Help! SW Alabaster or SW Pure White exterior?

2 years ago

Painting scheduled for this week & I’m stuck between the following options:

SW Alabaster siding & trim
SW Alabaster siding with SW Pure White trim. (husband’s favorite since he likes a touch of contrast)
SW Pure White siding & trim. (what I’m leaning towards, prefer a clean but not cold white vs buttery).
Pics attached taken in early afternoon light, including one with example of ideal future landscaping colors in foreground. Bottom 4 planks are Alabaster, top 1 plank + trim are Pure White.

Influencing factors: house faces East, we have tall green trees across the street + along the rear of a large backyard, & we live in the south=bright sun 80% of the year.
Opinions?

SW Pure White siding & trim

SW Alabaster siding with SW Pure White trim

SW Alabaster siding & trim

Featured Answer

A K
Original Author

last year

@karissarichards Happy to! I went with SW Pure White for both the siding & trim. Siding sheen is satin & trim sheen is semi-gloss. We love it & literally every person who’s seen the house has complimented, so any tiny bit of lingering uncertainty disappeared quickly. Here are after pics taken just now, no filter. We’re still working on landscaping.

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Comments (17)

karissarichards
last year
Would you mind sharing what you decided? i am in a similar quandry
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jaja06
last year
Wow that looks amazing! I added my vote ;)
A K
Original Author
last year
@jaja06 thanks!
karissarichards
last year
That looks simply beautiful! thank you so much for the reply! We have a lot of green space and sunshine just how you describe and i think the Alabaster is going to look too yellow/green! the Pure White looks stunning on your home! appreciate your followup so very much
A K
Original Author
last year
@karissarichards thanks so much, very sweet of you! Re: Alabaster looking too yellow/green- yes, it definitely picks up tones of surrounding greenery! We painted a large swatch of Alabaster on the back of our house that faces west, & it reflected quite a bit of lime-buttery color regardless of amount of sun/clouds or morning/afternoon. I sent photos to family for opinions & heard “dingy” more than once😕 I love the Pure White back there, but heads up it can be quite bright to stand & stare at during full afternoon sun (so we just don’t do that, lol). It seems to brighten up the landscape colors along the perimeter of the yard that are typically shaded. It’s cloudy out today, but here’s a full sun early afternoon example from last November, no filter:
Laura Bruce
last year
i am trying to decide between Alabaster or a Pure White exterior i have a dark charcoal roof, house is shaded in front. Can you please share what you selected?
A K
Original Author
last year
@Laura Bruce
We selected Pure White for both the siding & trim. The siding in a satin sheen, the trim in semi-gloss. The picture I added in the thread of the entryway/front door is shaded (shining from the opposite direction). Hope this helps!
Laura Bruce
last year
Thank
You! Helps a lot.
Laura Bruce
last year
Your house looks so neat and clean.
A K
Original Author
last year
You’re welcome, & thank you!
Shannon
last year
Your house turned out lovely. We are getting ready to paint ours. I love PureWhite but always see things online about how great Alabaster is so to see your final result reassures me to go with the “whiter” white.
A K
Original Author
last year
@Shannon Thank you! And happy the pics are useful. I still love an Alabaster exterior on some houses IRL, but notice they’re always either the ones that aren’t surrounded by a lot of leafy greenery higher than low bushes/hedges or are located pretty far north with the main facade faces north getting cooler light. Just boils down to personal preference☺️
Shannon
last year
The front of our house is completely shaded and is north facing. I need to buy samples and put them up. I’m still wavering whether to do all gray or all white. I might start my own thread. Our newly purchased home is not very attractive so anything we do will help it.
A K
Original Author
last year
That sounds like a toughie. Hard to say, as there are so many shades and tones of gray as well! And then trim! Lol. Houzz always seems full of others who were in the same situation, plus some knowledgeable color experts & posting might snag one of their more helpful takes.
PRO
Norwood Architects
last year
I'm with your husband. I like some contrast between the body of a house and the trim. In my experience though most people will not notice subtle differences in color. So, in this case I doubt most people would see the difference between white and alabaster. You and your husband will notice it but I doubt others would.
A K
Original Author
last year
@Norwood Architects well that ship has sailed, but I appreciate your input (on not only my post, but others’ I’ve seen!).
I’m sure the Alabaster option would’ve been pretty as well, but I just love a bright cooler white (we have SW Extra White interior trim throughout & I love it).