Top Picks from Sherwin Williams
My design style and color preference has changed a lot over the years. Our first house had an orange kitchen (I mean bright orange) a blue living room and yellow bedrooms. This is a contrast to my current affinity for neutral colors and white walls.
I LOVE the bright clean look of white walls and how they create a blank canvas for design. White allows your furniture, art and decor to stand out and be the main focus of the room. There are an overwhelming number of options for white paint, all with different undertones (cool, warm, neutral).
The best way to pick paint colors is to get samples of several options and test in the room before deciding. Paint large swatches on several walls and check them at different times of day. Sherwin-Williams also has large peel and stick sample stickers you can move around the room. I used these for our last project to help decide on painting a dark wall. You can find them here on the website.
Even though the majority of my walls these days are white, there are instances where I like to incorporate other neutral paint colors (even some dark ones!) depending on lighting, location and the size of the room.
I usually use Sherwin-Williams paint because I love and quality and color options. Below are my favorite neutral Sherwin-Williams colors with pictures of how we use them in our home.
Sherwin Williams 7005 Pure White
This white is all over my house: walls, kitchen cabinets, and trim. You can use different sheens depending on the purpose. Our walls are matte because we have textured walls and the matte makes the texture less apparent. We were able to tint our cabinet enamel paint with Pure White to match the walls, and used a semi-gloss finish for easier cleaning. Baseboard trim is also a good place to use semi-gloss for easier cleaning and a more finished look.
Sherwin Williams Grey Options
All of the main areas of our home are white, however, there are several areas where we use three varying shades of gray. I love SW 7015 Repose Gray because it is really light with neutral undertones. It has a bit of a beige tint but still feels like a true gray. We used Repose Gray in our basement which feels warmer than white while still brightening up the space. We also used it in our Laundry Room to contrast the white cabinets and counters without darkening the small space.
SW 7016 Mindful Gray is a shade darker than Repose and we used this in the office for a cozier feel. It has the same undertones as Repose Gray, but darker and looks great next to white trim.
The darker of the three is SW 7017 Dorian Gray which we used on our bottom kitchen cabinets. These were originally going to be Mindful Gray, and then we decided to go a shade darker, and I am so glad we did!
There are areas in our home that are not light or white and I love using dark paint in some spaces.
Sherwin Williams 7069 Iron Ore
A great dark option is SW Iron Ore, which is a neutral charcoal grey. It can be difficult to find a dark gray without blue undertones, and this is a great option. I used Iron Ore for an accent wall in our front room. Painting a wall this dark can be intimidating and you may worry it will darken a space or make it look smaller. As you can see below, it actually made my ceilings look taller and helped define the space.
Sherwin Williams 6994 Greenblack
A small guest bathroom is also a great option for using a dark dramatic color. I love using dark paint in these spaces. This room was difficult to photograph, but you can get an idea of the dark shade, almost black, with a rich green undertone. This color is beautiful in person.
Sherman Williams 6258 Tricorn Black
Black accents look great in a house with neutral or white walls. In our home I use black to accent doors, our staircase, and even some furniture. The key is to space out the accents to draw your eye through the room instead of grouping them all together.
Exterior Paint
Our newest paint transformation was the exterior of the house. Picking out exterior paint was overwhelming and nerve wracking because it isn’t something that can be easily repainted. It is amazing how much paint can change the entire look of a house. We chose Sherwin-Williams Peppercorn (SW 7674) for the main color and Sherwin-Williams Alabaster (SW 7008) for the trim, which is a creamer white.
I hope our paint choices give you some color inspiration or at least starting point. Interior paint is an easy and inexpensive way to transform a space.
Comment below if you have any great neutral colors to share!
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