You have to sample. Whites are tricky.

What color is your trim? If it is also white the simple solution is to paint the walls the same white as the trim.

Jennifer is right - if you want white and your trim is white, use that color in a matte finish. Otherwise you may end up with closing tones between trim and wall. Assuming the trim looks good in the room.

Natural light drives the bus...always. From what direction does the light come?

North: B.M. Cotton Balls

South: B.M. Decorator's White

East: B.M. Simply White

West: B.M. Winter White.

Which ever white is your white, do the ceiling the same white but in a flat finish.

Trim is creamier white. One I chose before looks more like eggshell. I want it to be more luminous than striking white, but not cream or beige. Light blue in living room turned out completely different than what I saw in magazine even with same number. So gave up but it’s high time.

Natural light comes from NorthEast. Thank you all for suggestions.

Of the two directions, pick the dominant one...it is probably north, as east light is fleeting.North light, yes it can be a cold gray light, but it is the same light all day...nothing changes. So, Cotton Balls will work because it is a warm white. Add warm accent colors. notice the brass mirror, chandelier, drapery rod.

I just finished a bedroom for a client with north (dominant) /east exposure. I know you want white, but the color paint I chose for her walls was B.M. Excalibur Gray. I kept my fingers crossed, and it was a winner. You could use the color in fabrics or art.

Art is subjective, so this is just an example. Warm tones, including brassy, and a frame in gold.

What is the trim color? You can mix whites.

Yeah.. that bedroom is beautiful simple and clean and it does have cotton ball white.. no gray though. And, my bedroom is oddly shaped unlike that one. Bed and dresser is dark mango wood and not changing anytime soon so may have to settle for warmer shade of white. Don’t like mirrors in bedroom which makes room little less brighter than it can be. It’s still not white ..maybe I’ll make peace with cottonball white (which is not white) soon. Thank you ..watercolor art is the best.

With an LRV of 88.95, Cotton Balls is quite white...it just has a touch of warmth in the blend. Chantilly Lace may be the whitest white that B.M. has and its LRV is 90. So, you need not worry that C B won't present white.

I had to add my 2 cents about choice of white paint. A few years ago my husband and I painted outr entire inside with Behr Ultra Scuff Defence Paint and Primer; color “ off white”. Matte for ceilings and walls; satin for moldings and doors. This paint is fantastic!! Goes on easy, great coverage, truly scuffproof, no issues. Everyone who visits our home wants to know what “white” I used, as they say it looks great in all rooms. Years later, our paint job still looks great! Of course, the prep work is key to a great paint job: fix all nail pops and cracks, prime them, wash and rinse all walls, ceilings, moldings and doors. Use high quality brushes and rollers.

@kculbers, is the Behr paint an all in one?

It is beautiful. I’ll check if they still have that paint. This house is old so will need lot of fixing and prepping as old stains etc have already started popping up. There is use of brass, iron, and new black and bronze sparkly fixtures in single room. We won’t be painting it ourself due to my health issues and will pick one or two rooms at a time. Construction of your home looks much sturdier than mine. Thank you 🙏 I’m grateful for information from everyone. Learning as until now I haven’t had good luck in choosing paint myself. 😁

Elcieg. Yes the Bear paint is an “all in one” paint and primer! I highly recommend it. I also painted my new front entry door with Behr paint, color Baby Spinach, for a fun pop of color. I also received a 10% military discount from Home Depot for all my paint and paint supplies, as I am a retired US Air Force Captain.

@xyll Reading your replies over the past days I have the feeling that no one shared the secrets with you.

When decorating a home you don't plan it one room at a time. You may accomplish the goals one room at a time, but without a whole home plan you are likely to end up with a mess and not know what went wrong or end up boxing yourself in a corner and not knowing how to get out.

Home decorating is a lifetime journey. I am 60 and renovating my last home. From your 20s on through your golden years you are adding and replacing items, but the foundation starts with your first home.

You need to figure out the general style you want to have for your home. Think about who you are, not just what the pictures in current magazines look like. Are you naturally a minimalist or more likely to collect things? Are you super neat or more relaxed? Do you do any type of formal entertaining or just casual entertaining. What styles fit with your personality and how you live your life? Think about your daily activities and how you entertain and how often you entertain guests. What things you own that bring you joy. What clothing do you wear? What have you bought that just hangs in the back of the closet and has never been worn.

The second thing to think about is the colors you love. Not what colors are popular or what wall color you want in the bedroom, but what colors bring you joy. There are colors we associate with happy memories that actually increase dopamine production and make us feel happy.

Most of us have a few colors that dominate our closet and home décor. We have art and vases and shirts and throw blankets that we just bought because we loved the color. If you have blond hair and blue eyes and love pastel blues and pinks you probably don't want to paint your walls a mid toned green beige. It won't work with the things you love. For the most part, walls and flooring create the backdrop for the art, furnishings and décor. They are the support, not the star.

Once you figure out what the general style and the colors you love you can begin bringing your plan together. Sadly, most of us have to work within budget constraints and may have to live with choices that came with our home.

How long you will stay in the home is an important aspect to this journey. If you plan on living in this home for 5 years and moving, spend your money on furnishings and things you can take with you instead of spending money on things that you will be gifting to the next owner. Every renovation will cost more than it will bring in when you sell. Will you enjoy the renovation long enough to make it worth doing?

Do an inventory of your home. What is going to stay, what can be replaced (maybe not today, but sometime in the next 5 years), Do you need to work with the flooring, cabinets, countertops, fireplace, bathroom tile . . .

Take those colors and think about where they are in your home and how you want to incorporate those colors with the colors you love. How is the color going to flow from one room to the next?

Once you know the colors that must stay and the colors that you love you can pick paint colors. Once you pick your neutral and colors you will want to pick a white for that works with the colors and neutral and your flooring. Use the same white throughout your home for trim, doors and ceilings.

Most people end up with a neutral wall color for the majority of the home (Entry, living room, hallways . . . ) and add color to the walls in the bedrooms and bathrooms. Dining room, laundry room, kitchen, study may end up being either a neutral or color.

Getting the right color is all about using big enough samples and not comparing the sample colors to the colors that are already on the walls. If your walls are gray and you stick a 2 inch square sample of a cream color on the wall it is going to look yellow. If you paint a 3 foot square on the wall with a 4 inch bright white border you will see that it isn't really all that yellow, it just looked yellow next to all that gray.

Hello, thank you for caring.. humans are the best :) I like simple and clean and natural and biodegradable. I like all colours but white give me sense of comfort and peace. just trying to bring light inside my home without going out. I don’t look at trends as they just stay for one season.. it’s corporate bait and I don’t have that kind of money or energy. I’ll keep all suggestions in mind. Need to get basement fixed first as it got flooded and everything is warped.