White or off white which is the right choice?

I recently attended a paint seminar with a local painter and many local decorators and the white paint debate came up. Many designers were on board with a "famous tv designer" who says pure white is "wrong" and should NEVER be used. They all said that an off white is the best choice like "designer white" or "cloud white" for trim and doors. Well I STRONGLY disagree with the "never" aspect of the statement! Their is a place and time / situations where tinted whites are appropriate and when a pure off the shelf white is also appropriate.

Tinted whites are great when you want to lessen the intensity of the trim work when it is up against the coloured wall. But this is a VERY expensive way to go as all trim, doors and ceilings (unless they are painted a Colour) should match. This will take 2-3 proper coats of paint on every inch of space to the proper colour. Changing a door from white to tinted white can also ruin the look of the door as factory painted doors look better than a home painted door (spray painting them can also increase the price though they do look good when finished) Decorators really need to consider the home owners budget as changing the pure white trim to a tinted trim is it REALLY conducive and necessary to the design or is it a ploy "up sell" and get a bigger referral fee from the painter?
If the room would benefit from a tinted paint and you can afford it them go for it! I do agree that it does change the look of the room. 97% of people can't tell the difference between pure white and tinted white so is it worth it?

I do love pure white for many reasons and here are a few:
-Allows for easy touch up and spot fixing if you don't have a "tinted" white -save thousands of dollars by spot touching instead of full base board cutting in & painting.
-makes a great baseboard or crown moulding stand out as crisp, clean
-highlights architectural features

Now I am not saying your decorator is wrong but they and you need to evaluate your design concepts (ex: are you highlighting, hiding or minimizing the baseboards?) your budget, time frame and purpose. If you are SELLING do NOT waste time and money changing it into a tinted paint colour keep it simple.

Kristy Morrison
Capital Home Staging & Design
613 832-8958 / info@chsd.ca Www.CapitalHomeStagingAndDesign.ca

Posted via email from Kristy's posterous