When the Perfect White… Isn’t
In our last house, I used Benjamin Moore White Dove (OC-17) in eggshell throughout – I’m talking walls, trim, and ceilings (ok this was flat not eggshell). It was perfect: a not-to-bright, soft, slightly warm white that felt clean and neutral. It was stunning and worked with all my decor.
So when we moved into our new home in Georgia, I thought I’d just repeat the formula.
But it looked GRAY!
In our new house, White Dove turned cold and muddy—completely different than how it looked in the last one. This got me to really thinking about and researching what makes certain whites work in certain spaces better than others.
Our old home had an insane amount of natural light coming in from huge walls of windows in every room. The front of the house faced East for warm morning light, and the back faced West for super warm afternoon sun. Turns out, the warmth and intensity of the light coming into the old house was what made the White Dove feel so bright and neutral. The cooler tones in White Dove were neutralized by the sunlight, and the wamer tones in the sunlight were neutralized by the cool tones in the paint – a perfect pairing.
Fast forward to our new home…it has very little natural light. Only a couple rooms get direct light for any part of the day, so the rest is shadow which is very VERY blue. The blue light with the cool tones in White Dove just made everything look darker and colder. Not the look I wanted.
After testing about 30 different whites, I finally found the one for this house: Benjamin Moore Simply White – in eggshell. It’s a warm white that can lean yellow in bright light—but in our home, with its shaded lot and cool-toned natural light, it reads beautifully neutral and bright. Essentially the cool light and the warm paint cancel each other out – hopefully this makes sense to those who are not color fanatics like me!
Why White Paints Don’t Look the Same Everywhere
Lighting is everything when it comes to white paint. But there are a few other sneaky variables that can totally throw off your results, too.
Lighting Changes Everything
- North-facing rooms or rooms with little natural light can make whites look cooler (even gray or blue). Think of how different a concrete floor in shade vs sun look.
- East-facing rooms will get morning light which is warm, but keep in mind as the sun moves over the house to the West, the light could change to be more blue tone from the shadow.
- West-facing rooms – The sun sets in the west, so these will get that super warm and bright afternoon light that has such a dreamy quality to it.
- South-facing rooms – These can go either way in my experience. South tends to get more sun in the summer and less in the winter but is usually the most consistent throughout the day. The color here will depend on your lot, windows, and your space.
- Sun-drenched rooms – Spaces with a ton of windows facing any direction can make warm whites look too warm—or even yellow.
- Overhead lighting, floor lamps, and bulb temperature (cool vs warm) also change how a white reads at night.
Sheen = Color Shift
Most people don’t realize this, but sheen changes how a color looks.
- Higher sheen (like semi-gloss or satin) reflects more light, making whites appear brighter and sometimes slightly lighter.
- Lower sheen (like matte or eggshell) absorbs light, softening the color and possibly making it appear a bit darker or more muted.
So yes—the exact same color will look different in eggshell vs satin vs flat.
Pro tip: Always test in the sheen you plan to use. I didn’t realize that my ceilings would be ever so slightly darker and more yellow than our walls because they are all flat sheen.
One Gallon Might Not Match the Next
Another surprise: white paint can vary from one gallon to another, especially between a single gallon and a 5-gallon bucket. Even slight tinting inconsistencies at the store can lead to visible differences—especially with whites, where even a tiny shift can throw the whole tone. I have found that it’s best to order all the paint you need in one trip to reduce shifts.
If you need multiple gallons but not quite a full 5 gal bucket, ask the store to “box” them together—meaning they pour them all into a larger container and mix thoroughly before application. If they can’t do this, then just make sure they mix them during that single trip.
Use Real Samples—Not Just the Paint Chip
Paint chips are a starting point, not the final answer. You have to see the color on your actual walls, in your actual light. But instead of painting test patches all over your house, I highly recommend using peel-and-stick samples to whittle down your options.
I used Samplize and loved it. They send large, repositionable samples that are made with real paint, so you get a true color read and they are cheaper than buying a bunch of actual paint samples. You can move them between walls and watch how the color shifts throughout the day. It made narrowing down my 30-sample rabbit hole so much easier.
Once I had narrowed my color options down to about 3, I bought actual paint samples and painted 12″ x 12″ sections on multiple walls (2 coats!) to help narrow down my final choice. I waited about a week after painting the samples before I made a decision – this allowed me to see them all in different weather (cloudy days are very blue!) and different times of day.
5 Key Tips for Choosing the Right White Paint
- Let your lighting guide you.
Natural light (or lack of it) is the biggest influence on how white reads in a space.
- Test multiple options in your sheen.
Don’t assume eggshell will look like satin. It won’t.
- Compare samples at different times of day.
What looks perfect at 10am might feel dull or yellowy at 8pm.
- Don’t forget what surrounds the paint.
Floors, trim, countertops, cabinetry—whites shift based on what they’re next to.
- Box your paint if buying multiple gallons.
Avoid weird mismatches halfway through the project.
Let Your Space Speak
There is no such thing as the perfect white. There’s only the white that works for your space, your light, your finishes.
In my last house, that was White Dove. In this one, it’s Simply White. And in the next? Who knows. I have a hankering for using Greek Villa someday.
The best thing you can do is test, test, test. If you are using inspo from someone else’s home, remember that their space conditions are probably not the same as yours, so trust your eyes and your gut!
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