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BM Super White next to Decorator’s White

EvaElizabeth
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago

I love Super White, which is the color my paint was color-matched to, and it’s throughout my house. The paint we have is a different brand and it’s not as durable as other paints I’ve used, so I‘m getting ready to repaint most of the downstairs with BM. Since I’m going to all of this trouble, I’m considering changing to Decorator’s White, which I love even more. I would like to stop at the stairway, where there is a natural transition, but it is visible.

I am definitely okay mixing whites - I don’t need all my whites to match, just look good together. In a few places I have already switched up the sheen or used other shades of white and it looks good because I do have a lot of white furnishings, etc.

Has anyone paired Super White and Decorator’s White? Does it make the Decorator’s White appear too grey-blue? Also, I love how light and bright Super White is, and it’s hard to tell if Décorator’s White is actually darker or if it’s just the undertone. Any other suggestions that would look good with Super White? I do not want anything cream or anything with a yellow undertone. I’m going to get paint samples this afternoon, and I would love input! I keep debating what sheen to use, and I would really love to splurge and use Farrow and Ball in my living room, but I seem to remember their paints are beautiful but the whites aren’t bright. I know I have a sample book somewhere. I worry next to the Super White the rest of the House would look bad, or the Farrow and Ball would look dull instead of soft. I read somewhere there is another paint brand that is highly pigmented like Farrow and Ball, does anyone know if this is true?

Comments (11)

  • EvaElizabeth
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    It turns out the downstairs is so bright, it’s nearly impossible to tell even on adjacent walls, so with the change in paint color behind the room, I’m going to use the decorator’s white except for in the open stairway. The one exception is I’m not sure about the mudroom. It doesn’t have any natural light at all and at night it looks dingy. It’s hard to see with the current swatches because the BM samples they gave me are matte, and that room has more sheen now and definitely needs it to reflect the light. I was thinking of switching the lightbulbs or fixtures out first, then swatching the paint again.

    I’ve had a lot of trouble with paint when switching to LED’s. The last bulbs I switched gave the walls a pink cast. I hate yellow-ish lightbulbs but I also don’t care for super cool light. I want the layered lighting look I used to have with a mix of traditional recessed, pendant, and other lights, just without the yellow cast. All of these articles online reference a range of options but all I can find at the hardware store is cool or warm, in very few choices as far as brightness. Sometimes they even have a name that implies they’re in the middle but then on the back of the packaging they are at the same place on the scale as the cool or warm bulbs.
  • Heather
    6 years ago
    I think what you may be looking for is light bulbs in the 3500 kelvin range. Try searching for those. It’s harder to find but it’s white light, not yellow or blue.
    EvaElizabeth thanked Heather
  • EvaElizabeth
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    I think you’re right, Heather. I keep meaning to order “neutral” online, which seems to be around 3500, but it’s hard to bring myself to buy lightbulbs without seeing the light first because I can’t return them and I feel like I have to buy at least enough for one full room to really test them out.

    Someone should set up a test bulb program!

    The LED’s in my kitchen are 3000 and they are the ones that are close to what I want because they aren’t really cool, but they do have a faint pink tinge. It seems overly cautious to proctrastinate, though, because if I don’t like them I can always relegate them to the garage or closets or something.

  • Heather
    6 years ago
    I definitely think you’ll be happy with 3500. You should go for it. Are you generally happy with Super White and Decorators White next to each other? I’m thinking of Super White for trim, and Decorators white for kitchen cabinets with a coordinating light color, but not necessarily white, for walls. Any input would be appreciated!
  • ortochini
    5 years ago
    Did you paint your walls in decorator white with trim in super white?? If so, could you please tell me if it worked out for you? I am considering doing that and I am a little afraid that walls will look gray.
  • EvaElizabeth
    Original Author
    5 years ago
    I did use decorator’s White next to super white and I love it. I used decorators white on one wall in my office and super white on the cabinets on the adjacent wall. It does make the decorator’s white look very slightly gray instead of white, but it’s very subtle and it doesn’t look dingy or change the undertone of Super White, which is what I was worried about. I tried to take a picture but it looks off right now because I have brown paper on the windows in the adjacent room for painting.

    I think it looks good, but it also works really well with the layout of my house. I haven’t tried super white as trim with decorator’s white as a wall color. So far I’ve been using the same shade of white on the entire wall including the baseboard. I also mixed aura matte and regal pearl in one room and I love it. The room has windows on only one wall so the pearl is on the wall parallel to the window.
  • EvaElizabeth
    Original Author
    5 years ago
    I’m looking at it and I’m not sure I’d like it as much if, for instance, the doors and trim were super white and the walls were decorator’s white. But for rooms right next to each other I think they look great together, and they both still read as white. I think I would like super white on cabinets next to decorator’s white walls because of the change in surface, but I would want the decorator’s white on the baseboards on the decorator’s white walls, if that makes sense.
  • ortochini
    5 years ago
    What color did you use for your ceilings?
  • EvaElizabeth
    Original Author
    5 years ago
    The ceiling looks like they are decorator’s white to me, but I haven’t patched my ceiling yet so I haven’t swatched. I have a light fixture sitting in my garage because I’m a little nervous about matching it. It’s definitely not super white.


    You bring up a good point; I think if the ceilings were super white the decorator’s white might seem more gray.


    My ceilings are also not flat - I’m pretty sure they’re a lower sheen eggshell. The sheen is higher on my ceilings than it is on some of my matte walls. They don’t glare though at all. I’m absolutely certain it was intentional. The south side of my house doesn’t have a single window while the north and south is almost all windows. I also know the paint contractor for the original paint is absolutely the best in the area. The paint in my house really makes my mid-entry level, mostly builder’s grade house look so much more high end than it actually is. The developer was really smart to work with them.
  • ortochini
    5 years ago
    Thanks for all your comments and advice!!