Our 12 Go-To White/Neutral Paint Colors (+ How To Never Make The Wrong Paint Choice Again)

Whites or light neutrals are harder for me (and anyone, really) because it’s SO hard to see the undertones on a small paint sample. Additionally, the wrong white in a low-light room can look so sad and dead, while the right one can bring warmth and dimension. All the samples we tried actually look so light and white once the whole room is painted, but as you can see above, some are so much darker!

These Samplize stickers are big enough to really see the color, are repositionable so that you can try them on different walls or different rooms, and you can keep them up for a few days to really look at the room at different times. My two biggest rules for choosing whites are this:

1. Don’t paint a dark room white. White can look really flat and dead without natural light bouncing off of it. But in a room with a ton of natural light, you have a lot more options (it’s easier to not go wrong). I get it, you are scared of a really dark room – just do a more medium tone that has a lot of undertones then.
2. Stay away from overly blue or overly yellow undertones. Most of our favorites are so nuanced – they have so many undertones that work well together. Gray and beige both have tones that can be so pretty, but if they are too simple/basic, they look cold or dated.

Bright Natural Light Versus Low, Natural Light

Sherwin-Williams – Extra White

Sample: Sherwin-Williams – Extra White

This white is best for really bright natural light and definitely has the coolest undertone, but I wanted to show you what a cooler white would do to a room (and mixing it with wood is a great idea). But this white doesn’t look as good in our living room, which has a lot of indirect but not direct light.

Farrow & Ball – Strong White

photo by tessa neustadt for ehd | from: our modern english country kitchen reveal

photo by ryan liebe for ehd | from: my living room design, updated

Sample: Farrow & Ball – Strong White

This is a gorgeous taupe-y gray-white that I painted my cabinets (the perimeter, not the green island, obviously). I loved it so much that I went ahead and painted our living room the same color – I miss that living room! The swatch online reads very beige, but it’s a lovely creamy grayish tone that can still read white enough in a large setting.

Benjamin Moore – White Dove

photo by zeke ruelas for ehd | from: silver lake hill’s living room reveal

Sample: Benjamin Moore – White Dove

Arlyn painted her living room this same white, and she said this: “It’s a creamy and warm white in the way that vanilla soft serve looks creamy without being beige-y. It’s the type of color you strangely just want to look at, except it’s white, so you feel weird being kind of obsessed with it. Evidently, it was Benjamin Moore’s “Color of the Year” a few years back, if that says anything to you. But yeah, it works well for homes with more character (i.e., nothing super modern), and is warm without being the least bit yellow.”

Benjamin Moore – Soft Chamois

Sample: Benjamin Moore – Soft Chamois

We recently shot our furniture line at Catherine Sheppard‘s house for Room Service (her house is absolutely gorgeous). She painted her walls BM Soft Chamois, and trim is BM Simply White. It was so pretty and yes, light and airy, but still warm.

Farrow & Ball – Pointing

photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: jess’ small space living room reveal

Sample: Farrow & Ball – Pointing

Arlyn wrote this, which I think is totally accurate and well put: The swatch online of Pointing looks SO warm and beige-y, but in person, it’s such a lovely warm yet neutral white. Jess used this in her living room and kitchen and was very happy with it. It’s warm enough that crisp white curtains pop against it, but looks very “white” against most other colors. Farrow & Ball paints tend to be more expensive than traditional hardware store brands, but the paint is VERY thick and super high quality with a wide range of finishes.”

Benjamin Moore – Edgecomb Gray

Sample: Benjamin Moore – Edgecomb Gray

We had our retreat out at The Carly in Oregon wine country (it’s incredible) and couldn’t believe that the warm neutral on the walls, which felt white to all of us, is in fact this dark!!

This is such a great example of how you need to rethink whites to include medium-toned neutrals that you think are going to be really dark, because in a larger space with a lot of soft indirect light, it will read lighter. We loved this light neutral so much in person.

Sherwin-Williams – Alabaster

Sample: Sherwin-Williams – Alabaster

We shot the “low natural light” portion of this in my brother’s upstairs hallway. It actually gets great natural light, but we closed the shades so they just let some light in to give you an idea of what these would look like without beautiful light bouncing all around.

I absolutely love how Alabaster looks in every room of their house – in fact, I’d go as far as to say that if anybody asked me on the street what a no-fail good white is, without seeing their house, I’d tell them Alabaster. We looked at it with the wood flooring and moved the Samplize sticker around in many rooms in their house, but it worked in every single one of them. It’s so solid and pretty, with a slightly creamy taupe undertone that makes a room feel really balanced and inviting.

Benjamin Moore – Simply White

Sample: Benjamin Moore – Simply White

Kaitlin painted her entire house Simply White, which is pretty dang similar to Alabaster, if not a tiny more saturated. Creamy undertones that still read as very white, yet with warmth.

Farrow & Ball – Ammonite

photo by tessa neustadt | from: my master bedroom reveal

Sample: Farrow & Ball – Ammonite

I loved this color in our old primary bedroom in LA. If you are looking for the softest, lightest gray that is so warm but not taupe, then this is for you. I love how subtle the color is, all while bringing some different hues into the home besides white. This color felt really clean, even though it has a lot of nuance.

As you can see, the #9 swatch looks, even a bit muddy, but with the amount of natural light the bedroom got, it felt bright and happy, but definitely a tone.

Benjamin Moore – Super White

photo by tessa neustadt | from: how we styled the living room to sell

Sample: Benjamin Moore – Super White

This was our go-to white for a while (I used it in our old Glendale house, and Brady used it in his kitchen). We still love it, FYI, but have since turned to Pure White by Sherwin-Williams for recent projects. This color is great if you are looking for a modern, clean color. It reflects light in such a pretty way and doesn’t have any cool tones that would make it go blue or warm tones that would make it yellow. It’s just really white.

Again, my advice is that a clean, bright white like this is best for rooms going for that extremely airy vibe, which requires a lot of natural daylight. So don’t put this in your dark bedroom – it will just look cold.

Sherwin-Williams – Oyster White

photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: the portland project family room reveal

Sample: Sherwin-Williams – Oyster White

For many of the public living areas of the Portland Project, we used Oyster White from Sherwin-Williams. It’s almost a touch taupe-y gray in comparison to the crisp white of the molding (Pure White from Sherwin-Williams), so it works really well in that sense. During the big open house event, the most asked question about anything in the house was “What is this paint color?” It’s cozy and comforting but still white enough not to run too deep into gray territory.

Benjamin Moore – Decorator’s White

photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: michael’s vintage-filled living room reveal

Sample: Benjamin Moore – Decorator’s White

This is called “Decorator’s White” for a reason. A ton of decorators and designers use it (honestly). Michael picked it for his current home because it mixes really well with other neutrals but also pops of color. It’s calm yet bright and an “elevated” sophisticated white. Not too clinical, just a great backdrop for lots of styles.

If you are about to paint a room, I can’t express how important it is to order these samples from Samplize, that is, unless you walk around with some magically inherited paint color confidence. Sometimes I’ll just order the final two, just to make sure (ordering a ton can add up, I know). I’m seriously so grateful that this product was invented and that it comes so dang fast (faster than going to the paint store to take home those tiny chips). It’s been an absolute game-changer. And for your convenience, here are all of my white and neutral paint color samples to choose from in one easy place! Let us know what paint color roundup you’d love next 🙂

*Unless Otherwise Noted, Photos by Kaitlin Green