I only have BM's popular whites folder so I'm only seeing atrium white and white dove. Of the two I prefer the atrium white - somehow it looks cleaner to my eyes.

They should be able to match the SW antique white with a BM paint if you ask them too since you know you like that. I know they can if you have a sample, but I think that even without one they can look it up and do a match.

It is so hard to pick whites. I have painters here right now and they are caulking and I have two samples on the cupboards. They are P&L colors mixed in BM paint. Our BM store also carries P&L . I don't have to decide till morning and I'll be agonizing all night.LOL
I have P&L Seed Pearl which is a pretty neutral white, slightly darker and softer than a stark white. The other one I'm considering is P&L Silver Lining which is a slightly warmer white than seed pearl. It does have a very very slight yellow to it , but still pretty white. I made the mistake of picking too yellow a white when we built and oil paint will yellow and so now it looks more cream than white. I don't want to make that mistake again.
According to colorcharts, BM Mountain peak white is a 96.8% match to silver lining or your store could match it.
People here have posted that White Dove is a cool white and goes better with cool colors. It goes kind of gray.

I do have the SW interior whites and lights folder and antique white is in it. To me it looks more like a beige yellow than a white. Color charts says that BM oatmeal is a 95.4% match to it.
Does your friends trim look white? On my chart it looks as dark as oatmeal and not white at all.

Good luck.

I just use plain old white. The off-whites look a little dirty to me.

I have BM atrium white and wish I didn't. It's a decent off-white with a bit of pink undertone, but here's my problem with it which may or may not affect you. I'd like the moldings to really look crisp, but they look kind of like a lighter shade of my Pittsburg wheat sheaf wall color. Plus, the atrium white moldings don't go with my slightly whiter kitchen cabinets very well nor with the standard whites available for plantation shutters, blinds, windows, etc. So if that might be an issue for you, hope this helps. I'm not familiar with the other whites you mentioned. For what it's worth, you're wise to take awhile on this one--I had chosen another white and the builder switched to atrium white. Argh....someday, I'll redo them though, and it's certainly not life and death.

I have cloud white as a trim and on bath walls. It has a slight grayish tint to it. Hope this helps.

Don't know if you have Donald Kaufman paints, but, I hear white #5 is a great white that goes with everything.

I have Dove White on the walls and trim of one of my bedrooms. It does read grayish white which is why I choose it for that room. The accent color in the room is gray.

Here a silly question. Have you considered just plain old Classic White from BM? It's what I'm using in most of my house. I really like it.

Not sure what you mean by "off white"? Simply White is just a plain, creamy white--we have it in our kitchen and on our front door. California Paints "Jewett White" is a really nice antique, "off-white"--we have it in our dining room.

I chose Restoration Hardware "The Right White" It's white but not stark! I tried to do a color match online for BM paint but there wasn't one. Just with my untrained eye...on the BM fandeck, I think White Dove is pretty close to it. Or maybe White Heron.

You could see if your paint store has Restoration Hardware colors in their computer.

Good Luck

Check out bungalow_house's thread on her "Van Cortland Blue" bathroom. She used "Lancaster White," which is a really nice white, as well.

I have BM Bone White on all the trim/doors in my house. I really like it and I had an interior decorator/color consultant tell me that this was a great choice for trim. My DR is painted red with Bone White trim and waincotting-it reads as a true white in this room.

I have also been told that White Dove is a great choice-

Good luck!

If you have Dunn Edwards in your area, Swiss Coffee is a nice white. No pink/blue/yellow undertones. We used it for our ceilings, trim and cupboards in our Tucson house.

I remember agonizing over the whites too. I ended up with BM Sebring White which I love. I prefer the cooler whites since I live in the south where it almost always feels hot, and I was using enamel and my painter and the BM people told me enamel would yellow over time and a cool white would show the yellowing less. I also have a huge amount of natural light which also contributed to a choosing a cool white. My wall colors in the living spaces were BM Morning Dew and Hazy Skies, and blues and greens in the bedrooms and baths. Your wall colors will significantly affect the shade of white you choose. Good luck.

RH's The Right White is lovely. It has been used on the trim in RH stores. The BenM match is Super White.

I did mine the easy way. I color matched my prefinished white windows. That color was too gray, so I went with one slightly whiter.

I have BM Linen White, not too white not too cream.

Thanks for all the help. YES, I think the agonizing and $ for "samples" will pay off. Turns out that SW chanegd the formula for antique white. My friend has the "old" antique white and now it is a lot more beige. I had a very good "helper" at BM this afternoon who gave me some pretty good info and help with choices. I ended up with two more quarts and they are TIMID and ACADIA. I tested both (again) and it looks like we have a winner with ACADIA. It is "very white" but not completely stark white if that makes sense. I believe we really need fairly white with all of our trim and colors I've chosen. Thanks for all the help & suggestions. I'll keep you informed on how it goes & hopefully that we have not changed our mind:)

Glad you have found the right white. I'm going to see if I have either of those chips, since after sleeping on my two choices, I'm not terribly happy with either and the painter will be here at 8:30.
I wish I had started this process earlier LOL

I have BM dove white throughout my entire home and it seems (to me) to be the perfect white with almost any paint color.

I was reading through a decorating magazine admiring all the lovely rooms; I checked the back section where the magazine provides all the information re paint/furniture/lighting used and in many of the rooms the decorators chose Dove White.

Good luck in your search.

BM Regal semi gloss pre mixed, ready to buy WHITE.

I used BM Dove White throughout most of my house.. I use BM Decorators White in kids bath (white tile in tub area and white cabinets), kids bedrooms (white furniture and ceiling fans), and laundry room (washer/dryer white). I think you can enter change white with each room. No one but me would know that I used two different white within my house. Just keep track of which white went where. Say that 10 times really fast..LOL

I used SW Dover White and I really like it a lot, it's a creamy white, not stark or glaringly white at all. What I did was: I got the "whites" pamhplet/card that shows the various whites and took it outside the paint store. You can really see the slight undertone colors well that way - there are definite pinks, greens, blues and yellows in the "white" undertones. You might be able to pick a few you like that way, and you can alos ask the paint guy what color tints are used in making the paint, so you can know for sure what tints are going into what whites.

Also, I have a tattered Cottage Living "fresh ideas" 2007 "special edition" magazine that I carry around like Linus with his blanket, and here is what various decorators said about some white paints:

New White by F&B: "I've tried other whites for the trim in my house... this gives a warm buttery glow..." (p. 110)

Swiss Coffee by Behr: "This is my favorite shade for trim and ceilings. It's a perfectly classic white that will never go out of style." (p. 112)

SW Pure White: "...looks great on trim..." (p. 106)

And, in the resources section, here are the whites used, (and all photos of these whites look fantastic): BM Decorator's White; BM Timid White; BM Vanilla Milkshake; BM Super White; SW Extra White; SW Snowbound, BM Lancaster White.

Good Luck~

I have SW Extra White on my trim and doors and I love it against light colors.

Dh and I discussed "white paint" again, how romantic these days:) We decided to try one more...white dove after so many people have shared that idea & it was one of my earlier choises too. So, off to buy yet 1 more expensive sample. I'll let you know!

I hope you have good luck finding something. I used BM Super White in some of the rooms of my old house and loved it. In this house we have Atrium White (which has pinkish undertones) and BM Dove White (or White Dove or whatever) and I have to say, I am not all that keen on the greyish undertones in the Dove. In our MBR, I loved the milky color that the previous owner painted and nearly went crazy trying to figure out what it was. Turns out it was BM Alabaster, which apparently I'm in love with. BUT, I have to say, my favorite white for trim with color on the walls was Super White. To me, it was the crispest.

I will give you this one hint: It's much easier to use a stock color than a mixed color. Just walk in, pick it up, and off you go. And if you go with more than one color (switch off in a couple of rooms), keep track of what's where. Last thing you want is to go touch something up and use the wrong color!!

Good luck!

We have white dove throughout our 1880s house. I like the muted tone of it. In our last house (1900 Colonial w/a little leftover Victorian flavor - high ceilings, wide moldings) we had plain White from BM and it was stark and a little startling on our wide moldings. I could never paint a room a soft green as it looked like a highway sign. ;-)

The white dove is nice in this house, where the overall tones are muted and earthy - browns, greens, and some golden yellow.

My parents have Atrium white and, while it looks nice with their blues and florals with warm and pink tones, my mother wishes she had chosen something less "pink".

Good luck, whites will drive you crazy!!! :)

Mary

Just in case you did not yet make a decision, I have used BM Semi gloss DECORATORS WHITE in 2 homes on all my trim and crown moldings. It is white, not shocking and does not have any "color undertones" Highlights every color even other whites. I have it with BM Navajo White and also with BM Bone White. When you see the latter with the Decorator White you can really see how off white with yellow undertones the Bone White is. They look beautiful together. Good Luck

I am trying to choose which is best for the bedrooms-floor of my house. BM white dove or atriume white? i am a fan of light beige, but i hate yellowish undertones. Also, i wouldnt like the choice to resemble a plain crisp clear white. Which one do you suggest? which on is the warmest and cosiest? my celings are plain white. Help please!