Hello Crystal,

Yeah, unfortunately paints can get tough because different finishes react differently to different lights... Let's see if we can get you in the right direction.

Color Temperature is the term that makes your whites show more yellow or more blue. The paint finish determines how much of that is reflected. (Meaning a change in your bulbs could help)

Typically, in a naturally bright space, flat finished paint spreads light where eggshell reflects it. (Ceilings should always be flat paint btdubs.) Trims & such are usually a semi-gloss for durability. What does this mean? That you can use the same shade/color on walls & trim but in different finishes that naturally give a subtle difference between the two.

If chantilly lace is on your cabinets it looks like you'd change the white dove trims. The darker you go the less yellow OR blue the white will look because there will be nothing around to compare it too.

Hope that helped, great question about white paints.

Have fun,

-f

get four different whites- you have to look at it at night and in the daylight. A white that you like will look good could look totally different. I used Greek Villa- but I had alot of green and natural light coming thru to my LR so the greenish color bounced off of the Greek villa color. I like White Dove for moldings - I have used Chantilly Lace also. paint a square on the wall and look at it at different times of the day. Sometimes whites can be grayish looking.

I actually like the yellowish cast against your white trim and cabinets. Did you use a flat/matte finish on your walls? I've found that the new flats are highly washable and are less reflective, which minimizes wall imperfections and seem to show more consistent and true color.

Lori, thank you for that tutorial. I've read that whites are complex, and you've shown how true that is.

Will the difference still mater when he furniture, textiles and accessories all go in? I see the problem clearly now, but with all the other elements in place .... ???

I've read that whites are complex,

All colors of white belong to a hue family like any other color.

Which means the rules of classic color theories apply when making a color scheme of all white.

And as long as there's a difference in Chroma of 0.20 (give or take a few) one white won't make the other look dingy and gray. The contrast in Chroma means each makes the other look good.

As long as you understand those two things, managing whites is pretty easy

Crystal, what I see in your picture is beautiful cream and white (my favorite combo). I agree with those who say putting all your stuff in there and changing bulbs may make the issue disappear. Or you can embrace cream and white.

But if you are someone still looking and feeling the gray trend, I see why you wouldn't like the cream.

I think the color variation is nice. Trim looks crisp against the walls.

This combo always gets lots of likes here. Believed to be Navajo White on walls and White Dove on trim.

i like BM pale oak. i have white dove on my walls too, sometimes I love it and other times its too yellow - esp in photos.

pale oak

Thank you all. I like white on white, and was going for neutral white walls that would go well with the Chantilly lace trims. Didn’t think White Dove would turn up so yellow in a north-northwest facing room! Husband likes Pale Oak but I’m afraid it’ll be too grey against our oak floors. I think Snowfall will also be too creamy. Is there a truly neutral white out there that will not turn up yellowish or greyish!? I’m tempted to just go Chantilly lace on the walls in eggshell (trims are in satin) just to avoid getting a wrong white mismatch again but am worried everything will look Too stark bright.

I think it looks awesome, but I can understand why you would want to change it if you are opposed to a warm white. Whites can be tricky in north rooms....I tried a bunch in our house, and I found “cool” whites to be way too stark, depressing, and cold feeling. A lot of the whites we tried looked slightly blue, purple or even green once they were in the room.

You can try Decorators White or simply White. I was dealing with the same because I wanted everything white, but as I mentioned you have to look at it in the day and with your lighting at night. Paint a 12 x12 spot. with a couple of whites and see how they look. I didnt want the cold white look and some can look like that - also come can look like grayish white. All depends on white you are looking for.