To paint the house just normal white?

[ShinyMatt]

Just moved. The house needs a total repaint.

I am not originally from the UK, and where I'm from walls are usually just white. Pure brilliant white. I like that look - white walls with colour for accent only - but I am from a hot, sunny place in a lower latitude, and I know colour can look different in different places.

I admit, friends and the internet have gotten into my head, with all their talk of pure white being too harsh, their talk of Timeless and Jasmine White and Egyptian Cotton and dozens of others.

Should I buy 10 shades of not-quite-white and try them out? I'm not sure I feel qualified to make a decision based on a swatch on the wall! I am not a great decorator.

The house is bright (when there's sun!) with one or two darkish rooms. It's an east-west orientation. It is currently painted white - it's chipped and dirty but it looks like plain white to me.

So... AIBU to ignore all decorating advice and buy a big tub of trade white and go for it?

Anyone out there with better taste than me and more experience, feel free to set me right.

I paint every wall white every time. Love it.

I think just pain brilliant white is absolutely fine. I've gone through my houses before and done them all white because it's an easy simple improvement on the previous owners decor. Nothing wrong with it at all!

Love a plain white wall. Never had any coloured walls here

My house was new in 1988, a barn conversion. By the time it got to the decor I had made enough decisions and told the builder to paint the whole lot white. I was very happy with it for years.
Then gradually after about 10 years went full colour in every room. Kitchen turqoise, bedrooms green, yellow, dining room blue etc.
Another ten years and I went back painting every room not quite white. That's tedious as you end up with multiple tins of almost but not quite the right shade for touching up.

I'm now heading back into colour. Bedrooms are sage green, pink, lilac. Kitchen is yellow, living room pale pink etc.

White is great for a repaint
You can always accessorise with rugs etc or paint one wall later
A lot depends on the light moving through the seasons

my style is a whole house in white . Wood floors. Rugs. Dramatic fireplaces . Art.

so yes to white!!

Our house has brilliant white when we moved in and it looked dull and cold- Victorian property and some rooms are a bit dark. We repainted some of it white again but did use Timeless, I would definitely recommend it- it is very close to bright white but just a subtle warmth to it without any yellow. It allows it to be a blank canvas that you want but not too clinical during a lot of the year without much sunshine!

But that's an issue with gloss and other oil-based paints, isn't it? So you wouldn't have that issue on the walls.

We have our second floor staircase and loft room in white after we saw the undercoat and decided not to go with cream as in our original plan. It's a dual aspect loft room that gets plenty of sun and seven years later it's still bright and warm. I'm thinking of doing our downstairs the same as right now it's a bluey-grey and just so dark and gloomy.

Definitely an issue of personal taste and I suspect upbringing - like you I grew up in a warmer country where white paint on walls is totally normal; I found the magnolia of all my rental years and my first flat a bit close and claustrophobic.

I love everything white - we have so much stuff that anything else just becomes too much.

I was advised once that light in UK is quite grey and that you should use whites with a pink or yellow tones. Our whole house is painted in Dulux Timeless white which is a bit warmer looking on a grey day, but is deffo white not cream or a hint of anything.

If it was just up to me my whole house would just be pure white. DH is a graphic designer and is dead against white. I just leave him to it, it means more to him than me, but I still think it would all look better white.

I don't like pure brilliant white in a UK home, it looks cold in winter. I also think it's hard to get an idea of what a whole room painted a certain shade of white will look like from tester pots. Personally I'm with your friends Dulux Timeless is the way to go if you're going for white. Mind you I'm still not keen on that without a bit of colour - but I live in a cottagey north facing house so different houses suit different thing.

Yes, but what I mean is that you notice the yellowed woodwork more if the walls are brilliant white. I didn't explain very clearly!

I also grew up somewhere hot and sunny a lot further south than the UK and like you I grew up with wooden floors and brilliant white walls. When we moved here my parents just replicated what they knew and I remember the biggest learning curve was actually lighting - we just had the "big light" for each room and it always felt weird and stark and other people's houses felt lovely and cosy. Eventually it sank in that the English people we knew had so much more lighting than we had - side lights, uplights, spot lights, warm lamps on tables, standard lamps in corners, etc. and walls painted much warmer colours.

I still can't get away from white walls personally as it still feels homely to me, but now use Timeless White, with just enough yellow in it to be used in dark north-facing rooms. It was advised by our decorator but it seems to be a popular choice judging by this thread!!

Ah ok that's fair! I've found using a water-based satinwood rather than a gloss on woodwork deals with the issue pretty well as you don't get the same yellowing as a gloss - and I like the finish better anyway!

We're seven years in and our woodwork (including wardrobes) and walls are still pretty much indistinguishable.

I like Dulux Timeless myself but you can't go too far wrong with good old PBW. Do get a good quality trade paint and not, like, Wilko Extra Value brand or whatever. You'll be using a lot of it so get the decent stuff.

White can be used very effectively in well-styled rooms. However it can look cold in the UK, and having a whole house in a light white/ cream/ magnolia/ grey can end up looking rather Homes Under The Hammer.

White is a great starting point though. I now use it as a base to paint over a colour and put a bright neutral base before using a new colour. If it looks a bit stark for a particular room, it's very easy to paint over with a new colour. I've got white combined with bold colours in some rooms as it reflects the light around. Other rooms are painted entirely with lighter colours.

Go for the white, and if it's not quite right for the house/ individual rooms, it's easy to change, and big tubs of trade paint are cheaper than any other emulsion for walls anyway.

My house is painted in brilliant white. I love it. It hardly ever looks just white as it reflects furniture, the glow from lamps, etc. Modern and not cold at all

My whole house is brilliant white. In my opinion, the "hint of" thing is just a marketing ploy for more expensive paint...

I do think you will pick up undertones in off whites. Those tones really matter when furniture and textiles go into a room. Greenish undertones are the most versatile, pinky undertones the least.

I’m from the UK but currently living in France. Pretty much every house / appartement I have been in is white throughout - except for those of my British friends 😂 where the colours are a bit more varied. I’ve got very used to the all white look: colours come in with furnishings and accessories, it’s dead easy to repaint and very easy to freshen up as there are no edges to get perfect so I’m a total convert to all white. Tbh I think it looks classic, and I think a lot of coloured paints - unless it is absolutely perfectly done - looks a bit dated.

when DH bought his first flat he decided to repaint, choosing a specific colour from the off-whites range at the time. He went to B&Q to get it made up at the mixing station: it was basically a 10ltr tub of brilliant white with literally 4 drops of dark grey mixed in 😂. And cost a lot more than just white 🤪

Team trade white here! Our house is all white and filled with colourful throws, rugs, art, cushions etc. I love it.

My last house was pure brilliant white everywhere and i liked it a lot.

Doesnt work as well in my current house. No idea why. It looked unfinished so i painted it different colours.

Last time I decorated 6 years ago I chose chalky pastels eg lemon yellow in a dark hall way, heritage green in my bedroom (a colour that has followed me around from previous home!) Millenium pink in north facing sitting room. But right now I'm getting bored with them and would seriously change to a soft white shade throughout if I could afford it!

Dulux pure brilliant white looks great! I have it in my kitchen. But I'd suggest getting the easy care range, that's easier to wipe off mucky marks