First, let me say that the idea for this post comes as I gaze upon my orangey gold 1950′s era trim with derision. I would LOVE to paint it white, but my husband is a trim snob. He says that our trim’s singular redeeming attribute (and that’s a stretch, my hunky husband), is that it’s maybe some type of African mahogany. Sure, whatever. To me it’s just orangey gold, skinny and whimpy. I lust for chunky white trim and solid six pack –errr, I mean six panel doors. And if I was to be so lucky, here’s how I’d choose the right white paint for it all.
Choosing the right white can be a little daunting. I’ve certainly made the mistake a few times. The Benjamin Moore fan deck has over 100 whites with tints ranging from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and gray. But for trim, the reason you are choosing white is for the contrast with your wall color, so it’s best to stick with the creamier whites (the ones with the yellow undertones), or the cooler whites (with grayer undertones). Still it can be tricky. The trim in the photo below looks cooler to me. What do you think?
Photo: Antoine Bootz
Confused yet? Don’t be! The first step to take is to look around you to see if a white color already exists in your space. This is called a “fixed” white, and it could be your kitchen cabinets, or bathroom tile, or even an appliance, such as a refrigerator. It’s important to work with this fixed white. If your kitchen cabinets are a bright white, then you’ll want the closest match for your trim color. If your white bathroom tile has creamier tones, then you’ll want to go towards a white with a yellow tint.
Photo: Restoration Hardware
If you don’t have any “fixed” white colors, then your best bet is to save your trim color choice for last. Once you have selected your color palette, then you can look to those colors to determine whether you should go for a creamy white or a cooler white. If you’ve selected rich colors, a creamier white trim might soften the contrast, whereas a bright white trim might look too harsh. If you’ve chosen a popular color like Silver Sage, then a crisp white would be the right choice for the trim.
Photo: Jeremy Samuelson for Cottage Living
Stay tuned for a tutorial on the best way to “read” your whites to determine which ones trend creamy and which trend cool and crisp.
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