Choosing paint --- help!

[bodgerthebadger]

We need our house repainted and choosing a colour is driving us mad! We're going to stick with the same colour everywhere as our minds will explode if we have to choose a colour scheme for each room. We are not FB'ing it due to budget and have narrowed it down to Dulux Timeless White and White Cotton. What say you? We keep flicking back and forth between the two. Timeless White seems more white and slightly warmer but I worry it will be boring. White Cotton has a very subtle grey undertone which makes it more interesting but it won't reflect light as much or feel cold (we're west aspect). Argh!!!!!!

Secondly, hallway has a dado rail. We were going to paint it entirely in white (possibly Timeless White as the hallway is quite dark) to avoid the headache of choosing another colour. The painter suggested we paint below the dado rail a different colour. What do people think of Dulux Just Walnut underneath the dado rail to go with this?

Sorry, this has probably been done to death but we need to choose colours now and we are now paraylsed with indecision!

Tbh the same colour throughout is epically dull. By all means do one colour as a temporary quick fix but an entire property in one colour is not a good idea.

Think of rightmove and how quickly you move on when a beige fest throughout presents itself.

Our house was painted entirely magnolia when we moved in 4 years ago.

At the time I thought the whole blank canvas thing was great.

However, it quickly depressed me and we've gradually painted everywhere.

The hall is next and I'm struggling too. It's long and dark but a light shade gets filthy.

I'm thinking Timeless in the hall and then a mossy green on the wall up the stairs.

Like this

Egyptian Cotton by Dulux is a very population cream basic colour at the moment. It's a bit beige and a bit grey, looks great against white woodwork. Less dull than off white throughout. Might need some sunshine though - it changes nicely through the day in different lights.

We moved into a magnolia box and it slowly started to drive me mad.

I'm now thinking of a dark blue. Like Dulux Lost Lake but possibly darker.

That colour up the stairs and a light grey/blue along the hall.

Will it be too dingey do you think?

if you want to keep it simple, you can do a house in two colours, which is less blank than one. Each room should be different from the adjoining one, so you can do hall/stairs/landing in one colour, and the rooms that lead straight off it in another, then rooms beyond that in the first colour. That way you can buy 15 litre tubs of paint, which is quite a cheap way.

For example "clotted cream" in the hall, and "milky tea" in the dining room, then "clotted cream" in the kitchen. Different lighting, flooring and curtains will change the feel of the rooms.

Strong colours will be a bit overpowering in the whole house.

Matt paints are easy to repaint, but show dirty handprints and are harder to clean than a vinyl silk. If it is the initial decoration, and you expect to repaint soon, you can put silk over matt, but not (reliably) matt over silk.

So the Mumsnet jury has convinced me that we need to have more than one colour. We had been relying on injecting colour with art on the walls and our furniture/cushions but an all white canvas everywhere may be dull I can see. Right now the house is entirely magnolia including the built in wardrobes and cupboards (done by previous owner) and it is death by magnolia everyday .

newrecruit our hall is almost identical in layout to the one in the link except we have a dado rail and only ours is dingier due to lack of light and it being more narrow. So I think we need to go for something very light in the hallway - I'm thinking now Jasmine White as it seems slightly warmer than Timeless. And then a light grey under the dado rail.

PigletJohn sounds good and that is what we will do now. We will stick to a colour scheme for the hallway/stairs/landing and the other rooms will all have another colour.

Thanks everyone! Painter is arriving in a couple of days.

Timeless is very light and colourless. Jasmine White is a lovely colour- had my last house in that. It has a slight yellow undertone (but is still very pale), so it gives a nice combination of looking very light and airy and off-white while giving off a subtle warmth and sunniness. I loved it when our furnishings were beige, cream and blue but when everything started getting more grey it didn't work so well.

If you want a pale colour a bit darker than timeless and a bit more neutral than jasmine white I can recommend white chiffon or subtle ivory (4 gradations- I've used the lightest).

If you want to inject a bit of variety but have it looking seamless and toned look at chalky downs. There's 6 tones so you can use different strengths in different rooms. Our new house was all done in chalky downs 6 and 4 and looked lovely- it's a warm elegant neutral but has a brown undertone that doesn't look good with blues and greens that I tend to use in furnishings so I'm changing it. Would look lovely if you tend to go for neutrals and/or purples and reds.

The decision will be determined by what goes best with your taste in furnishings. My current favourite is F&B slipper satin as it looks wonderful with neutrals and with more cheerful countryish pastels which is what I'm on at the moment. You can get dulux to match...

I'm about to do the 2 colours in alternating rooms thing with F&B slipper satin and Clunch.

Bodger - just noticed that you're thinking of jasmine white above dado rail and a more grey tone below. After living with jasmine white for years i def wouldn't recommend mixing with anything greyish. It works with oat mealy beiges but anything too taupe or grey clashes with the slight yellows cream undertone in it.

I found that Timeless looked very cold and bluey in my house (colder than the PBW I used as undercoat).

I'm about to do my bathroom in jasmine white (has cream metro tiles up to 1/2 way up the wall with a sage green border). Will let you know how it goes.

Hi There,

I'm an interior designer by trade so here's some simple free advice...
If you like colour then use some in your home.
In terms of whiter whites or greyer whites, or any colour for that matter, they will all behave differently insitu. Sample pots painted on white paper is recommended. Look at these as the light/time changes.

If you have limited lighting in a room then go for a warmer white that has a bit of nutty-cream (rather than yellow or grey tinges) which look better with incandescent lights (ordinary bulbs). Yellow-grey whites can look smoker's influenced.

In terms of below the dado, having a different colour is visually interesting and can anchor the room. Choose a colour derivative of your existing flooring and keep skirting, dado and picture rails white.

Dulux is fine. I've used paprika on a wall and it's great.

Best of luck!

Dulux have an app. You can 'virtually' paint your room.

Bear in mind the 'colour' on the screen depends on the tablet/mobile's backlights, etc which are different in reality.