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Color Guide: How to Work With Bright White
There's a reason clean, crisp white is the eternal standard for walls. See how it can take your rooms from pallid to pleasing
Houzz Contributor. I am a former magazine editor specializing in travel and design. I just completed my first remodel, turning my crumbling 1941 kitchen into a beauty of grays, whites and natural wood. If I could, I'd sleep on the countertop. That's how much I love it.
You can also read my parenting blog on Baby Center http://blogs.babycenter.com/author/sschoech/
Houzz Contributor. I am a former magazine editor specializing in travel... More »
We are not talking here about antique white or Navajo white or a nice Bavarian cream white. They are all lovely colors and they have their place. But we are talking about white-white, the kind of white that architects love. The kind of white that's as crisp and fresh as a snowflake.
Everyone makes it. Behr has Polar White. Sherwin-Williams has Super White. Benjamin Moore has Decorator's White. The list goes on, and to be sure, there are subtle differences — some are bluer or grayer or yellower. A positively true bright white is a matter of your eye and the light, and what direction your windows face. (Bright white looks better on south-facing walls than on north facing ones, by the way.)
But regardless of minor gradations, we can all agree — even those of us who adore color — that nothing looks quite so clean and confident as a superwhite white.
So put it everywhere. Or almost everywhere. As San Francisco designer Chloe Warner says, "The only place I would never do bright white is on a ceiling. It just looks like someone forgot to paint."
Everyone makes it. Behr has Polar White. Sherwin-Williams has Super White. Benjamin Moore has Decorator's White. The list goes on, and to be sure, there are subtle differences — some are bluer or grayer or yellower. A positively true bright white is a matter of your eye and the light, and what direction your windows face. (Bright white looks better on south-facing walls than on north facing ones, by the way.)
But regardless of minor gradations, we can all agree — even those of us who adore color — that nothing looks quite so clean and confident as a superwhite white.
So put it everywhere. Or almost everywhere. As San Francisco designer Chloe Warner says, "The only place I would never do bright white is on a ceiling. It just looks like someone forgot to paint."
by Joel Snayd
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Go Big or Go Home: The All-White Room
Ceiling, floor, walls, trim. An all-white room is a blank canvas just waiting for you to make it your own. It can go old or new, modern or cottage, but it usually goes spare. Bright white is simplicity and minimalism, not opulence.
Ceiling, floor, walls, trim. An all-white room is a blank canvas just waiting for you to make it your own. It can go old or new, modern or cottage, but it usually goes spare. Bright white is simplicity and minimalism, not opulence.
by Jeanette Lunde
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Bright white goes well with sunlight. This dining room has "spare Scandinavian" written all over it.
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| A crisp, all-white room isn't exactly cozy, but it is calming. There's no distracting clutter allowed in a room like this, because everything that isn't white pops into focus. I love the contrast of this traditional painting with the modern white walls. |
by Jeanette Lunde
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Another spare all-white room. A botanical theme (reflected in the prints and the foliage in the vase) adds some earthy organic-ness to the whole thing.
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| Pop Up: Bright White With Hits of Color White is a good choice if you are a collector of objects or art. Nothing makes color and pattern pop like bright white. And it gives even kids' scribbles a gallery-style backdrop. |
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Bright white is the color of choice for an eclectic room where one color is not dominant and the eye is divided among lots of vivid shots of color. Anything else on these walls would muddy the effect.
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Vivid color, meet vivid white. You two will get along swimmingly, what with your contrasting but complementary personalities and all.
by Jill Sorensen
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Blue turns bright white beachy, especially navy blue. But turquoise does it too.
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| Vegetable and Mineral: Bright White and Wood If you want to bring out a beautiful piece of wood, whether it's a table or some trim, go bright white. Every line of grain seems to show up when wood is against white. |
by Jenny Mitchell
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More wood with bright white. The wood warms the white up, and the white makes the wood look crisp and modern.
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| The Effect Frame: Bright White Trim A bright white trim makes wall colors look crisp and clean. It looks especially good with dark colors and helps keep a room with dark paint bright. |
by Chloe Warner
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"I love Benjamin Moore Atrium White for supercrisp trim, woodwork, and picture rails," says Warner. "My favorite is when there is wallpaper below the picture rail and a slight tint above — the bright white really snaps both into focus."
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Decorator's White is the classic bright white paint.
by Benjamin Moore
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Chantilly Lace is just the teeniest bit warm (yellow).
by Pottery Barn
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It should be called super-de-dooper white.
More:
How to Find the Right White
More Ways to Design With White
An Architect's Guide to Color
More:
How to Find the Right White
More Ways to Design With White
An Architect's Guide to Color
Ideabook updated on June 17, 2012.
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