I have not seen SW pure white in person, is it a true white? Cool or warm tone? Behr's Frost is a little cool toned and whiter than white looking if you wanted your ceiling to be brighter.

SW Pure White acts like a true white and is good for ceilings and trim. Using the same white for both, especially with crown molding, removes the risk of having undertones clash.

Pure White tends to gray out on ceilings goes a little flat and dead. It's not my favorite look. We do SW's version of PPG's Delicate White on ceilings with Pure White trim because the result is prettier.

Thanks, guys! Christina, it’s supposed to be a neutral white. touch of warmth but gray to tone down.

Lori, I picked it because I want a soft white that acts like a true white. Something that will look crisp but not stark and that will work with warm or cool wall colors. Would you suggest Pure White or I look at something else? Does SW match Delicate White or have an equivalent of their own you use?

Here is a great review of several SW Whites. It will tell you what to expect from each of the whites.

https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/the-4-best-white-paint-colours-sherwin-williams/

Thank you, Jennifer!

I wonder if I should look at SW Extra White...

House gets East and West exposure with a decent amount of natural light tempered by shade.

Any other suggestions of a good crisp but somewhat soft white I should look at for trim and ceilings? I want something fresh but versatile so I can change walls when I want.

I prefer to stick with SW for the trim paint but it is not required. And I tend to pick BM for walls (I like their eggshell sheen for walls).

Or maybe SW High Reflective White? For just ceilings or good for trim too?

For reference - in our last house we had natural wood trim. I painted the ceilings Behr's Ultra Pure White Ceiling Paint and really liked it. It is a very basic white and brightened everything. But of course I didn't have to worry about other whites competing.

I promise I am getting samples and testing in my space. I just don't want to get 483 samples because that seems to make things more confusing. I appreciate some ideas on what to focus on!

Okay, thinking it’s between doing SW High Reflective White on all trim, doors and ceilings OR SW Pure White on trim and doors and HRW on ceilings. Thoughts? Lori Sawaya? Flo Mangan? 🤗

Okay, There are 1000 whites and you can drive yourself crazy trying to pick one.

Every designer seems to have a list of favorite go to whites and a few are always at the top of the lists.

How I usually do this is I start with color - what are your favorite colors - do you love bold or subdued, do you tend to go warm or cool. Is your closet filled with jewel tones or beach tones or autumn tones? Find the colors that bring you joy.

These are the colors you want to bring into your home. . Now pick a neutral color family that you love with your colors. (Pink beige, orange beige, yellow beige, green beige, greige (gray green beige), green gray, blue gray, violet gray, taupe (purple/red gray beige).

Third step is to pick a white that shines with your colors and neutral.

Chantilly Lace is the most neutral white I know. It is not yellow or green or blue or anything.

It is a clean, bright white that is usually beautiful. Personally I love it on cabinets and trim, but am a little hesitant with walls - can look like you just primed the walls and forgot to paint.

I generally prefer something with a tiny bit of yellow to warm it up just a bit. Simply White is at the top of my list of whites. I also love Cotton Balls and Mountain Peak White.

SW Pure white is a bit cool for my taste, but I love teal and eggplant purples with taupe neutrals - blue gray simply wouldn't work with my color palette.

High Reflective White is very white and will look stark with most color palettes.

BM White Dove and SW Alabaster are probably the most popular light off whites. A bit dirty with the bright clear colors that I tend to love, but beautiful with many color palettes.

I would stick to the same white for ceilings.

Great tips, Jennifer! I have a lot of neutrals in my house - warm grays, tan/taupe, cream, accented with navy blue. I haven’t picked wall colors for the new house because I want to be in the space first (painting trim before the move) but tend to like slightly warm grayed-out neutrals- Edgecomb Gray, Natural Cream, Chelsea Gray, sometimes Jute, Revere Pewter or Templeton Gray in the right space. I am thinking about seeing if an off-white like SW Alabaster might work on the walls. I like the look of clean trim with a warm off-white or cream walls. For trim, doors and ceilings, I want a clean but soft and versatile white. Something that will make a nice backdrop for many years.

House gets a lot of natural light, east/west exposures, but also a lot of greenery and shade.

I’ll look at Chantilly Lace and BM Simply White. Also want to look at BM Super White. Painter prefers SW but I can branch out.

Any other whites you recommend I look at? I’m not going to let myself get more than 4 samples. You are right. Easy to go crazy!

Lori, I picked it because I want a soft white that acts like a true white. Something that will look crisp but not stark and that will work with warm or cool wall colors. Would you suggest Pure White or I look at something else? Does SW match Delicate White or have an equivalent of their own you use?

One of the builders I work with/for uses Pure White as their standard white for interior.

So, it's not a matter of assuming, inferring and guessing based on what I can find about Pure White from a Google search for me.

I'm speaking from a point of having actually used and seen the color on actual homes.

Pure White is a perfectly fine color of white on trim/doors/cabinets and even walls in the right context.

I don't like how it looks on ceilings.

The angle at which you view color matters. It's called flop or flop angle.

The ceiling is a horizontal plane above your head and that affects the color appearance of all colors, not just colors of white.

And I don't like what happens to Pure White when it's on that horizontal plane.

Yes, SW does a really pretty version of Delicate White. I like it mixed in Cashmere flat. That's what's on the ceiling in my own home and rental property and specify it all the time.

I wonder if I should look at SW Extra White...

It's SW's untinted based and it's prettier than Pure White IMO. It's prettier and a simpler option overall.

It might be in poor taste to chime in on another person's question thread, but I do think my issue is related so I hope you will overlook it if I am in the wrong. I am building a house. The cabinets are SW Pure White, but the cabinet designer warned me that Pure White on the walls would not be an exact match due to the painting techniques used on cabinets. The builder convinced me to go with the SW match to PPG Delicate White. We painted the same color on all surfaces, but in different finishes: flat ceilings, eggshell walls, and semi-gloss trim. The ceilings and trim look nice - white with just a drop of warmth to it - but the walls in some of the rooms, especially the smaller bathroom and laundry, look green (think celery green). Is it possible the formula mix was wrong for at least some of the wall paint, or is this what white paint in the GY hue family does? I've been reading Lori Sawaya's blog all afternoon, but haven't yet found an answer to my question. I feel like the Delicate White should look pretty neutral with a Chroma of 0.38. My dilemma is whether to pay more money now to fix it, but I don't know what how - does it just need another coat or a different color altogether? I would greatly appreciate any advice!

Robin, could it be the lighting? All of our walls were painted the same and although it did have green undertone it wasn't noticible except in our laundry room due to no windows and a yellow light. We got a daylight bulb and it helped out a lot.

The inference that my experience is based purely on internet research is false. I support my experience with information from other color experts that I respect. Kyliem and Maria Killam are highly respected color experts with successful color consulting businesses.

I have a collection of over 400 9"x 12" hand painted samples of paint colors and consistently volunteer my expertise to home owners. I love the feeling I get when I can help someone. For me the reward of a happy home owner is greater than money.

Without seeing your space, but your description of the colors you will most likely use I would test Chantilly Lace and Simply White for the trim and ceilings. Both go very well with the warmer neutral grays that you mentioned below. Both will work well with Dove White or Alabaster walls.

Some people like a softer look and use Dove White or Alabaster for ceilings, trim and cabinets, but for me I like a bit more contrast.

Anything bluer than Chantilly Lace will fight more with the warmer neutral grays. It is really difficult to mix blue grays with warm neutrals. It can be done with the perfect mix, but it is more likely to look wrong than right. Therefore I would not go with Pure White as the trim color based on your preferred colors below.

Colors never play alone - your eyes see every color in the room and want coordination in context. Pull at least a few of the paper samples of Revere Pewter and Edgecomb Gray to look at with the white samples so you get a feel for how they play together. Using 4 samples taped together with a 9x12 sample of the white will give you a good feel for the combination.

I like to look at my samples in natural daylight - outside, about 2:00 in the afternoon on a clear day. It reveals any of the colors that are going to show up when you paint a few hundred square feet of wall.

The ceilings and trim look nice - white with just a drop of warmth to it - but the walls in some of the rooms, especially the smaller bathroom and laundry, look green (think celery green). Is it possible the formula mix was wrong for at least some of the wall paint, or is this what white paint in the GY hue family does?

Christina Fisher is correct. Change the light and you change how colors appear.

It's to be expected when using the same color on all the walls throughout a house, different rooms have different quantities of inherent light because of exposure, etc. That can be a good thing because you get the simplicity of using one color but different looks throughout thanks to the light.

Or not a good thing if what you wanted was consistency. It's a lot of work but the only way to know how one paint color is going to render in every room is to test it so you know how it responds to the light in each space.

For the rooms where it shifted too green, Alabaster or Greek Villa could be a better fit.

Thank you SO MUCH Jennifer and Lori! I am going to go ahead and pull a sample of SW Extra White but think based on the discussion and chips I'm definitely going to sample BM Chantilly Lace, Simply White and White Dove. I may go ahead and sample BM Super White too since, just based on the chip, it looks similar to SW Extra White with a little less blue. I'll get these samples and compare them to my samples of potential wall colors as well as my furnishings etc. Plus I will have to ultimately see how it works with the kitchen (counters/backsplash) and brick (on fireplace and kitchen). The one wall color we have picked for sure is for our daughter's room. She wanted pink and we picked BM Opal. :)

My guess is that I'll end up with BM CL, SW or WD but we'll see. I am trying to narrow down samples really quickly right now and then will have a super short window to see them in the new space (we close July 2 and painters start within a few days) so I am trying to pick only a handful of the samples with the best potential. I don't want to spend that weekend running back to paint store for 15 more samples. Sometimes picking a handful of good options is better than a million choices. I will update this thread too. I may jump back on with more questions. ;)

I really thought Pure White would be the one but I keep thinking it looks too heavy with too much gray/blue in it. It would probably make a beautiful wall color but doesn't seem right for my trim. I want something clean, neutral, but leaning slightly warm.

And Robin no worries! You and whomever else is welcome to jump into this thread. I always learn from other people's experiences.

We closed on our house today wahoooo! I only got to spend about an hour there but looked quickly at the samples for trim/doors/ceilings. I think I've narrowed it down to three possibilities: BM Simply White, SW Extra White and BM Super White. I thought about BM Chantilly Lace too. Basically, looking at the finishings, my first gut is that BM Simply White looks the best. I just worry it may look too yellow once up on everything. At least that's what I read (and you know how reliable the internet is).

First question: has anyone had experience with BM Simply White? Does it just read warm or do you see the yellow in it when it's one trim/doors/ceilings?

So I may go that direction, or wonder if I should go with a cleaner white but something close. Something still a little warm...

As for the runners up, from what I can see SW Extra White and BM Super White are very similar but Extra White maybe looks a little warmer? Maybe because it has more chroma? Is this understanding accurate, Lori A. Sawaya??

And it seems to me that the order of warmth would go SW Extra White, BM Super White, BM Chantilly Lace... is that a correct reading?

Again for context - East/West exposures with a lot of shade. Wall colors aren't chosen but would likely be something along the lines of BM Edgecomb Gray, BM Ballet White, BM Chelsea Gray, BM Natural Cream. Daughter's room will be BM Opal.

I'll try to take some pics of the finishings tomorrow but would love any thoughts on this. Thanks!

I have SW Softer Tan wall color and want to paint my ceilings white, looking at SW Extra White and SW Pure White for ceiling color. Leaning towards extra white and hoping it won’t look too stark, any Advice? I have 10 foot ceilings, white trim and plantation shutters

thanks

I used SW Pure White on my ceilings in trim. It's a serene white with a touch of softness and appears whiter than the original trim paint the builder used. The paint has a drop of gold and does not clash with wood tones in floors and furniture. I also used it in a photographic studio and I can attest it is plenty white.

I ended up going with Delicate White from SW, LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Extra white to me seemed to stark, and pure white I thought had a dullness to it, especially with the wall color I have which is S Soften Tan

I have the same question, what white for ceilings, trim and doors. Can anyone post any picture and conclusions please...

My wall color choices, all SW ( builder uses SW) are -

SW Greek Villa: First floor (open floor), Second Floor Loft, connected to below open floor.

SW Guest bedroom - Ivory Lace.

SW Rarified Air - Master

SW Custom color which is like Spangled - Bedroom

SW Irish Cream - Jack & Jill.

SW Pearly White ceiling - First floor Hall and Dinning have tray ceiling and Great room has pyramid ceiling, just for these 3 ceilings, would this work with Greek Villa walls, does it give the needed contrast...

I tested the wall colors, how to go about testing color for trim, ceiling and doors in a new home..

I too am looking at Pure White Semi Gloss for Trim, Doors and Crown, with Natural Tan Matte walls. Did anyone ever answer your question on the ceiling color using Pure White with all Trim?

I like SW's version of PPG's Delicate White. Super simple.

And I can say for sure that the custom match to Delicate White is not similar to any SW stock color - or else that's what we'd be using because I don't do custom colors in general. 🙂

Mlankala-did you end up with Ivory Lace in your guest bedroom? Wondering how you like it!

We are the same situation. What white did you end up using? Have been thinking pure white on ceilings as well or maybe ultra white ceiling paint.