Please help me through a paint crisis! Which cream?

[CreamPaint]

Okay, have NCed as I'm ashamed to admit how clueless I am about paint. I live abroad, and will soon be moving back to our UK flat. My brother is a builder, and has kindly found contractors who can go into the flat and plaster/repair/paint after over a decade of renting it out. They will finish the flat before we return, which is amazing. They start work tomorrow.

However, I asked for white walls, and DB and contractors both reacted with mild horror - stark, clinical. It's white on the walls now and I see their point, it doesn't entirely work. They suggested magnolia. I have no idea what magnolia even looks like, but pics online seem to veer either a bit yellowy (not too bad) or peachy (the horror!).

Clearly I'm not in a position to try out little test pots of the stuff (where I'm living, you paint the place white, because that's what is available). So, if I tell you that I like white, but accept that a warmer neutral colour is probably a better idea... what might you suggest??

If it helps: the flat is an upstairs, 2-bed, late Victorian place with all the Victoriana stripped out by previous generations of owners - bland, blank canvas. Fairly bright.

I need to make a quick decision, sight-unseen. Help me, please! And many thanks.

Farrow and Ball White Tie (or get your decorator to get a colour match mixed up in some other actual paint). Its a beautiful pale warm cream, almost unnoticeable in good light, deepening to the colour of double cream/clotted cream in dark corners. We have it in our south facing bedroom, which has big windows so is a light, airy space.

I guess the builders are not Swedish! White walls can be very nice and refreshing with the right furniture.

Also, there are many different softer white that are slightly lighter than magnolia I think...

for example with dulux- almond white, jasmin white
farrow and ball - shaded white, off white...
and probably a few more that I haven't heard

Magnolia is very peachy yellow. I'm not keen

Have a look at more aged antique off whites. Dulux have some. Farrow and ball do pointing

Crown has period whites too

Urghhh. Not Magnolia. Too 'dirty cream'.

Try Dulux Natural Hessian or Egyptian Cotton if you want a creamy white or Dulux Timeless if you want a softer white that will work well with the reduced light in UK winter.

Thank you all so much! Some good ideas. But will going with these creamier whites increase the cost by a lot?

hyperspacebug No, they aren't Swedish! I never considered white cold or stark - it looks fresh and clean to me. But it's true that while it looks fresh and clean where I live now, it did look harsh in the UK. Must be something to do with the quality of the light.

I can see myself hating magnolia, whereas I won't hate a creamy off-white.

A friend here has found a shop that actually stocks Dulux paint, so I will stop by and see if they have any of the options mentioned.

Does Dulux Timeless lean a very hint of grey? Will it look 'dirty white' against a white ceiling and skirting boards? What about Natural Calico - too yellow again?

I do want the place to look warm, as they put it, and clean and fresh - just not peachy.

They are putting a chocolate brown carpet throughout, except medium-dark wood in the front room.

Dulux country white is lovely. It looks slightly yellow/cream on the paint chart but its not. Its more of a soft chalkey white. It just takes the egde off so its white but not stark.

The decorator we used said "Ignore the fancy names like Hessian and Ivory and Linen...they're all variations on Magnolia...but cost far more...."

We have Dulux Timeless in our new kitchen/diner extension and it looks lovely. It doesn't look at all grey and looks good against our white woodwork and cream kitchen units. Our lovely italian lady architect has her whole house in it apparently...

Sorry, scrap that recommendation for country white...I've two sets of dulux paint charts. Country white isn't on the UK chart, its only on the Irish chart. They could probably mix it for you.

clawdy Yes, that had also occurred to me. The contractors are that I might not want magnolia. They think it's reasonably priced and inoffensive. They may be right. :)

DB said, What if I paint it magnolia, but told you it was Buttercream?

I have used Natural Calico after much agonising over which creamy off white to use. I love it.

However last week dh had to take our toilet out to redo the flooring, and the original builders (what I can only assume to be) magnolia is behind the cistern - and there is barely any difference to the calico on the walls.

We have a big renovation project coming up on a limited budget and I am actually considering using magnolia for the main "plain" walls as it is so much cheaper to buy.

But I need a tester first just to be on the safe side.

Will try to look up Country White, burnishedsilver. Also Timeless and thanks to all who suggested that. All the names are in forrin here, so I hope they translate pretty directly!

Ah, SunnyRandall, this is my fear. My long-distance agonising is causing only mockery by the builders, who know that my "fancy whites" are going to look like magnolia!

I know people in the UK with white walls, looks fine, especially once you get your pictures and bookcases and whatnot up.

I'd go for white - easy enough to paint over it if you want to in the future, too!

I like white, too, RiverTam. It's pretty. We have lots of art, books, photographs and bright furniture.

I had to paint over Timeless. It was grey and dingy in a north facing room. I use Dulux Trade Diamond Matt tinted s0505y30r which is a Farrow and Ball colour I think but I needed tougher paint. Iuse it as it is in north facing rooms and dilute it with 1/3 white in south facing rooms to get the same colour intensity. It's lovely.

But I think if you like white, have white.

I find magnolia very very offensive!

I'd go with Timeless, it's lovely, cheap and a classic

Crown heritage paint. Old english white. Is a lovely thick cream.

Do you know what kind of light you'll get? We need to have the plasterer repaint ours as a blank canvas before we move in so am going in a bit blind too but have been told to opt for yellow based "whites" for north east facing rooms as blue "whites" will look grey. Will probably go for jasmine white or there's something called Light and Space range which reflects light? And then faff about with decent colours later!

It does depend on the light a lot.

We have Timeless in our kitchen and it is a lovely light cream, deepening slightly at some times of day. DS tried it in his house and it looked far too grey, they ended up using almond white which looks lovely there but in our house looked quite pink.

The flat runs east/west - So one bedroom faces due east (lots of morning light), the front room due west (lots of afternoon light), and the bathroom and kitchen face south - they are very bright. A second bedroom faces east, too, but is darker - I reckon the warmer magnolia-ish thing may work here.

There is a tall hallway/landing with very high ceilings, which gets very little light.

Why is this SO HARD??

MissMystic SIL - DB's lovely wife - just told me to have a look at the light & space range, too. I reckon it might blind us in the rooms that get a lot of light! But maybe a thought for our dark front entranceway/hall?

If we get anything that looks pink, DH will freak.

There are wars on. And I'm obsessing about shades of cream.