But over the summer, almost every person that walked through the door commented on how expansive and fresh the white was. Some even remarked that they really should take some of their own rooms back to white – that’s how well white suits this little cottage!
With five large windows and two french doors opening off the main rooms, the white walls pleasantly meld outdoor space with indoors. In bright, warm weather the room is a cool, clean haven and on cold, wet days the warm wood floors, fireplace and some soft lighting are more than enough to make it cozy. I have to conclude that this space is meant to be white. Or more precisely, two whites!
So I went back to thinking about style guru Mary Emmerling’s advice for white on white paint. She talks about mixing – 50/50 – Benjamin Moore Decorator’s White and Linen White to get the perfect white paint. Or she suggests using both; putting the Decorator’s White on the walls and doing the trim with Linen White. Now I am just unimaginative enough to think that this must be a misprint: Surely the darker tone goes on the walls and the trim takes the ultra white?
Next I dug out my BM colour wheels. These make a great gift by the way. They come in a tidy holder with a shoulder strap and have been endlessly useful. Until today, that is, when I found no Linen White at all. There is a Natural Linen and there is a Linen Sand but each of these came down pretty firmly in the beige camp. At my local BM supplier, they typed Linen White into their computer and came up with a pre-2000 colour numbered 912. Then they dug around in a dusty shoebox and presented me with a chip numbered 912. Ah-ha! This is a white. Quite a pretty white. A soft, slightly yellowy-white that looks good with Decorator White. Is this what you were talking about Mary?
Below is a detail of the room as it is today. It is, and will likely always be, a work in progress, but the colour scheme comes down to blue and white. What do YOU think of Mary’s idea to do the trim – which in this case would include moldings, French doors, lots of multi-light wooden window casements, rough vertical and horizontal support beams, the fireplace and a chimney in the kitchen – in the darker of the two whites? Am I the only one that finds this a bit counter-intuitive?
Ooh, thanks for this. I’m planning on using Decorator’s White in my new house to help brighten it up.
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