Is this for your interior? Which rooms? Where are you painting the paint samples? What color are the walls now? Please post some pictures.

New build so while I have things picked out they wobt be in till after paint. But Im pretty sure I need to stay warm, and I want white. Big south facing windows, green in summer but in northern michigan there are more months of snow and clouds.

Every picture I take is nothing like real life.

Ive painted fairly large drywall boards.

Natural maple cabinets, sort of a "normal" mid tone brownish lvp, quartz counter which is supposed to look white but looks yellowish

Decide on undertone you want and search that… i like blue undertone some like pink… i used Repose Grey SW for a super pale but warm white. Misty for cool blue white. I hate yellow tone…

Chantilly Lace with green undertones (crispy white) you want to go

or Super White BM

or High Reflective White SW

And check your lighting if it is no less LED 3500K- 4000K

I have High Reflective white in a bedroom that, like you, gets lots of green reflected light in the summer. It still looks white without being stark in the winter. Definitely look at your light bulbs- @celery gave you a great reference photo.

You bought 400 paint samples Mary?🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

All white and off white???! We can’t see your space and it wouldn’t matter anyway! Seeing it on a screen or monitor isn’t anything like being in your actual space. What works for me in my space with my lighting and my fixtures etc . may look completely different in your space! Call a professional color consultant to help you and stop buying samples!

There is a bit of a misconception about paint “undertones “. Everyone sees paint perhaps a bit differently. I don’t see that paint colors have undertones per say; they are the color that they are that you may not be “ seeing”! Of course any color can be influenced by its surroundings such as lighting or the presence of greenery outside; light streaming in from a skylight etc that may cause one to think a color has undertones. Looking at a sample is very different than a whole wall and some colors are more nuanced, harder to see their true characteristics until that whole wall is done!

If you hold the paintedsample boards near each other, it won’t help you. Paint out a large wall with white primer (or use the color of your trim). now compare each candidate up against tht background. And, of course, as Celery wisely said, be certain your lighting has the aporopriate K value. i prefer 4000k. Then, you may find what you want.

Am sorry you are so dismayed.

Before you buy any more, consider which comes closest to what you aim for.

You don’t mention what that is?

Also don’t trouble yourself with ‘undertones’. They are only peoples’ personal opinion of a colour, under whatever light source they happen to view it.

As a first filter, you can compare colours by their objectively measured attributes of

Hue Value Chroma LRV instead. It will help you understand what you like and what you don’t, about those you have tried also.

See the Colorographies via the website at The Land of Color.

If a colour you tried is too dark for you? Find one with a higher Value.

Higher Value = lighter

If a colour is too colourful? Look for one with less Chroma.

Less Chroma = more neutral.

Too ’orange’? Then move further clockwise, away from the Yellow-Red Hue Family.

etc.

Maybe 400 sample pots, and nary a one you like, is a sign that white walls aren’t for you.

I think she meant $400...

Which, with the price of Samplize or sample pots, is a total arrived at more quickly than one might think. But, I'd rather drop a few hundred to get it right than hate the outcome after dropping a few grand to paint.

Whites and light colors are HARD. Dark colors are so comparatively easy -- you like the color or you don't, there's no wonky color shifts to deal with.

I live in similar area and have a smallish bungalow but it faces south where the main living area is. We used a Behr colour called polar bear throughout the house. It’s nice and bright, still warm but not yellow. It’s really lovely with natural sunlight and in the rooms that get less natural light it’s still feels crisp yet warm vs dingy. We also make sure any of our LED lights are 3000k or less (white to warm colour). I thought another commenters advice about selling advice from a friend was great - or maybe even the paint store. I also love a YouTube Chanel called “The Paint People”.

Hi Mary - I feel your pain and have been where you are. This may not apply to you but my windows (of which I have very few and west facing) come with a greenish tint. I didn’t realize that after a dozen different paint colors, and a kind painter pointed it out. Everything looked yellow green dungeonI was doomed.

Oops - dungeon-like. I ended up with something tolerable but maybe your windows are part of the problem.

What did you end up with Ct. Yankee?
I too feel your pain Mary… and yes you did NOT buy 400 samples. I had to reread your post but realized you weren’t that crazy! (Through the years I’ve probably bought 40-50 samples).
I have a similar dilemma - and I have to pick paint tonight!! From long distance, from memory.
Dove white looks yellow there (as did Navajo white). Decorators white too white for my husband.
Sooo… I am using the tool on the BM website, where you can add colors to your list. I know they say don’t look at them next to each other, but boy you can pick out the yellow ones real easy on it!
Thinking of icicle or vanilla milkshake. Say a prayer.

If you pick icicle please share. That was one of my top contenders.

I think many if us dont like picking colors we cant find experience with on the web. So we hear about the same colors all the time but that doesnt mean the others arent good too.

Hi worthyvess- I used Benjamin Moore Cedar Key Aura Matte washable. I liked it a lot at first, but after 8 years I’m tired of it. The paint itself is fabulous and easy to clean - no rubbing away of color.

Sounds like a big task! We like BM Chantilly Lace for a neutral white, or SW Frosty White, which is a light, neutral gray. (We used a lot of Simply White BM here, but it’s decidedly more yellow.) Paints do have undertones, but Lynartist is correct when she says that people see them differently. Also, and this is a big factor, your paint colors are influenced by what they’re paired with! If you have lots of cool colors in your furnishings, drapes etc, they can make many whites seem more warm, as in “yellow or orange”, the same goes for the opposite. And even neutral paint colors will look different in various rooms, getting their influence from lighting, sunlight and fabrics/carpet etc. We used SW Frosty White in our last home’s bedroom, where we had darker hardwood floors and light beigey-green sheer drapes…..the paint color looked like a warm, neutral gray. Before we put our house on the market we needed to paint our kids’ (now empty) rooms neutral, so we used Frosty White again. My daughter’s room had a soft yellow ceiling and got lots of sun, so the color looked light and warm there, too. In my son’s former room we used some white/light blue accents (bed spread, throw pillows), and the color looked almost light blue in there. Paints are not easy, and my guess is you’ll want to repaint at least some rooms anyway, after you’ve lived with your chosen color for a while. Good luck!

Thanks you guys!
Wow cedar key is a nice color, has a complexity to it.
We are going with BM Winter White in the living room, because I think the window tint is making everything yellow, and that has no yellow in it. White dove everywhere else, since windows aren’t tinted, and for all the trim. Ceilings in same colors as walls.
Picked them in NY for Fl. condo since I hadn’t found the right one in time. Say a prayer! Will post pictures when it’s done! 😱