Not all white paint shades are created equal. And a number of factors come into play when deciding on the perfect white: the region (Northwest? East Coast? Southern California?), the quality of the natural light, window placement, room size, ceiling height, and more.
That said, every architect has a favorite all-purpose, works-anywhere shade of white. We consulted a selection of architects from the Remodelista and Gardenista Architect/Designer Directory for their go-to white paint picks.
Above: Jim Poteet of Poteet Architects in San Antonio, Texas, says, “Our favorite is Pittsburgh Paints 520-1 Gypsum. It has a tiny amount of gray and a warmth to it that moves it away from pure white. We primarily use eggshell finish on walls and prefer that they be sprayed for a smooth, hard finish.”
Above: Brooklyn-based Delson or Sherman Architects favors Benjamin Moore’s low- and no-VOC paints in either Decorator’s White or Super White. “Because color is so dependent on context, we always select colors based on the material palette and lighting in each room; the relative amount of gray or yellow is critical. We avoid pink-tinted whites.” Above: The go-to white paint for Brooklyn-based architect Clay Miller of Bergen Street Studio is Farrow & Ball’s White Tie—a warm, neutral white (“the white of old, pre-brightened, starched cotton,” as the company says). Sample pots are available for $7.50 at Farrow & Ball. Above: Dana of Platt Dana Architects favors a mix of half Benjamin Moore Linen White and half Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White for walls, which creates a “warm and consistent color whether it is in shade or sun.” Above: Bay Area architect Ken Linsteadt’s “patented favorite” is Benjamin Moore White Chocolate. Above: A favorite white for Michielli & Wyetzner Architects in New York is Benjamin Moore Atrium White. “We like it because it has a warm, almost reddish tone, as opposed to most whites, which we find either too blue, too icy, or too yellow,” Michael Wyetzner says. Above: Pulltab prefers Fine Paints of Europe in Pantone Bright White (Fine Paints of Europe can specify any Pantone shade); the firm also likes Benjamin Moore Snowfall White. Above: Lewis Butler of Butler Armsden Architects nominated Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace: “It’s a terrible name, but the best white out there,” he says. The firm used it on the walls of its new San Francisco offices. N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on April 20, 2011.
(Visited 12 times, 1 visits today)
You need to login or register to view and manage your bookmarks.
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Or Subscribe for Maximum Value!
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Sorry! As a registered member you get 10 free posts from our archive (posts more than a year old) every 30 days. You have reached your limit for this 30-day period. If you would like to access unlimited posts from the archive (ad free, too), become a subscriber today, and keep reading as many articles as you want.
Full Access Individual Subscription
Benefits include:
Unlimited access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive the full-text daily newsletters
All features that Members have access to
Annual subscribers pay just 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Sorry! You have reached your limit of three (3) free posts from our archive every 30 days. You can increase this to 10 posts by joining as a free Member, or read unlimited posts with no ads by becoming a paid Subscriber.
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Become a Member at no charge
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Manage Newsletters
Congratulations on becoming a Subscriber to Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Unlimited access to all three sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive any of the newsletters, including the the full-text daily Remodelista and Gardenista newsletters
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Congratulations on joining as a free Member of Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Access to all posts published in the past year
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
If at any time you want to become a Subscriber and enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to all our content, just go to the My Account link and choose Subscribe.
Have a Question or Comment About This Post?
Join the conversation