What color should trim be? This sounds like an easy question right? Well if you see me writing about it here then you know the answer is a little more complicated then you may have thought.
I bet you’re thinking white right? Well you are right for the most part. But here’s where is gets a little complicated.
Sherwin Williams Whites
These are all the Whites from the Sherwin Williams website. They don’t look very white at all do they? Now here’s where is gets a little tricky.
I recently had a virtual client and I designed color for the entire home. They didn’t ask me to choose a trim color for them but I had to know what color they had. They said their painted is using Extra White SW 7006. Oh no.
Now you people from the North will understand this. Think of snow. Remember how it’s so very white? What color do you see? Did you say blue? That’s right! When white is so white it has a slight blue tint to it. The same thing happens with paint color.
Here is Extra White from Sherwin Williams. You can’t tell from this graphic because the colors are not true on monitors but trust me when I tell you that this color is so, so white that it looks like a light, pale blue.
I had a client that needed a pale, light blue on the ceiling and guess what color I chose? That’s right! This one and it was perfect! It had just the right amount of blue in it and since I needed it on the ceiling, the color looked even bluer when held upside down. And yes, you should always hold your color chips upside down if you need it for the ceiling.
So anyway, back to trim color. To make a long story short, I usually never choose white even for trim. It’s usually a soft white, off white, light cream, antique, eggshell – whatever you want to call it but never ever ultra, very, pure, super, bright or anything paint name that even says “I’m very white”. Softer colors in the home are so much better on the eye and our hearts. Keep an eye out for colors that say: Creamy, Ivory, Antique, Soft, Restful etc.
Comprende?
Decorating by Donna • Intuitive Color Expert 
Yes! My husband always questions my decisions on this. “Why can’t you just buy white paint?” “Why do you always have to tint it?” The reasons above are why. 😀 The exception is my son’s room, but I was working with navy and a gray/green, so it works.
And your son’s room came out beautiful by the way. Yes, there is a perfect white for every color palette and in your case, tinting to coordinate is smart.
And your son’s room came out beautiful by the way. Yes, there is a perfect white for every color palette and in your case, tinting to coordinate is smart.
You’re right. Package white paint usually has either a grayish or bluish cast. From a manufacturing perspective, that tiny bit of color actually helps whites to cover better than a white base (which is purer) used for tinting. One of my favourite “whites” is Benjamin Moore Cloud White 967.
That is a GREAT white and one that I use when I HAVE to use white 🙂
Comprende.
Good post.
Wow. Those are colorful whites.
White come in all colors – even pure white can look blue, like I mentioned in this post. Just use the white that has the undertone that suits your home.
Good tip.
I got brave and tried to go darker on my trim (I liked the idea from a model). The walls are SW Toasted Pine Nut and the trim is SW Safari. They looked tan on the swatches, but turned out very gold. I think the Safari color trim is making the Toasted Pine Nut look too yellow. I used Toasted Pine Nut on the ceiling as well. What can I do to tone down the golds? Is the easiest fix to paint the ceilings, or will I need to change the trim?
Honestly, you will most certainly need to repaint the trim – sorry! I like to use Westhighland White SW7566 for trim and ceilings. It’s a soft, creamy white that adds warmth to the home. Trim is trim – you don’t want that to be the main feature in your home so why would you want to give it a dark color to make it stand out? It’s just trim! Save your color for the walls 🙂
I agree with you. Thanks!
You’re so welcome!
I am painting my ceiling white with a soft gray undertone. If I go down about 4 inches from ceiling onto walls will that make my ceiling look higher.
Cathy that depends on a few things. How high is your ceiling now? Also, make sure your ceiling color is not too dark. If you have a color chip of your ceiling color, hold it flat over your head and look up at it. View the color the way it will be on the ceiling, horizontally not vertically. I hope this helps.