Goodbye Tuscan Sun Yellow, Hello Bright White!

Paint my house white?  Never!   No, white was the colour of  rentals past.  A non- colour.  Plus, the fact that so many of the  designers I have met through work,  absolutely LOVED white.  It was on trend. 

 I had promised myself that colour would reign supreme when I finally bought a house.  I wanted to walk in the front door  to a colour that would make me smile.

And yet, the Tuscan sun yellow that was all over the main floor when I bought this house, wasn't cutting it.  

BEFORE

Next came the year-long process of picking my colour. I tested every shade of grey, blue, blue -green and silver blue- under the sun.  In fact my tester patches were up for months and months.  But nothing seemed to click.

Testing 1,2,3

 But  seeing a friend's freshly painted, pretty white walls finally sealed the deal.  And in the end I went with the white that has long been a designer favourite; good old Cloud White from Benjamin Moore (CC-40).

This isn't just any old white, it's a classic.   It's a  bright yet warm white that doesn't look like primer.  And by the way,  it looks better in person than in my pictures!   Because my house has a north facing exposure, it's often  a bit dark during the daytime and the yellow didn't help.

Now I can't get over the difference it has made.  My main floor is so much brighter, fresher and even feels bigger now.  And I can always add colour with art and accessories when I want.

It took a while to get the painting done (why get it done in one day when you can drag it out over a week painting one wall per night?)  But I can now say the white is working!