“How to Choose the Best White Paint”
Welcome Ottawa homeowners to your quick start guide to how to choose the best white paint for your home. We will discuss why you should choose white in the first place, which shade of white is best, and important tips for ensuring the best results.
Why Paint Your House White?
Before figuring out which shade of white is best for your house, let’s start with perhaps a more important question; why should you paint your house white? You might consider white to be boring, plain, or simple, but there’s many reasons why it’s so popular! Outlined below are three reasons why you might just want to jump on board the white paint bandwagon.
Enhance Your Space - Feels Larger & Brighter
Due to the natural light reflecting properties of white, it is often used in homes to brighten up the interior which in turn also makes your space seem larger. White walls reflect light better than any other colour, this means any natural light coming into the house through the windows gets amplified into the space and brightens your whole house.
Just as an example, think about walking into an old basement with dark brown wood panelling. Even though basements often have minimal natural light, a fresh white can brighten up the whole space simply from reflecting the light that does come through any available windows.
Who wouldn’t want to have more light in their home? Who wouldn’t want their home to seem larger?
Versatile & Timeless - Never goes out of Style & Works with all Decor
While trends have come and gone through the decades, white has always had its place. It was pastel in the 80s, tuscan beige in the 90s, coastal sand and ocean blues through the 2000s, and most recently the 2010s were full of grey. Guess what has been maintained throughout all of these decades? That’s right… white! As the past is often an indication of the future, you can feel confident that the new white you put in your house will continue to be trendy throughout your lifetime.
Another huge benefit of painting your walls white is that it works with every style. Choosing decor and furniture for your house is just as important as the paint and it allows you to put your personal touch to your space. The best thing about white is that whether you like minimalist, bohemian, contemporary, modern, traditional, or rustic, white works with all of them. Let’s be honest… we all like to switch up our furniture and style every few years as well, so why choose a paint colour that limits you in the future without having to repaint!
Increases Home Value
As a real estate investor, I’ve purchased and sold my fair share of homes, and I understand first hand the value of white interior walls. As mentioned above, white walls will brighten up the space and make it seem larger. This is important for a few reasons:
Marketing Materials
Having bright and clean photos of the property are crucial to capturing the attention of potential buyers sifting through hundreds of listings online. It can make the difference between a buyer setting an appointment or not.
Property Showing
When potential buyers walk through the house at either an appointment or an open house, the amount of light and brightness in the space subconsciously impacts how they feel about the home. A bright space is more inviting than a dark one.
Buyer Perception
If the buyers think the space is bigger, the more they are willing to pay for the house. Choosing white can subconsciously shift their thinking.
Buyers are picturing themselves living there in the future, and as silly as it sounds, if you have walls painted your favourite colours, buyers struggle to see past it. Whether they dislike the colours of your house or just don’t want to have to repaint the house, choosing white before listing your house immediately removes these mental barriers.
Which Shade is Best?
Here’s the thing about white paint - it’s never truly “white”. You can pick a random white from the store, paint it on your walls, and be completely shocked at how it makes your space feel. You thought you were buying white, but all of a sudden your walls look beige!
Undertones Explained
While you can get true whites without a hint of other colours, most whites are just the lightest shade in each respective ‘colour spectrum’. If you pick blue and keep making it lighter, eventually you get to a white appearance, but it will ultimately still have a hint of blue. Pick any colour, this is still the case. This is what an undertone is… it is a white that has a slight tint of another colour.
Warm Undertones
White paints with Warm Undertones have a hint of yellow, beige, or pink. This can create a cozy inviting space that can complement warmer home features such as wood flooring, natural stone countertops or brick fireplaces, brass and gold hardware/fixtures, wood and leather furniture, and richer earthier fabrics and accents.
Examples: Sherwin Williams - Marshmallow - SW7001 | Sherwin Williams - Creamy SW7008
Cool Undertones
White paints with Cool Undertones have a hint of blue, gray, or green. This can create a crisp or modern space that compliments cooler home features such as grey or white flooring, modern tiling, chrome and silver fixtures, metal and glass furniture, and monochromatic black and white patterns and accents.
Examples: Sherwin Williams - Snowbound - SW7004 | Sherwin Williams - Snowbelt - SW9623
True Whites
These will appear to be the most ‘white’. This can often be the safest pick if you’re not sure which style or direction you want to commit to.
Examples: Sherwin Williams - Extra White - SW7006 | Sherwin Williams - Pure White - SW7005
Lighting & Decor
While we’ve touched on what undertones are, it is important also to understand the role lighting and decor plays in your white colour selection.
Natural Light Considerations
Depending on which exposure you have at your property, your house will naturally let in different types of light. Northern exposure will let in cooler blue light, and southern exposure will let in warmer yellow light. Using opposing white undertones on interior walls can help reduce or exaggerate this effect depending on what style you’re going for. Eastern and western exposures may have extreme changes in light so picking a true neutral undertone or pure white can sometimes be the safest choice.
Artificial Light Considerations
It is important to match your light bulbs to your wall colour as well. LEDs with cool white light can look odd with warm white walls, and similarly warm yellow incandescent light bulbs can make cool white walls to appear extremely stark in contrast.
Existing Decor
Consider your largest pieces of decor and unchangeable features such as flooring and cabinetry before selecting your shade of white. You won’t want to change these items out, it is much easier to just change the selection of your white shade.
As an important reminder, test your white samples at different times of the day as lighting conditions will change. A natural morning light can make your white selection look perfect, but once the sun goes down and your lights come on, it can look completely different.
Tips for Best Results with White Paint
Preparation/Primer
When choosing to paint your house white, there are some extra considerations to make in comparison to other colours. It is even more important to prep the surface properly and ensure you prime the surface because the old colour will almost always show through the white you have selected. Any imperfections in the surface will show through with white. Whether it be flaky paint, dirty spots, or cracks in the drywall, the white will not cover this up as well as a darker colour.
Extra Coats
If you want to go with a pure white without any undertones at all, you may even have to apply an extra coat of white to ensure proper coverage. This is why sometimes even if you want that stark white shade, selecting either a warm or cool undertone can help save you money by not having to do that extra coat.
Expert Application
White can be an extremely versatile and quality option for many homes as outlined above. It can create the cleanest and freshest space, however it is critical to apply it properly. Hiring painting experts like us here at Cadence Painting can help ensure a premium application without the headaches and stress of worrying about prepping and painting yourself.
Need help choosing the perfect white for your Ottawa home? Contact Cadence Painting for a free consultation.
