Tell me your favourite neutral paint colours

[IND1A]

I’m decorating a 1950s 3 bedroom flat and I'm looking for neutral paint colours which work with the oak flooring and oak doors.

There’s 3 north facing bedrooms
A large south facing living/ dining room
Hallway which is just a corridor with no interesting features and 10 doors off it.

Woodwork and ceilings are white.

I’ve tried

Wilko Chalk White - too light in south facing rooms, it just looks white

Wilko Warm mineral - very dark and too grey in north facing rooms

Dulux Timeless - too light in south facing rooms. Quite creamy in bedrooms, perhaps a bit too traditional. I’m not sure it’s great with all the warm oak.

Farrow and Ball Skimming Stone and Cornforth White - both looked quite dark and too brown with all the wood.

Farrow and Ball Dimity - nice in north facing rooms, looked a bit like the dreaded magnolia in others.

The flat will be rented out so I need colours that will appeal to a wide range of tastes and be ‘gender neutral’. I don’t want to paint every room the same as that says ‘ rented ‘ to me.

So I want light, bright, interesting but neutral. I thought it would be easy 🙄

Wicks calico

F&B Wimborne White.

www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Calico---No-410-Vinyl-Matt-Emulsion-Paint-Tester-Pot---50ml/p/184630

@Mumof1andacat that looks a bit like magnolia to me or is it more a sand colour ?

Someone has suggested F And B Ammonite but that looks quite grey to me. I do like grey and think it looks fresh and contemporary but I’m not sure which one to use to complement all the oak flooring.

What colour oak (dark or light). I have autumn oak flooring and honey oak doors throughout my 1970s bungalow. After much deliberation on colours I ended up using Dulux Pure Bright White on all woodwork and walls and then introduced some colour - for example hallway has minimum natural light, so have kept the corridor pure bright white but used Dulux Heritage Sage green on the end wall to add some interest. Lounge / dinner is west facing with one window on the north wall, so have used pure bright white but then used a deeper colour on the dining end (sapphire salute) to again add some interest. Front bedroom (west facing) has a beautiful wallpaper behind the bed but again bright white for other walls (you could choose a nice paint colour rather than a paper since rented). Only room which is different is the master bedroom (east facing) where I have gone for Timeless which in my light looks a muted offwhite with a tinge of grey. I tried a lot of white / off white / cream testers but in the end I felt the pure bright white did the best at showcasing the oak floor and doors. For reference I tested - F&B James White, Lime White and Off White, Dulux Almond white, timeless, almost and oyster (and gulp Magnolia!). Happy to post pictures.

Dulux Egyptian Cotton. Had it in my old house and looooved it! It's like the perfect neutral but cosy colour.

White cotton
Rock salt

Both dulux

Fired Earth - Silica White
Little Greene - Slaked Lime

Another vote for Egyptian Cotton - I like the way it stays 'neutral' and warm but looks quite different in different light levels.

F&B Shaded White is a good all rounder. It looks different in different lights is a light colour but warm at the same time.

Thanks for all these suggestions. I’ve now got testers of Dulux Egyptian Cotton ( such a tiny tester ) , F and B Ammonite and F and B Pavilion Grey ( which I expect will be too dark and grey but I got it free so it’s worth a try ).

I looked at the Dulux Rock Salt but I think it’s too near to white for me. It looks similar to the Wilko Chalk White .

Someone asked about the colour of flooring . The doors look a bit lighter in RL, I am in the process of sanding them and treating with Osmo oil.

@ostrom I like the sound of all your feature walls, especially the green and blue. But I’m concerned about doing the, in the living rooms and bedrooms in case it clashes with the tenants existing furnishings.

For example I was going to have dark blue on the fireplace wall in the living room and a off white on the other walls. I’ve seem photos of this with the same floors and door and it looks great.

But then I thought “ What if the tenants have brown sofas ? “. It’s not like buying a new duvet cover.

Same with the bedrooms. I know that many people have very strict cultural / ideological views about what is a correct colour to paint a boys or girls bedroom. So what if I do it a neutral very light grey and a tenant says “ Oh no that’s a boy colour and I have two girls “?

I know I’m probably overthinking and no doubt that’s why most landlords paint everything magnolia. But it costs the same ( or only slightly more) to paint in nice/ interesting / coordinating colours. It’s just what is “nice “?

Egyptian cotton - perfect mix of griege and nice and bright. Goes well with grey and brown tones and not an obvious colour, x

Dulux Jasmine White is a lovely creamy warm colour

If you like timeless but it’s coming up a bit too creamy in some rooms I’d suggest dulux jasmine white. They’re similar, but jasmine white lacks the yellowiness.

I’d steer clear of almond white as that’s definitely more creamy than timeless. We had it in our hall and it did look a bit dated.

Farrow & ball all white is good - not as stark as it sounds. If you want to avoid cream but not have a blue/grey cast, it’s a very good choice. We have it in our sunny lounge, where it looks quite warm, and in the hallway, where it basically looks like a modern, completely neutral white.

I had a room painted in crown maypole white by accident. I wouldn’t have chosen it if I’d properly tested as not keen on grey, but it’s really grown on me. It’s white with a discernible, but very light, grey tint to it. Does look green with some light bulbs, however.

I’ve got dimmity in a bathroom - it’s definitely on the cream/brown side so doesn’t sound like what you want at all.

I have crown smoked glass. Lovely light true neutral colour. Its gorgeous.

The wickes calico is not on the magnolia side as that is more cream. I would say it's more sand and light beige. No yellow tone to it. I would paint my whole house in it if I had my way! We have it with grey soft furnishings and light oak wood

Thank you to everyone who has posted, I’m off to get lots of samples today.

Dulux White Mist is the palest grey/just off white.

I found Timeless very yellow and we painted over it eventually - never looked right.