williams, but I just was wondering if anyone has had good luck with a white color (from any brand) that looked beautifully in a spanish styled home with dark-cherry wood beams, and dark maple wood floors. We also have a beautiful jumbo versailles stone pattern on the floor with golds, rusts, oranges, greys, yellows, etc. Very rangy, and I just want to pick the right white (no pink tones, but maybe a little yellow tint) OR should I go with a white color with a little grey tone to offset all of the rich golden/red/rust colors on the floors and celings? any opinions or experiences? I have the following colors picked out so far: SW 7008 Alabaster, SW 7556 Creme, SW 7009 Pearly White, & SW 6385 Dover White. Thanks for your help!

 

[joenusz]

It would depend on the light to me. With so many warm colors, you might do well to choose a white in the green/blue tone range to open up the room, but ONLY if the room received very little or no natural light (otherwise you would end up with baby blue). SW Topsail maybe?

Each of the whites you chose are formulated with gold, so they are all warm. If you put them in strong incandescent light they will turn into butter creams. But, if the room is primarily lit naturally (or flourescently), then each of those whites would blend well with the other warm colors in the room. The only bad thing would be if every warm color was dull in the cool light.

Also, each of your whites previously mentioned would accentuate the cherry beams because the gold in the white would blend with the gold in the maple. If that is what you want to do, stellar. Otherwise, pick a white in the red tone region to blend with the cherry and accentuate the maple. But be careful, red-toned whites can be pink in strong incandescent light.

I worked at SW, if that counts as enough experience

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[martinigirl]

It would depend on the light to me. With so many warm colors, you might do well to choose a white in the green/blue tone range to open up the room, but ONLY if the room received very little or no natural light (otherwise you would end up with baby blue). SW Topsail maybe?

Each of the whites you chose are formulated with gold, so they are all warm. If you put them in strong incandescent light they will turn into butter creams. But, if the room is primarily lit naturally (or flourescently), then each of those whites would blend well with the other warm colors in the room. The only bad thing would be if every warm color was dull in the cool light.

Also, each of your whites previously mentioned would accentuate the cherry beams because the gold in the white would blend with the gold in the maple. If that is what you want to do, stellar. Otherwise, pick a white in the red tone region to blend with the cherry and accentuate the maple. But be careful, red-toned whites can be pink in strong incandescent light.

I worked at SW, if that counts as enough experience

Wall Paint - Beauty on a Budget
Wall Paint

Thanks so much Joenusz! It is great to hear from someone who works for my favorite paint supplier! By the way, can you tell me what number Topsail is, I can't seem to locate it in either of my fan decks?!

The main room is going to be lit mostly from natural light--it has large windows on the south side, and a huge slider on the north side, and we are going to be using incandescent lighting in most other rooms-that also have windows that face north and south. I know sometimes the direction the light comes in can affect the color too much too--I definitely don't want to go with too much red/pink. I would have to say that I want to accentuate the warm tones, but not too much. That is why I think it would be nice to bring in a white with grey tones. I am thinking my favorite would be the SW7009 Pearly White. I still see alot of grey, but I think it is a warm grey? It looks good in the lighting of my own home where I have a typical spanish style as well, and lots of natural lighting.

Ultimately we will probably buy a few of the quart samples and try it out, but I thank you for your feedback!!

I will take pictures and post when we get it painted!

:thumbsup:

 

[joenusz]

Yep, no need to worry about Topsail - the natural light will make it look baby blue, and next to cherry and maple :huh: No good.

The north/south window configuration will cause a stream of natural light to flood in during specific seasons (depending on your geographic location, unless you are on the equator), so bright interior yellows are out for a fading risk. Check with SW before they tint - if SW Pearly White uses the Interior Yellow colorant, you may be at a fading risk there too. SW carries Dover White as a packaged color in ProMar 200 with minimal fading risk, and 200 is the best quality contractor paint (available to the public as well). I hope their wood surfaces were coated in a UV resistant polyurethane or lacquer :whistling2:

And be careful with grays, they often have a blue (slate) or green tint to them that will be *very* visible in naturally lit rooms. Color-to-go quart samples are a really good solution to that problem.

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