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! 🆘

I liked the look of Just Walnut but the tester has come out very pink.

We used. F &B Wimborne white in north facing bedroom, it s a lovely warm white.

With a very white white kitchen it’s going to be hard to find an off white that works.

Anything creamy is likely to look wrong against white

However anything slightly grey could look cold/grubby

I would suggest sticking with a white white (All White, Little Greene’s Shirting or for a cheaper option, Johnstone’s Trade White) or something further away from white like a pale warm greige (Ammonite for example) or a grey/green.

Wimborne White and Pointing are lovely but are definitely going to look creamy against a white kitchen

@TheOnlyAletheia

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've used Sail White for the last 20 years in various houses. Love it.

I hear you @Dropcloth it is very very hard, I currently have about 100 samples of different off whites in my living room that is both north and south facing! If you want an off white what kind of off do you want, grey white?

I've used F&B in the rest of the house but have just used Dulux White Cotton in my garage conversion and it's really really great, the softest white I've ever used without really having an undertone. I would really recommend it.

I have Great White in my bedroom and it's definitely got a pink undertone in a south facing room.

Another vote for All White by F&B - it’s a lovely clean soft bright white that reflects light beautifully. Doesn’t have any blue tones.

I phoned up F&B today to ask what undertone Wevet had. They said grey and that if it looks at all lilac then it's to do with the room. I went into an interiors shop today too, who said of course Wevet has a pink undertone. I bought a Strong White sample and will try it out later.

I do not want a white white. I want some colour, just not lilac. The woodwork will be All White.

How about wood ash by LG-very pale grey/blue-we have slightly darker Ceviche and it’s gorgeous. Or Down by same company is a bit browner.

I really don't want to start looking at other brands - I need to narrow down the search, not widen it up!

Can you afford an hour of an interior designer’s time to advise you on this? Ours was invaluable on stuff like this.

I've just finished painting a North facing hallway in Wimborne White. It is very creamy coloured against white woodwork and newly painted white radiator, but it works for that room. Anything with a hint of grey would have been too cold.

Have you seen this page OP www.farrow-ball.com/neutral-groups it’s a quite useful for showing the undertones/family for various F&B whites

I love strong white but against white it is grey (but very pale)

Winterbourne white may be ok

I can also vouch for Crown Sail White!

Another vote for Wimborne white - have now done 2 houses in it, clearly I am very predictable!

Looks white enough but not harsh, creamy in the right light. My skirting and woodwork is Pointing which looks like a strong cream in contrast.

Wimborne white would be lovely but not the kitchen and dining room, where too much will be white, making WW look cream.

@jellybean30

Wimborne white would be lovely but not the kitchen and dining room, where too much will be white, making WW look cream.

It sounds like it's going to be hard to find a white if you don't want it to contrast too much with the white of your kitchen units - have you discounted just going for a colour instead? It seems to me that one could drive oneself mad looking for the perfect shade of white, especially as none of the suggested paints would work for you and you want to stick with F&B. We just painted a room using All White paired with Pitch Blue and it looks so good 😊

@jellybean30

Wimborne white would be lovely but not the kitchen and dining room, where too much will be white, making WW look cream.

I think that contrasting whites can look good in a room.

This article has some examples of warm and cooler whites used together,

www.houzz.com/magazine/must-try-color-combo-white-with-warm-off-white-stsetivw-vs~60588863

If you have a showroom near you go in there and get advice from the colourist or ring their customer service, they're very helpful.
I think different colours look very different in different rooms and different lights.
I have amonite in my front room and it looks pale grey, but in your room you said it looks different. X
All white modern emulsion is great. X

The group schoolhouse white, shadow white, shaded white are what we went for in a north facing room, when I wanted white and DH insisted we needed something different to white! Ours is shadow white. There's enough contrast to the brilliant white ceiling to satisfy DH, and it's not yellowy or pinky which would annoy me. You're talking very subtle distinctions though.

What colour hint do you actually want, to get warm but not lilac? And what degree of colour do you want? Schoolhouse white is much, much whiter than Just Walnut. It is very easy to overthink whites and get sucked into almost imperceptible differences between shades - but OTOH by putting the colour next to brilliant white units, you will be drawing attention to whatever traces of colour are in there.

I've gone for strong white, having bought a sample and moved a piece of card around the house. For future readers - strong white is an off white that leans towards putty, whereas wevet definitely leans towards lilac. It's not just my house either - it looked lilac in the interiors shop too. Strong white is a lot more 'heritage' looking, and I'm pleased with how it looks.

That’s interesting you see those two colours quite differently to me. I don't see any lilac in the Wevet room in my house, and the Strong White room I find quite grey. I’m trying to pick a unifying white for woodwork in another but of the house and its stupidly so much trickier than picking a colour. Even though I’m sure it will look fine whatever!

We have all been driven mad by F&B whites at some point, I have about 12 different testers. It is amazing how different they look in different houses and under different light conditions.