I'm no color expert, but I'm right there with you. I'm wanting to deepen the color of the already cream walls in the dining room. I want a non-color, really. Something a few shades deeper than what's there to give my stuff some contrast, but not really a "color" per se.

Some adjascent walls will remain cream, so I need something that plays well with that. I have fistfulls of swatches...I don't want anything with a yellow, pink or green tint, so that leaves brown. Maybe with a splash of sienna and/or gray, but nothing fleshy. And nothing blue.

The closest I've found is a SW color called "Natural Tan" but it leans a little gray. My other choice is a Behr color called "Vintage Linen." It may be months before I make up my mind and actually paint, but this is what I've got it narrowed down to, so far.

Don't buy a "color"....get a quart of a tint base and have them add a couple of small shots of yellow ocher...put some on a paper and dry it and see.....then add more....or not...
I have never found a paint sample 'cream" that wasn't yellow.
Linda C

Have you picked out the white trim you are going with yet ?

You'll die when you try to decide on a white.

Once you find the warm white you want compare that to the off-whites (creams) .

All my antique whites are yellow as well.
Try BM White Linen,Mayonnaise or Mascarpone.

I HATE FINDING CREAM....I HATE FINDING A WHITE! :)

Mascarpone:

None of these color look in real life like they do on my monitor.

I'm no color expert either, but I had the same issue when I was looking for a "cream" color for our kitchen cabinets and after 10+ samples I brought in some magazine pictures to show them what I was looking for and they said "oh, those aren't cream . . . what you're looking for is an off white". So they recommended SW Bone China (we ended up with that color at 50%) and it is what I would call a pretty neutral cream (or off white!). hth

I had what I would call a cream once in another home and it was called BM -OC 6 feather down, I do not know if it is still around with that name.

I considered BM Mayonnaise and Mascarpone but when sampled on the wall found them a bit too yellow for the room.

Eventually settled on C2 Scroll, which is similar but less yellow.

Hi Bee, I found this for you on Young House Love. The color is Benjamin Moore Natural White.

And stay away from Valspar - the color never ends up like the chip you picked out.

I've used Valspar many times and the chips and paint matched perfectly. If it ever didn't, you could say something to the mixer person and they would fix it for you.

If you want the color of real cream, take in a pint of cream and have them scan it. Seriously. Or they can scan anything that is the color you want. If they have a color example the size of a quarter, or larger, they can computer mix it. Yes, cream has yellow in it. Maybe what you want is a very pale beige?

I have both barely beige (BM) and Bone white (BM) that both appear cream next to white white trim. I also used Mayonnaise for my fireplace mantle. Cream is very hard--I found as you did that chips that looked like cream to be too yellow ...Some other colors to consider are sw antique white and bm natural linen. When you go looking again, stick to the benjamin moore section called off whites--it's truly amazing how many colors they have in this category. And tape them up against white to see the undertones...Good luck!

i wanted a creamy color for my trim (in the 'w' master bedroom!) and found bm ballet white to be truly 'creamy'-not yellowish. i really did not want the yellow color shining through in my bedroom/bath since paints, etc were beige/brown/gray and blues........

i will try to take pics and figure out how to post...i am one of the few out there that doesn't do this (and i even have a phone that supposedly makes it simle!) we'll see... i'll try later today/tomorrow.

I don't have my fan decks here to really look, but try BM Natural Wicker -- I think it's OC-1 or OC-2. We used to have it in our bedroom years ago, and it looked just like your inspiration pic (the wall color, I mean -- not the whole room!).

I had SW "creamy" in my bedroom at one time. It looks like white until you hold it againest white. I remember when alabaster was popular, it seemed to be kind of a bone color, I believe it had a touch of yellow and gray. I think you have the architecture for white - I didn't so I changed to a color. A white room might be a refreshing change from the color elsewhere in the house, or you may be bored by it. All the color then has to come from accessories and fabric of course.

There was no way in a million years that I would have tried BM Mayonnaise based on the chip alone. To this day I have a hard time looking at the chip w/ a pure white held against it. I read such positive things about it here and trust in the experience here that I bit the bullet and painted my mudroom (and kitchen partially - not done - surprise!) and it looks positively creamy, rich and not yellow. It is just so d!@n PERFECT! Everytime I walk through the door and see my rusted iron chandelier w/ drop crystals I swear I swoon.

The Feather Down and Natural Wicker that were mentioned are 2 colors that Candice Olsen used on a regular basis. She seemed to really be able to get a creamy look w/o going yellow so maybe you might want to sift through her site. She lists all of the paint colors for every project and she always used BM.

Beware of the funky seventies music though LOL!

BTW - Cream and white are soooooooo subjective to everything around it including what's outside your windows. I kept scratching my head over SW Westhighland White. I was sure it was perfect - looked good on a sample in one room but positively yellowed/ green on the main wall in my LR. It's because of all of the trees and vines that are outsdie of the window. Casts the whole room in a different light in Spring & Summer. Blech! Changed it w/in a week.

Also the SW High Reflectance White that I have in the office is absolute perfection! I'm not so wild about it in my hallway because it has a definite pink glow from the stained glass window at the staircase landing. I can't even wrap my head around trying to counteract that glow w/ the right white or cream!

Here is a link that might be useful: Divine Design

Cream (the REAL stuff in real life) is indeed a very pale white-yellow -- after all -- it is usually whipped or churned into real, honest-to-goodness butter! :) Best with real honey too! :)

I have a color that I used in my kitchen. It's from KILZ and the color is "Silk" or "Soft Silk" maybe. Got it mixed in Behr and love it. If ever a color was a non-issue this is it. Just softens the walls and looks cream next to white trim. Never looks yellow or beige either. Just soft! I didn't pick it from a chip. I just mixed a bunch of paint I had left over (ultra pure white, some brown or beige (don't remember) and some gold. It didn't look like much but I liked it in a test on the walls. When I needed more, I just took a dried sample board to several stores and laid chips on it until one blended in- that was Silk!

debbie--. I was reading your post, saying "yeah yeah yeah...that's what I'm talking about...." and then you killed me. Unless, you think that if I went to HD and asked for your color by name, they might have it in their system? Is that what you're saying? hmmmm

Today the dh is leaving on a trip. Guess who is going to go get some (more) paint chips and samples today? Moi!

I want to prime the walls anyway, so I could do a bit of that, and do the paint tests right on the wall. I just hate doing that, it is such a huge commitment--I mean even if it's all terra-cotta, at least it is all terra-cotta. Well, I think I'll just have to go for it. I suppose if I can get it all painted while he is away, he can do the ceiling afterwards. I know that usually one does that first, but there is no way I am painting a cathedral ceiling. I can't really even paint a flat ceiling! This is going to be exhausting, but exciting.

Thanks everybody for all the ideas.

Ditto on BM Bone White - when I saw your inspiration pic, the first thing I thought was "that looks like BM Bone White!" It is not yellow at all. Good luck!

And so much depends on all the other factors: lighting, other colors in the room, the quality of the light, etc.

My den has a ton of built-in cabinetry, all painted BM Calming Cream. All the trim in our home is also Calming Cream. On the chip, it's pale yellow. Throughout our high-altitude house (which affects the light), it reads as cream. Not as yellow, not as tan, not as beige, not as off-white, but as cream.

In a previous house we used BM Mayonnaise with abandon and there it was a whiter cream -- cream, but a whiter, brighter cream. That house was at sea level (and in CA). Mayonnaise here (in CO) reads as dirty white -- lots of grey in it and not in a good way.

So the reason I mentioned my den is because it is the room painted with mostly the Calming Cream -- the walls are dark chocolate brown (a P&L color, name I've forgotten), but due to the cabinetry there isn't a lot of wall. And *here*, with these conditions, the cabs / trim / ceiling read as cream.

Good luck!

This is the room that is getting the makeover, or make-under. Big giant window, lots of light. Faces West.

Several of you speak of "Bone White"....can't find it on the BM website to get a number, it says no results. Anybody have a number for it?

Here..

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.benjaminmoore.net/samples/2604.html

try bm ancient ivory 935. Bone white is an int. Rm. Color. No number for it. It is in the back of the fandeck. Ask and they will show you. Good luck!

I've been there, agonizing over the perfect "cream" for cabinets. If you think Benjamin Moore has a ton of whites to choose from, head on over to Glidden Professional aka ICI/Dulux. OH MY WORD! It's crazy.

I DID find something on Pottery Barn that was an interesting way to determine whites that might be helpful.

Best of luck Bee!
Kathe

Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn Getting White Right

Did you see this pick of bone white.
I'm liking it .(On my monitor )

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8230585@N06/3180484391/

Here's Linen White with the same dark furniture you have ...
By the way this site is alot of fun.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://decorati.com/inspiration/13571

You said you worry about the room looking too cold. Some of your off-whites could definitely deliver that cold look, which is why I'd lean it more toward a pale beige. I thought of you when I saw this room. It's serene, but the purple gives it a little energy too.

When I was choosing the right creamy white for my kitchen, I too brought home a bunch of paint chips and couldn't decide which one to buy. Finally I was in the paint department, looking at brushes or something, and saw a paint chip that said "A Touch of Cream". I went solely by the name, and decided that was the color, no more searching, and I love it in my kitchen.

I work in a store that sells Benjamin Moore, and some BM colors have multiple names and numbers. According to the computer, Bone White is the same formula as Natural Wicker OC-1.

Don't ya just hate when they do that ?

Samples that are currently drying: Bone White, Linen White, and Weimaramer.

2nd coat will be applied

and then

I'll decide.

I love all these photos you guys are finding. You are showing me that cream doesn't look like an unfinished room.

Just go to WalMart or wherever they have KILZ in your area (Value, maybe?) and ask them for a "Silk" or "Soft Silk" chip (or maybe the formula from their book if it's since been discontinued). Then take it to HD to color match!
PS- Love everything about your house! Especially kitchen/family room and that laundry room floor. Great job! PPS- I'm pretty sure HD didn't list the color in their archives as "Debbie's cheap and making do again with leftovers!" Although I suppose anything is possible! :)

thanks debbie, I'll check it out. Did you know HD is selling Kilz now? They told me that Behr now makes it. I have no idea if this is or isn't true. But when I spotted it in there, I was so excited, I told my dh this is the stuff we used!

And this isn't the regular old Kilz, it was a wallpaint and ceiling paint. Not just the stuff we used to use to cover stains. The ceiling paint is really great!

It's Linen White, I think. It's just a bit "brighter", "fresher". But I do love the Bone White too. But if I"m going to add that pop of lime green, I think a little less yellow will be better.

The Weimeramer is nice, but I think I want a new direction. I will decide for sure in the morning. The light is starting to fade right now.

I'm going to post my next question...

Looks like you already found it, but in case anyone else is interested, Bone White is one of their "ready-mixed" colors". I think it's on the same paint chip as a black and a few other random colors. I spent waaay too much time looking for it on a BM fan deck before I finally figured this out!

My mom has a bedroom in her home - the light is heavily filtered by trees - that is painted Dunmore Cream & is the PERECT cream IN THAT ROOM - much like your inspiration photo. I tried it in my family room wanting to achieve the same look, and it didn't work at all.

btw, my BM dealer said that Bone White "used" to be ready made, but they mix it now. Maybe it is a small place and they just don't want to stock it.

And on a late night note, when I walked in the room tonight, the weimeramer and the linen white were competing for my attention. They were both taped to the wall, with a white lamp placed right between them. Gosh, the weimeramer does look good... uh oh

Bee, I used Linen white with 2x the pigment --I was trying to get an off white color that would work with the floor tiles but would read as white, not a color, on the wall. Was nervous that the LW x2 would be too pink-orange but it reads as a cheerful warm white on the walls, and not yellow. I think it all depends on your light and the context provided by the other things in your room.

Cream is not only in the eye of the beholder, but also in that eye beholding the lighting of any individual room. After a couple of missteps, I settled on BM Acadian White, which had just enough contrast with the BM Chantilly Lace trim.

{{!gwi}}

That said, I cannot imagine how any color "information" -- except for recommendations of colors to try -- can be usefully shared.

Bee,

I also love my BM Acadia White. Its just cream enough that it sets off the bright white trim. It is calm and serene...not yellow at all. I do know exactly how you feel though. It was amazing how few selections were left after I narrowed out all of the ones that seemed too "yellow" even though they were classified as an off white.

Keep us posted. We want to see the transformation!

Briana