Any paint color is going to be affected by natural light…especially west light which can get pretty nasty. And, every color has an undertone. Simply White has a yellow undertone.

Put natural light and undertone together and you either have made the perfect or imperfect choice.

The issue is you need a paint color to compliment the white, but also you need a paint color for the walls which works with west light. I am suggesting, at least this one room, you not have light walls. Give B.M Valley Forge Tan a try.

It is a perfect color for west exposure and also does well with any hints of yellow.

Another example of why it's always important to pick colors based on the lighting which will be present.

West-facing bedroom a different look - check their site for what goes with Simply White / they showed a few neutral cool colors. Good info here:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5659170/simply-white-not-simply-white-why#n=2

I have BM simply white on all my trim, doors, crown and ceilings. It does not appear yellow in my house, and most of it faces west. It appears as a crisp, but not harsh white.

Did your painters use Benjamin Moore paint or did they attempt to save money by color matching to a cheaper paint brand?

Simply White went sort of gray in our house. I agree that working with your lighting is imperative. We wanted our whole house the same color, and went with BM Mayonnaise at 75% strength, but we were after a warm undertone. It reads differently in every single room in the house, but thankfully we like it a lot overall.

Part of the beauty of white is that it takes on so many other colors as the lighting changes from room to room and throughout the day. If you want to de-emphasize the warm hue of Simply White without repainting everything, your best bet is going to be pairing it with things that are darker and warmer. You want to avoid anything that will be whiter and cooler than Simply White as said above that will only emphasize the undertones more.

I assume you are currently looking at an empty home? Have the floors, counters, or other finishes been put in yet? All of that will change how things appear. I recommend that at this point you stay your course or paint the walls a color other than white.

Did you use oil or latex on the trim and cabinets? I've found that oil paint is more yellow compared to latex. I painted a floor with BM Super White oil based floor paint and the Super White latex used on the trim and walls made the floor look yellow in comparison. My paint people told me the oil base is more yellow where latex base is more neutral.

It is Benjamin Moore paint - regal select eggshell on the walls and satin advance on the trim. I think the walls seem a bit more yellow than the trim. I also would say it is a warm white and not actually yellow. However, I was not expecting it to be as warm/creamy as it is especially because I have used it before in the house before we remodeled and expanded. It may also be that I am not used to white walls or warm walls since most of my house used to be painted a light gray (Benjamin Moore classic gray). all the warmth of simply white is a drastically different look and I am not sure I like it. I might get used to it. Also, the house is empty so I think furniture, art, window treatments, etc would also change the look of the simply white.

i plan to test some light, neutral Greige paints and see how they look. Any suggestions? I definitely want to keep it light (no darker than Classic Gray).

I know what you mean about getting used to it -- when I painted the pine paneling in the family room Simply White -- the first time I walked into the finished room it seemed SO white, almost overwhelming! But once the furniture, rug, curtains, art were all back in, it was perfect.

I know this is an old thread, but here's what I have noticed. When I used the simply white in regal pearl sheen it looks very bright white with no yellow visible. But then I used eggshell sheen, the yellow was more visible and when i tried the matte sheen it was so yellow that I was surprised it was the same color.

I just painted BM Simply White on my stairwell and entry way and it does have yellow undertone which I wasn't looking for. What makes it look worse is the BM Super White trim I put on next to it, which is very stark white, making the simply white show as even more yellow. I have older trim paint in the same entry that is not as bright as super white and that looks better against the simply white wall. Guess I need to find a different trim color closer to the old trim to make this work.

Lori do the trim in Simply White also. I went though this headache recently and painting the trim Simply White definitely helped tone down the apparent yellow Simply White has on my walls.

Mark - did you end up doing simply white walls + trim and everything then? Do you have any finished photos?

Did anyone here have a painter tell them that BM Simply White took 5 layers on a wall that was previously painted a light creme color? My painter has continued to tell us that some walls required 5 layers of paint because BM Simply White was too white? I havent seen this anywhere else. He confirmed he primed but I have some doubts

Simply White is infamous for not having great hide and requiring multiple coats.

That's the case with many colors of white. Some colors of white have better hide than others. The brand doesn't matter but the grade of paint can. Top tiers tend to help with hide.

Dunn-Edwards actually has 10 whites designed for better hide. You can buy their Classic White pre-mixed in Exquisite matte. Also DE's White Picket Fence has good hide; can get away with 2 over another white but you'll need 3 over a darker color.

Hide is how well a color blocks out the old color and develops in its own opacity.

Coverage is how many square feet you get with a gallon of a specific color.

Jessica, when we used BM Simply White, we painted over a light grey wall and only had to do two coats. I've used many BM whites and have never had to do more than two coats except on a wall that had black chalkboard paint. I had to prime the black wall and apply three coats of Simply White.

Thanks Lori

My painter used one coat of tinted primer and 2 coats of finish to cover my knotty pine paneling.

Just adding here that our painter just had to do 3 coats of Simply White after primer and that was on walls that were already Oxford White (so just a hair off to begin with)!

We painted ourselves, I didn’t have issues with coverage, I think we did primer + 2 coats SW

Hello! I realize this is an old thread, but I'm currently experiencing the same issue. Our kitchen cabinets are painted BM Advance Simply White in satin finish. The cabinets are a lovely, radiant white with no perceptible yellow undertone. We're repainting the walls and trim and Simply White in eggshell appears yellow next to our cabinets (light beige wall was primed and then three coats of Simply White). We'd like to stick with white on the walls and wondering if anyone came up with solutions? Thank you in advance, Kristin :)

What did people use on their ceilings with the simply white paint?

Not sure if it helps, but I had a sample mixed of BM Simply White at 75% pigment. It's less yellow and a better match with our Simply White cabinets. Still nice and bright. We're planning to use the 75% SW on walls, trim, and ceilings.

@kristin do you have any photos

I realize that this is an old thread but we ended up using Simply White and it does not look yellow. It has a super light warm tone to it. I think it looks great.
We used one coat of primer and three coats of paint. Our painter said he always uses three coats of paint with either Simply White or Chantilly Lace.

I love Simply White - it doesn't read yellow in my house. But Chantilly Lace is a bit brighter and supposedly is a neutral white - no undertones. If I found Simply White to be too creamy, I'd move to Chantilly Lace.

@yana interesting you say that. I just painted a room in my house with BM simply white regal select in matte on the walls and the trim in BM simply white advance in satin and the trim seems so much whiter than the walls