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May 16, 2009
Help chose a white for my bath
Call me obsessed, but I am looking for nominations for a white paint color for the beadboard, ceiling and door frame of my bath.
Variables: the walls are schduled to be a pale green, BMoore's soft fern. The floor is white, ceramic hexagonal tile with a middle-gray grout. The bath tile is a shimmer-y white, and the tub is also white. Looking for a soothing white, probably to be rendered in BMoore's Aura. For bonus points, what level of gloss for the beadboard and door frame?
Comments
While it is not the greatest paint out there, Ralph Lauren's Tennis Court White is perfect. I'm sure you could have their chipmatched in a higher grade paint.
Posted by: superstooper at May 16, 2009 4:03 PM
While it is not the greatest paint out there, Ralph Lauren's Tennis Court White is perfect. I'm sure you could have their chip matched in a higher grade paint.
Posted by: superstooper at May 16, 2009 4:03 PM
Thanks for the suggestion. More for the general priniciple than as to this specific color, this color looks pink on the company's web site; does it stay pink when seen on a wall?
Posted by: BrooklynCouch at May 16, 2009 7:06 PM
try benjamin moore simply white.
Posted by: Ysabelle at May 16, 2009 11:31 PM
Benjamin Moore has a three-fold brochure with every white color they make on it. Take it into the bathroom and see what seems to work. It's surprisingly accurate. It wouldn't hurt to sample three choices before committing. Use semi-gloss for the trim.
Posted by: mopar at May 17, 2009 12:31 AM
By the way, do people often opt for Ceiling white primarily because it drips less, or because a very white white (which I assume it is) works best on a ceiling, or for some other reason?
Posted by: BrooklynCouch at May 17, 2009 11:20 AM
I recently had a very good experience with spraying Ben. Moore OC-49 "titanium". The Aura definitely lays down better than the standard Ben Moore paints- it is definitely a premium paint. The colour has a slightly greenish tint.
Posted by: southslope at May 17, 2009 11:37 PM
I second Mopar's suggestion on the BM brochure. I like White Dove and Atrium White. I would also do semigloss in a bathroom. Whatever you do, don't pick high-gloss paint...looks cheesy and will highlight any imperfection.
And I like BM's ceiling white--it's easy to use, very flat, dries quickly, and is a nice pure white. I wouldn't do a glossy paint on the ceiling.
Posted by: tinarina at May 18, 2009 11:04 AM
BM's flat ceiling white for the ceiling and white dove (grayish undertone) for your trim.
Posted by: AEPE at May 18, 2009 11:31 AM
White dove is a good pick. Generally, with green, you want a white that has just a touch of yellow in it. White dove has this (without actually looking yellow), and it looks very nice with pale greens.
I also like Behr's "Butter Pecan" for the same reason, though I get it mixed from the Benjamin Moore dealer. BM "White Dove" is a white with yellow and grey, as far as I can tell. Behr "Butter Pecan" is a white with yellow and brown/tan. BM OC-123 is another warm white. All look white on the wall, the difference is just how they go with other colors.
People use ceiling paint because it's usually cheaper, and since it's labeled "ceiling", they don't have to think about it. There's nothing magic about ceiling paint that I know of. People often just don't want to put an expensive paint on their ceiling.
In a bathroom, your ceiling is going to get a lot of steam. I'd stay away from a paint that was dead flat on the ceiling. I'd do something with a touch of gloss, and maybe a mix-in mold inhibitor, to help the paint stand up to all the moisture.
Also, on woodwork, you don't want to go dead-flat either. High gloss is out of fashion. Therefore, if I were you, I would shop in the range of eggshell/satin - semi-gloss. If you want the beadboard to visually reference the tile, then lean toward the semi-gloss for that. If you want it to visually reference plaster, then lean toward the eggshell for that.
There's no real reason you need to use a different sheen on the trim than on the plaster. The tradition is to go glossier on woodwork, because it's a bit easier to clean that way (finger smudges, etc.) But today's paints are more washable, so that should be less of an issue now.
I personally like the look of an eggshell sheen on everything -- woodwork, plaster, ceiling.
Posted by: vanyali at May 18, 2009 1:40 PM
People use white paint (any color white) on the ceiling because it makes the ceiling look higher. Use the same color white as you're using throughout the rest of the bathroom.
Atrium White -- I couldn't remember the name, but that's my favorite. It's an off white with a slight hint of peach. It's warm. It is not beige nor yellow.
There's also a BM color I can't remember the name of it -- Tile White? Ceramic White? Porcelein White? Bisque White? It refers to tile -- and it appears to be an exact match for 30s white tile. So, a little bit off white, a little bit gray, a little coffee colored. Not dead white. Very useful if you have an old bathroom.
Decorator White is also a nice neutral, goes with everything, if you're looking for a kind of art museum modernist house white.
Sometimes the whites also appear on the graduated color cards. For example, if I remember correctly, Simply White is a shade of white that gradually darkens into gray and then olive green. So that can give you a hint also of the colors in it.
Posted by: mopar at May 18, 2009 2:19 PM
I forgot I had a can of Decorator White in matte (going to paint stores often results in memory issues...I guess I bought it a few weeks ago); if it's too white, I deal with it later. I am going to go with Dove White for the beadboard, molding, and door.
Gee, I hope latex paint removes relatively easily from ceramic tile and grout.
By the way I've gotten several batches of lousy paint advice from Pintchik--be careful about what they tell you.
Posted by: BrooklynCouch at May 18, 2009 4:01 PM
I like Decorator white for ceilings, linen white for moldings, from B moore. I'll second going with semi gloss for the moisture issue.
Posted by: Bolder at May 18, 2009 11:27 PM
Linen White reads as a pale yellow and works surprisingly well with white trim.
OP, are you saying you're going to use Dove White on the trim and Decorator White somewhere else?
Posted by: mopar at May 19, 2009 7:04 PM
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