This "what color is my paint" thread turns up frequently, even when the finished paint is the same manufacturer as the sample used in selection. And more so when the paint manufacturers differ. There are several common causes: 1. No two paint mixtures are exactly the same, even from the same manufacturer and color. There are always small variations. Those who have tried small spot touch-up painting know what I am talking about. 2. And then there's the lighting that may be used to select a paint color versus the lighting used to illuminate the final painted area. Natural light varies each day, depending on the angle of the sun, the quantity of direct and indirect light in the painted space (or not) and reflections. Artificial light varies depending on the type and temperature of the lamps (bulbs) used. 3. A simple reason for finished paint to not closely match the sample: Most painted surfaces are vertical. Often paint samples are viewed, and decisions made, with the sample placed horizontally. The difference between the appearance of a vertical surface compared with a horizontal surface can be surprisingly great. Always view samples in the same plane and in the same light as the final painted surface. Combined, these lighting effects help explain why painted surfaces may appear different at different times of day, and why the appearance of painted surfaces in the daytime may appear to be different than the same surfaces during evening hours. It's a simple question with some less than simple ingredients.

Paint color most often looks different when you get it on the wall because the lighting in the room affects the color and so does the undertone, the underlying color your eye reads which is impossible to see on a small swatch. Why some grays look blue, others yellow etc. Also, the walls are vertical and that's seen differently than what you're holding in your hand with light overhead. Amount of natural vs artificial light in a room can affect color too as does the color temperature of the bulbs. What I did was paint 24 x 36 poster board samples and tape them up. That's a good way to see how the color will look in the room and you won't get confused with too many colors on a wall. F&B paint has so many colors in the mix some of them change completely through the day. It's not easy paint to work with until you get to know it. The free color card isn't accurate but the fandeck is and they have sample pots ($6) best of all. Paint brands vary as the color of the base varies in whiteness and the colors also vary with how many different pigments are mixed in to get the color. Most paint brands mix 3-4 pigments. Some of the full spectrum (no black) paints have many more than that and the highest end of those -- super premium brands like Donald Kaufman and F&B can have as many as 12-16. The biggest difference with F&B is that it isn't mixed at the paint store. They are one of the few brands that mixes their own colors in their factory. Some color consultants paint more than one of those big samples, tape them together and actually put them up as mini-murals to see how the color looks. Also some tape samples to ceiling if a color is used there.

WD is not my favorite white, but many do love it. First you need to test some whites with your other finishes - floor/counter and backsplash. You also need to consider the trim color that you are using in the rest of your house. Do you have white trim? What color is the current trim color? Whites often do not play well with other whites. When you have picked the color have to have a sample painted with whatever paint the cabinet painter is using. Their color matches are not always perfect, so better to find out before they paint all your cabinets. Many people who have used White Dove have re-painted with Simply White. It still has some yellow undertones, but never looks dingy. WD can go dingy. Personally, my favorite is a color match that BM stores mix for me. Match of Devine Color™ V0101W Icing. The difference between Simply White and Icing is that Icing leans just a bit more toward the orange yellow then the green yellows. I sometimes detect a touch of green (Chartreuse) in Simply White. Computers do a lousy job depicting whites, but this is an analysis of several of the whites that were discussed in this chain. The LCH designations are L - how light the color is, C - Chroma - how colorful or gray the color is and H- Hue - where the color falls on the color wheel. Yellow range is 72-105 Yellow green is 105-130 As you go down in chroma and the colors get closer to gray we see it as a blue or cool undertone (Chantilly Lace, Decorators White)

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!