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Design Dilemma Paint hallway

Help! Which Beige/White Wall Color when using Dover White as Trim

annefortunetroutman

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I want to use Sherwin Williams Dover White on all of the crown molding, baseboards, and trim in my home. With that being said, I would like suggestions on paint colors for the walls of a very narrow stairwell (which gets no natural light) and the adjoining stairwell landing (which is quite small and gets no natural light). This landing connects to my rather spacious living room (Benjamin Moore Navajo White) and my den (Benjamin Moore Great Plains Gold). I'd prefer to paint the landing and stairwell the same colors, but I am wide open for suggestions. Can I safely go as light as Navajo White? I think I'd feel safer if I went just a tad darker. There are so many whites and beiges to choose from that my head is spinning. The current color of the landing walls is somewhere between Sherwin Williams Kilim Beige and Malabar. I'd like to go lighter than this. HELP, please!

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Comments (5)

PRO
JudyG Designs
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
IMO, low light/no natural light spaces need darker, saturated colors. The over head lights are probably on most of the time you are in the hallway. Artificial light can murder lights/whites.

I suggest this blue…perfect with Great Plains, Dover White, Navajo White.

Montpelier AF-555.

I read on someone’s blog that if you paint one wall in a narrow hallway darker, it will give the space the appearance of being wider. Never tried it, but it does make sense as a darker color recedes.
annefortunetroutman thanked JudyG Designs
annefortunetroutman
Original Author
5 years ago
The picture you have posted is lovely, indeed! And I am intrigued about the darker colors making the space look bigger. I'll consider this as I make my selection. However, the blue will NOT work. Here is why:

The stairwell I have is totally enclosed and not just barely 3 feet wide. It leads to what was once nothing but attic space. We have managed to make some fairly livable space on the 2nd floor--a bedroom, lots of closets, a bathroom, and a study. I should have more fully explained the dilemma: the stairwell landing consists of two separate spaces. The bigger space, the space you enter as you step off the stairwell, has a ceiling light so that this space does get artificial light. The second space does NOT have a ceiling light. From that space you can go left into my son's bedroom (Benjamin Moore Fairway Oaks) or you can go right into my daughter's bedroom (Benjamin Moore Gull Wing Gray). The color blue you have suggested will not work for that reason. Any other ideas??
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Thanks, mreen, I'll try that one. I actually went to another local store that sells BM today and the salesperson was more helpful. He checked in the computer and said Arcadia White showed as a close match to Dover White. It looked pretty yellow on the card though and of course I forgot to bring my SW color cards with me to compare. I did get a sample of Mascarpone because it looked creamy enough to complement the antique white trim but hopefully not so yellow that it would make my mauve undertone granite counters look more pink. I also got a sample of White Dove. I think it might be too light for my kitchen cabinets but it looked really nice against the antique white. It also had gray in it that should work with my slate floors and grayish tan counter. Maybe this is a white that works with both warm and cool colors?
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Might be wise to stop and choose a different color. If it's not ight, it's not right. Doubling down on the wrong color in hopes that will make it the right one probably won't end well. Cutting the formula results in a completely different color. It might harmonize well with Dover White, it might not. The key to a white-on-white color scheme is there needs to be a difference in Munsell Chroma of 0.20 +/-. It's a guideline to follow because if there's ample contrast in Chroma, then one color of white won't make the other look dirty or dingy. You can find Munsell Chroma values for all major paint brands on The Paint Color DNA table. You want the column labeled "Chroma".
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PRO
JudyG Designs
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
This is your first floor; I have added B.M. Whitestone. I like the three together.

This is your second floor; I have added B.M. Whitestone. I like the three together.

The landing with the over head light: hang a hang a canvas. Something like this would be beautiful against the whitestone.

On the ene wall of the dark staircase hang a good sized mirror, hopfully it will reflect the overhead light on the landing.
annefortunetroutman
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you again for your advice on colors. I love the combination of colors you have chosen. But I feel that again, I have not been very clear. The "landing" I am referring to is on the 1st floor. Unfortunately, in that dark niche outside the two bedrooms, I cannot hang anything because a thermostat was placed on that wall, and the A/C man just confirmed that it cannot be moved without a lot of work and expense. That is very unfortunate!! There is a "landing" on the 2nd floor too, along with a long hallway that connects bedroom to bathroom and study. In my opinion, the color of the stairwell will have to also be the color of the walls on this 2nd floor hall. Walls of study are BM 1077; walls of bathroom are SW Krypton; walls of bedroom are BM 1075. Please let me know if the colors you are showing are BM 1077 and SW Dover White. Those are colors I would like to stick with in my color scheme in general. I just believe I need to go lighter than BM 1077 on the walls of this hallway and on the 1st floor landing.
PRO
JudyG Designs
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I just can’t picture the set up at all. Not your fault, as you keep explaining it to me. One last try: B.M.Lancaster Whitewash. It has a LRV of 74, which is great. If walls are in good condition do the paint in satin finish.
annefortunetroutman thanked JudyG Designs

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