Help with mixing neutral paint colors

6 years ago

After working on paint colors for our new build for what feels like months, the painters will be painting next week, and now that we can see the primer and ceiling color, we're second guessing things.

Our plan had been to do SW Marshmallow for the walls and trim and SW Pacer White for the perimeter cabinets. The island will be a white oak (not shown here). The picture also shows the wood clad ceiling, and the likely hardwood tone. The ceilings are already SW Pure White.

My husband loves the Pacer White cabinet door, so that (or something pretty close) must stay. We had wanted warm off-white/light greige walls with the same color trim. This complicates things, because if we go to a more colorful wall color, I worry it will end up too much on the trim, which will also be the trim in rooms with different color walls (the main spaces are all the trim color, but a couple of rooms are different colors). We've avoided the standard whiter trim as we don't want the space to look outlined in white - we want a minimal contrast to keep the focus on the views out the windows. We considered SW Ivory White for everything, but my husband really wants the cabinets are darker off-white/greige.

I'm open to suggestion of a different wall/trim color to consider, especially if it will work with the Pacer White. I'm considering getting a sample of SW Whitetail to try.

They finished painting ceilings yesterday and will be starting walls on Monday, so I feel like despite all my work ahead of time, I'm scrambling. Thanks for any help.

Featured Answer

Kristin S
Original Author

6 years ago

I just wanted to circle back to this to say thank you, Lori!!! The marshmallow color is up throughout the house, and we just love how it looks. I was there today on an incredibly gray, rainy day, and even with no artificial lights and neither the hardwoods nor the wood cladding for the ceiling in, the walls gave everything a wonderful warm, cozy feel. Now I'm just waiting on a new cabinet door sample.

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Comments (7)

PRO
Lori A. Sawaya
6 years ago
I see no reason to second guess your choices. Pacer White and Marshmallow work together well in terms of hue and chroma.

Marshmallow has a healthy bump of chroma so it's unlikely that it's going to look white. It'll look more like what many would describe as greige.

There's not a lot of difference between Marshmallow and Whitetail. Whitetail has more chroma, it's more colorful. Marshmallow is the more neutral choice between the two.

You don't have to know what these numbers mean in order to understand that they illustrate how similar the two colors are.

What I would be looking for is for any of the three to shift and look purple-ish, blue-purple-ish.

Because near neutral colors like Pacer, Marshmallow and Whitetail belong to a hue family neighborhood (2Y to 3Y) that can shift. How these colors look next to the floor is particularly important. Look at the floor horizontal with the wall/trim/cabinet colors juxtaposed vertically.
Kristin S thanked Lori A. Sawaya
Kristin S
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you so much, Lori. Is either Marshmallow or White Tail better or worse for trim?

I'll be sure to double check to make sure we don't get the purple shift, as that's definitely not what we want. We have found that the colors in that Y 2-3 zone are good at neutralizing the significant green reflection we get from all the windows (we're in the middle of a mixed evergreen/deciduous forest, so there's green out the window all year round.)

We'll definitely look at the stained wood in the right orientation, too. The one we're having the most trouble with is the ceiling wood, as we obviously can't get it up there to look at. It's a bit darker than we had initially planned, but they've ended up having to use a touch more color to neutralize the red/pink tones in the hemlock.
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PRO
Lori A. Sawaya
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Thank you so much, Lori. Is either Marshmallow or White Tail better or worse for trim?

Marshmallow because it's more neutral. It's more neutral because it has less chroma compared to Whitetail. Less chroma means less colorful and closer to a true neutral.

Which means it will be easier to coordinate with more colors going forward. That's not to say it's going to be as easy to work with compared to a white or an off-white color on the trim but compared to Whitetail, slightly easier. And I'm always lookin' for the easiest, less complicated path.

We have found that the colors in that Y 2-3 zone are good at neutralizing the significant green reflection we get from all the windows

Perfect. Typically (nothing about color is absolute) lighting that spikes in the blue region of the spectrum is the cause of the shift.

but they've ended up having to use a touch more color to neutralize the red/pink tones in the hemlock.

Worth it to have it less red/pink.
Kristin S
Original Author
6 years ago
SW Marshmallow was the winner. Pacer White, though, does look like it picks up a bit of a lavender tone. Do you have suggestions of others to consider that might have the same effect without that flash of purple? I was thinking perhaps BM Ballet White, as it seems like it’s even more similar to Marshmallow in terms of hue while also having a bit more chroma for a hint more contrast.
PRO
Lori A. Sawaya
6 years ago
I was thinking perhaps BM Ballet White, as it seems like it’s even more similar to Marshmallow in terms of hue while also having a bit more chroma for a hint more contrast.

Yep. Nailed it on all points.

I didn't pull the chips to take a look but the numbers work out well.
Jessica Basma
5 years ago
Kristin would love to see pics of the marshmallow trim! We are about to paint our living room and I can’t find the perfect warm neutral creamy white for wainscoting