3 Ways With: White Paint

Walls and Trim: Salt No.CC5 in Estate Emulsion and Estate Eggshell

As we all seek a little more colour in our lives, says Patrick O’Donnell, white and its nuanced off-white neighbours will always play a key role in any decorating scheme, “whether it’s for your woodwork or your fifth wall” (the ceiling, to you and me).

“White can also be considered for a whole-room scheme – ideally in south-facing spaces, where it feels at its warmest,” says Patrick. “White rooms work best at either end of the minimalist-maximalist spectrum – either very considered and reduced in elements, with well-chosen pieces of furniture of a particular style, or very heavily dressed, where other room elements like fabric and artwork do the hard work for you.”

Salt No.CC5

A perfect white from our California Collection – not too clean, not too cool, but definitely a fine bedfellow to greens, blues and browns. Use Salt on your woodwork in Estate Eggshell while drenching your walls in our beautiful smoky blue De Nimes, then layer the room with putty-coloured hopsack curtains, a Josef Frank print on your armchair, and a 70s style sideboard for a revisionist modern look.

Walls and Trim: Salt No.CC5 in Estate Emulsion and Estate Eggshell

Shaded White No.201

Shaded White is one of our most popular colours. This is such a good ‘dirty’ white and, like Salt, it works brilliantly with our more restrained blues and greens. But it can hold its own as a wall colour, too – there is just enough colour through it to deliver some character, and, teamed with its tonal companion School House White, it offers an easy and effortless scheme for any room in your home.

Dimity No.2008

Moving towards the warmer whites, we find this gem. Dimity has just a little red through it and is therefore an ideal choice for poorly lit rooms, where it can add warmth. You can use it as a wall colour, and team with Pointing on your woodwork, or use as a ceiling colour when decorating your room in our softest red, Red Earth – this will feel much less harsh than a pure white.