All white painted interior?

[Anonymous]

Look into grays. Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. Very warm. All white would seem really sterile and institutional.

[Anonymous]

We did mostly whites in our new house. The previous owner had some eye-stinging colors -- bright yellows and reds everywhere -- so it was nice to bring some calm into the space. We did our DR in cool medium neutral that grounds that space. But the rest of the house is white trim with slightly warm white walls. I think our ceilings are the same color as the trim, but flat. We also have a lot of natural materials (reclaimed wood, natural fiber rugs, leather) and artwork. Some grey furniture and pops of color here & there. I love it. It feels much more sophisticated than our last home that was a collection of neutrals everywhere.

I like the look of these white rooms:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That sounds really depressing...

Like this one?

[Anonymous]

We painted all white for our house too...flat for the wall and just different sheen for the trim

[Anonymous]

All white is actually perfectly fine -- check pictures or Haussmanian apartments in Paris or Hampton interiors. The trick is furniture and textures. Let the furniture add color depending on the type of house and your particular taste. If you go all white, you will need different textures in furniture, area rugs, and the like, keeping in mind wall and ceiling light fixtures.

If your house is traditional, consider painting some of the smaller walls in an off white or pastel hues, as to keep some color.

white house is a much better blank canvas than a beige house.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks all. Comments are all over the place, but generally make me feel better about the choice. With the dark wood floors and some of our colorful rugs and paintings, I think it will soon look right. The family room actually looks a lot like 10:32's second photo (and thanks for the photos - v. helpful). Our furniture is not bright but neither is it white or neutral either, so it's not like an all white house, just all white walls/trim/ceiling. I'm interested by several comments about not using the same white on wall and trim - it seems to me that it would be hard to use different shades of white - wouldn't they look funny, like something is off? We just planned to use different finishes - matt on ceiling, eggshell on walls and semigloss on trim, but all the same shade (BM Dove White).

[Anonymous]

Tan is the new white. With white trim. So there's that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would go with more of an antique white for the walls and ultra pure white for trim. It looks much more polished than stark white on both. You can always add color as the room grows on you (we have slowly started painting one or two rooms a year). We have also added chair molding, dual paint colors etc. We have been in the house 7 years. It is much easier when you do one room at a time with regard to color IMO, so you don't get too overwhelmed!

I looked at many options but in the end did this. I really like it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks all. Comments are all over the place, but generally make me feel better about the choice. With the dark wood floors and some of our colorful rugs and paintings, I think it will soon look right. The family room actually looks a lot like 10:32's second photo (and thanks for the photos - v. helpful). Our furniture is not bright but neither is it white or neutral either, so it's not like an all white house, just all white walls/trim/ceiling. I'm interested by several comments about not using the same white on wall and trim - it seems to me that it would be hard to use different shades of white - wouldn't they look funny, like something is off? We just planned to use different finishes - matt on ceiling, eggshell on walls and semigloss on trim, but all the same shade (BM Dove White).

Not necessarily -- a bright white on the trim and a softer white on the walls can be a sharp look.

But it's also not like you'll never be able to paint your walls again. You can get your furniture in there, live with it a while and then decide if you want to go in another direction.

[Anonymous]

Depends on your style, we like modern and we prefer white walls, for splash of color I use accessories, which are easier to exchange if you get bored. I like bright colors in paintings, throw pillows, vases, flowers, maybe drapes, but otherwise prefer my walls to be white. There is nothing wrong with white walls.

[Anonymous]

We went with lots of color on the walls when we moved in a few years ago, and I'm really wishing now that we had gone with neutral walls in more of the rooms. My tastes have changed, and I feel locked in to certain color schemes since painting everything again would be too much of a big production. Especially in the living room, I'd rather have a neutral background to add lots of colorful accents to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All white is actually perfectly fine -- check pictures or Haussmanian apartments in Paris or Hampton interiors. The trick is furniture and textures. Let the furniture add color depending on the type of house and your particular taste. If you go all white, you will need different textures in furniture, area rugs, and the like, keeping in mind wall and ceiling light fixtures.

If your house is traditional, consider painting some of the smaller walls in an off white or pastel hues, as to keep some color.

white house is a much better blank canvas than a beige house.

Agree. My entire place was painted Museum White before I moved in. I have mostly glass/mirrored furniture. Some black and cream accent pieces. Zebra floor cloths on hardware floors. All towels are white.

My house is lean and clean. Very easy to maintain.

[Anonymous]

We bought our first home a year ago and went all out with colors on the walls before we moved in. We rented the same house for ten years prior to that and I was sick of the off-white walls.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks all. Comments are all over the place, but generally make me feel better about the choice. With the dark wood floors and some of our colorful rugs and paintings, I think it will soon look right. The family room actually looks a lot like 10:32's second photo (and thanks for the photos - v. helpful). Our furniture is not bright but neither is it white or neutral either, so it's not like an all white house, just all white walls/trim/ceiling. I'm interested by several comments about not using the same white on wall and trim - it seems to me that it would be hard to use different shades of white - wouldn't they look funny, like something is off? We just planned to use different finishes - matt on ceiling, eggshell on walls and semigloss on trim, but all the same shade (BM Dove White).

Not necessarily -- a bright white on the trim and a softer white on the walls can be a sharp look.

But it's also not like you'll never be able to paint your walls again. You can get your furniture in there, live with it a while and then decide if you want to go in another direction.

Agreed. Dove White is a nice white and will look good on walls and trim. I personally do like the subtle contrast with the trim so I'd go for a brighter white for the trim.

More good photos with white walls:
http://delormedesigns.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-favourite-paint-colours-white.html