Farrow and Ball whites - no such thing as 'just white'

[jellybean30]

I'm redecorating at the moment, and have gone for Wevet for the living spaces and one daughter's bedroom. When I did a tester patch, it looked like white with the faintest hint of grey. Having now painted half of my daughter's bedroom (north-facing), it looks worryingly lilac. It's an Edwardian house, so high ceiling, picture rail (woodwork is pure white), and the window is quite big (though not super bright given north-facing).

What's gone wrong? Is it maybe the pendant light (it's a warm bulb)? Or does Wevet actually have a lilac undertone? I really need to decide ASAP if Wevet is not the right colour for the rest of the house before the builders buy it!

HELP! 🆘

If you want white-white, F&B All White is a good one. Sounds like Wevet is not the right colour for the light in your house. If you want a slightly greyish white, Blackened or Borrowed Light might work.

All white is a white with no pigment

I bought a Blackened too 🤦🏻‍♀️ but it looks a bit too dark in our rooms.

I don't want just a plain white, especially as our kitchen will have white doors, white tiles, and a white quartz top. Would strong white work?

As an aside - is All White any different from a plain white paint, or does it have some special properties?

Even the whitest of whites will look different depending on the aspect of the room, though. I think north-facing rooms can often bring out lilac or even green undertones. What aspect are the other rooms you were planning to paint Wevet?

Borrowed light is definitely not a grey white, more a lovely very pale blue

The kitchen and dining room will be north-facing. Kitchen will be very white with white units, white Zellige tiles, white marble worktop.

The livingroom is south-facing.

I once had F&B Great White and loved it. V v v v slight undertone of lilac

I used F and B Pointing White throughout our old house, and it worked well — it may be warmer than you want, though. I think it has a red base.

Ah yes Great White definitely looks lilac/pink, even in the colour chart.

I should say I also tried Ammonite in the south-facing study and found it almost brown? So rejected it on that basis.

I feel so muddled. I've gone through so many whites.

I don’t understand, if you want white, real white, proper white, then why go with arty fatrty F&B whites, I mean I am a fan of arty farty whites myself but you want real white? Dulux Brilliant White is as white as you can get, no mistakes.

Otherwise what hue do,you want to your white? Green, blue, grey, pink, lilac, brown ……

I just went through lots of off whites (not just F&B). Wevet definitely had a pinky undertone. Ended up with Ammonite in the end and am very happy with it. It's warmer without being overtly lilac, but it's a grey, not a white-white if that's what you're after. All White would work. Strong White is also a grey.

I sympathise though because white is the hardest colour to choose. It has to have some undertones or it's too harsh.

I'm not after a white white btw. I want an off white.

How about Little Greene's Batsman? Or their Rectory White?

I did quite a lot of research on a white that would be clean and bright enough but also be warm, not cold and have no obvious undertone. Lots of interior design blogs recommended Crown “Sail White” as it pretty much went with anything and it really does!

I went to Wimborne white after recs in here and I'm very happy. It's a deep soft white no hints of cream or anything

Wevet and blackened are definitely not white.

Go for all white or Just get a dulix white paint abd save your pennies!

We've got rock salt by Dulux and it's literally off white with a tiny drop of grey in .. might be worth a look? :)

Having been subject to the same F&B obsession :D I ended up with Dulux Timeless in the hall and upstairs, and Johnson Brilliant White all through downstairs.

Weirdly the brilliant white LOOKS like an off-white now, because of all the different shadings on each downstairs wall :S It works very well!

Timeless is fine too, looks slightly greyish in the north facing rooms but overall I prefer the brilliant white now as the Timeless looks a bit flat.

I’ve been looking at whites recently too as I’ve realised a lot of the woodwork in our house needs touching up and I don’t want to buy different whites to go with each different room. I want one universally acceptable white that isn’t too white, too grey, too cream etc.

I painted some under stairs cupboards recently and just grabbed the nearest white eggshell I had in the cupboard. It is SO white and now all the other woodwork, banisters etc looks really cream. I thought I’d just painted them in white so no idea what they are now!

I asked on a f&b forum and the majority suggested Wimborne White. Strong white, white tie and all white were also recommended but some people said they found them a bit stark.

I like the sound of the Crown one mentioned above.

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My favourite f&b white is schoolroom white. Creamy, almost like a soft putty.

As an off white we have used Dulux Just Walnut a lot when we have wanted a soft neutral colour. We have it in our kitchen and all the way up the hall, stairs and landing. It’s really nice and very light without being cold.