Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Wall colours - white, or ever so nearly white?!?

30 replies

AnonymousBird · 19/04/2011 18:14

Just about to paint the whole house (interior) as it is newly renovated (18th century cottage).

We now have vaulted ceilings throughout the upstairs (yey) and the overall look and feel is much more airy/spacious and modern.

I am tempted simply to go with Brilliant White and be done with it. DH is quibbling about having an "off white" (but which one i ask?!) and as the ceilings (now vaulted) are going to be brilliant white, obviously, then to me as they seamlessly run into the walls now I think we just go with it all in the same colour - certainly for all the upstairs and hallway/landing/kitchen etc. Possibly choose something a little warmer for the reception rooms downstairs.

Anyone else gone with an "off white" right through a house/one floor of a house? Does it work, or is it not really worth the bother?

Any thoughts/experience gratefully received.

OP posts:

Georgimama · 19/04/2011 19:52

I think in an old house a not brilliant white looks better tbh. Our entire house is painted in Crown Cream White and it looks lovely; it is white but just not daz white!

Rollmops · 19/04/2011 20:38

Try Dulux Golden Jasmine (2?), off white with ever sooo slightly grey undertones. Very calm....
Or F&B it

ChippyMinton · 19/04/2011 22:27

Crown Period Colours - Aged White is soft, but still white rather than cream.

Bert2e · 19/04/2011 22:30

Timeless - but I can't remember if it's Crown or Dulux!

ChippingInLovesEasterEggs · 19/04/2011 22:30

I agree that a not white white would be better, but can't say which one... though I have a friend who has just had a complete nightmare with crown paint and I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, let alone a brush!

Beamur · 19/04/2011 22:34

I once painted a large attic room Brilliant White, thinking it would look nice and fresh - it was awful, really cold and clinical. I'd go for an off white every time - I used a cheapy B&Q one on my ceilings, called something like vintage white or antique white and it looks nice. I've also used another B&Q one in a large room recently - think that was cotton white.
The range of colours is more limited, but I recently helped my Mum decorate and she got all her paint from Wickes and it covered really well.

Grockle · 19/04/2011 22:38

Further to Chipping's post - avoid Crown. I've been painting my Victorian house and crown was a nightmare. Dulux twice the price but I've used 1/4 of what I needed with crown so actually worked out cheaper.

Original poster

AnonymousBird · 19/04/2011 22:42

I have been told avoid Crown like the plague (by my decorator friend!) and I have tried Timeless (dulux) and Cotton White (Dulux), the testers went on the wall today......

I F&B'd it before. Nightmare. horrific to work with and just ludicrously expensive. No thanks! And their colours are so done now. And where we live.... every other house is F&B'd - very passe!

OP posts:

Beamur · 19/04/2011 22:43

Not sure how true this is, but I was told by a decorator to use Dulux from one of their Decorator Centres - its better quality than the standard Dulux (which is still very good IMO)

teta · 19/04/2011 23:04

I honestly would not paint an 18th century cottage pure white - it would just look awful.Why not start with a base coat of Dulux Gardenia - this is a neutral cream that looks different in sun and shade or alternatively buttermilk for a warmer colour.Then you can always change the colours later.

Original poster

AnonymousBird · 20/04/2011 08:31

When you are on the inside, upstairs and the hallway/kitchen/family room anyway you now would not know you are in a cottage!! It is completely transformed and very contemporary. The sitting rooms downstairs are different and we will definitely tone it down for those....

I've had buttermilk for years, it's a nice colour, but am rather done with it now, so really desperately want a change....

OP posts:

BikeRunSki · 20/04/2011 08:35

Our downstairs is mostly Dulux Timeless. A very slighlty creamy white - looks bright in sunshine and creamy in shade, love it.

Cattleprod · 20/04/2011 08:47

Brilliant white is a relatively modern invention and won't look right in your cottage. Better to go with something the colour of natural chalk, with creamy yellowy tones.

Just don't go for 'apple white', 'bluebell white' etc - so 1980s!

Original poster

AnonymousBird · 20/04/2011 09:02

I have the timeless tester, need to second coat it today... am hopeful that it will be good, but the light was rubbish when I was at the house late yesterday, so in daylight, maybe?!?!?

OP posts:

RubberDuck · 20/04/2011 09:33

Dh used to know someone who worked for Crown and got massive discounts. They still used to buy Dulux

dottygamekeeper · 20/04/2011 11:10

You don't necessarily have to have ceilings Brilliant White - I painted mine the same offwhite colour as the walls as I like a kind of seamless look - possibly because living in a barn we have a lot of beams which break up the areas of paint anyway. Have always found Brilliant White a bit soulless, but agree it is very difficult choosing an offwhite and needs lots of test pots to see how it looks on your walls, in all different types of light.

BikeRunSki · 20/04/2011 12:34

RubberDuck after years of decorating I will also only use Dulux. Everything else is too think, thin or looks rubbish after 6 months. Love the Dulux colour matching service - took a tile from my fireplace once, and an F&B colour chart!

CointreauVersial · 20/04/2011 23:12

We used Crown Milk White everywhere in our house - walls and ceilings. It has a slightly stony/greeny tinge, which suits the house (it's more of a "white" house than a "cream" one, if that makes sense!)

No problems with the paint itself, no different to Dulux from what I could tell.

RunsWithScissors · 21/04/2011 10:07

Whatever White you choose to go with, make sure you do tests on Walls in all the rooms. The sunlight/electric lights at night can change the colour of even what seems to be pure White.

Oh, if your upstairs is fairly modern looking, I think you could get away with a bright white, adding colour with artwork, rugs etc.

mrsravelstein · 21/04/2011 10:10

our house is Dulux Timeless pretty much everywhere, it's lovely, not so stark as white, but not as strong a colour as cream.

Original poster

AnonymousBird · 21/04/2011 10:18

I am leaning towards Timeless. Two coat sample had dried by this morning and it is GORGEOUS. IMO.

MrsR - did you run it over the ceilings too?

OP posts:

mrsravelstein · 21/04/2011 10:20

hmmm, i THINK the ceilings are plain old white emulsion, but we have a victorian house with extremely high ceilings so they're so far off it's see...

mrsravelstein · 21/04/2011 10:21

sorry, i meant "hard to see"

Honeymum · 21/04/2011 21:58

We stayed in a lovely holiday let the weekend before last here.

I asked the owner (who lives next door in a 17th century house) which white they had used and it was Dulux White Chalk in Diamond Matt. She was so pleased with it she wished she had used it in her home Looked great.

A friend of mine has Timeless and that is nice too.

Busybee1234 · 03/08/2017 22:32

I love Dulux White Cotton. Looks lovely with white and grey shades.

Flip

1 2