Ending White Tyranny

[Nigel Watts]

No this is not about anti-colonialism but a challenge to the prevailing view that certain things should always be painted white.

I have long since moved away from the view that interior woodwork should be white. A decade ago I came to the same view about exterior woodwork. Yesterday, for the first time since I started being interested in decorating in the late 1970s, I painted a ceiling in a colour other than white.

My main bathroom, which I have finally started decorating, now has a ceiling in F&B Pavilion Blue - a fairly pale greeny blue. Even though nothing else has been painted yet (the walls are cornice will be orangey pink but are still white) the room has been transformed from a very obvious and rather cold looking white cube into something much warmer and more mysterious. The colour seems to change in different lights in a way which you can't always pin down; I had no idea it would be so interesting!

I am planning pale green for my hall ceiling. Bedroom deep cream with blue stars perhaps?

 

[Feltwell]

Very adventurous! Sounds good.

I painted the woodwork in one of my kid's bedrooms in a Pure Brilliant White, and it just looks wrong. Whilst not as brave as you I have at least resolved to always use off-white in future. Our ceilings are mostly cream coloured (done by the previous owners), which I think looks right and gives a pale enough surface to reflect the light OK.

Regrettably I do subscribe to the stereotypically male school of decorating (ask SWMBO what colours she wants and just do it!). Unlike you I possess no artistic abilities whatsoever, and cannot visualise colours.

 

[Nigel Watts]

Pure Brilliant White

has some blue added to it to make it look whiter than it really is.

In the 1980s I was quite a fan of Jocasta Innes - do you remember her Paint Magic? All a bit passé now, of course, but it was she who opened my eyes to benefits of off white. There were many fewer shades in those days so I used to mix my own by adding some black and raw umber universal stainer to a tin of standard white paint.

 

[AMc]

I've always been scared of coloured ceilings, but I can see if the room is reasonably large they would be an interesting choice.

I've been busy painting skirting boards, spindles and windows this last week or so having finished stripping, staining, sanding and wax oiling the floorboards, treads and risers.
The ceiling and walls above the picture rail are white Travis Perkins emulsion - cheap and covers well.
The walls are F&B Tereasa's Green.
The floor is Osmo oak stained with two coats of satin Polyx on top.
The woodwork is now Craig & Rose Regency white - which is a little off modern white but not as yellow as cream and crucially has a semi matt appearance. I'm really pleased with it as it tone much more evenly with the other colours and suits the age of the house more than Barratt gloss white. It''s also a lot nicer to use, less smelly than Dulux oil based trade gloss white which I've used in some of the 'converted' rooms in the house.
I'll post up some photos once I've finished putting the pictures back up.

If B&Q could stock more than one tin each of Craig & Rose Regency white in each of their Norwich stores I might be able to move a little faster on the next room.

 

[Nigel Watts]

Another tip I got from Jocasta all those years ago was to use eggshell in preference to gloss. I cant remember the last time I used gloss inside.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I like nice, matt whites. But Pure Brilliant White is the work of the devil, and I think white should be used sparingly as an accent colour only. It's very cold and the antithesis of cosy. In a Georgian scheme, it looks nice to pick things out in white against a bolder colour.

I also think it looks really odd if you have a dark coloured room, dark coloured woodwork and a white ceiling.

The schemes above sound lovely, Nigel and AMc! Please do post pics, can't wait to see.

I recently painted the dining room woodwork dark brown, hate it, and think I'll change it to cream!!

 

[Nigel Watts]

I recently painted the dining room woodwork dark brown, hate it

Dark brown is a difficult colour I believe, especially on woodwork, as it may end up looking like a cheap attempt to make the wood look like darker wood. This can be alleviated by using graining techniques (such as fake mahogany or oak) or, if you want dark woodwork, by moving away from brown towards a shade of dark grey - such as one with a with a greenish or mauveish tint.

 

[AMc]

Another tip I got from Jocasta all those years ago was to use eggshell in preference to gloss. I cant remember the last time I used gloss inside.

Indeed - the C&R paint I've been using is an acrylic eggshell.

 

[Feltwell]

If B&Q could stock more than one tin each of Craig & Rose Regency white in each of their Norwich stores I might be able to move a little faster on the next room.

Take the barcode to the customer service desk and they can order it in for you. Depending on the size of the store it shouldn't take longer than 3 days, if their distribution centre is in stock.

 

[Moo]

I've just finished an exhausting week painting three doors and a couple of bits of skirting.
It wasn't the painting that took the time, of course - it was trying to find a shade of off-white that would live happily against the aged straw-coloured walls and dark stone flags.
I now have a sizeable collection of match-pots (Dulux and Fired Earth) and had to give one of the doors three coats before I found something I can live with (at least, until I get round to repainting the walls with something approaching the original straw-colour).
But the odd thing is the effect of light&shade and the reflection of other surfaces. In the passage there are two doors side by side - one to the downstairs loo and another little one that gives access to the cupboard under the stairs, and they look quite different. So different, in fact, that I had to give the little one an extra coat of paint just to be sure. The door that opens (inwards) into the breakfast room, with its back to the window, seems to have picked up a tint from the breakfast room walls and looks exactly like the passage doors, even though it's a much, much lighter colour. So I've decided to leave it as it is, even though when it's closed and one is standing in the passage it looks glaringly white compared with the other doors, because it's only ever shut when someone's using the loo and we want to avoid sound effects.
White really is the most difficult colour.

I do so agree about matt paint, though. All our woodwork was painted with flat oil paint and the only reason I used Fired Earth for this last little job is that their eggshell is so nearly matt.

 

[Penners]

the only reason I used Fired Earth for this last little job is that their eggshell is so nearly matt.

So nothing to do with the fact that you can pop a few yards down the road in your carpet slippers, for another can? :wink:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

In our very first cottage, we had a dark blue kitchen ceiling and a deep plummy red dining room ceiling. It gave both rooms oodles of character.

 

[Jill]

I am going through "which shade of white" at the moment to go with the following items which will be the master bedroom. Its not easy and I must admit I am having to stop myself from going down the easy pure brilliant white option, but with the white in the bedding I just don't know where to start. Floors and doors are oak and the walls are 6ft 11" high. It was my intention on painting the walls and ceilings white so that I can totally change the colour scheme if required by changing the bedding etc.

Top left is curtain and roman blind material, the toile de jouy is the duvet and pillow case, with a striped reverse, the dark blue is the sheet, the colour card is a dulux one I picked up to carry around in my hand bag, the embroidery I did years ago and just happens to match. I had thought of possibly adding a hint of yellow to the scheme but am unsure on that one yet. Any advice would be greatly received.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Jill - I wouldnt add yellow. The wood will add warmth to your scheme and you can create extra warmth with blue, yellow or pink flowers or even a collection of pink cranberry glass - which you could pick up in piping, for example, on bed cushions.
I'd paint walls and ceiling in either FnB's Wimborne White or Pointing - get testers. I don't know other company's ranges very well but there's a fantastic, slightly creamy depth to those two colours I mentioned - without being cream. The very matt estate emulsion is the best.

 

[Nigel Watts]

Jill I think it depends on how many colours you want to play with. A single-colour scheme (blue and white) could look very elegant, but if you want to be bolder you could try a two-colour scheme. Orangey pink is complementary to blue/green. This is the combination I am working on for my bathroom. I havn't yet managed a three or more colour scheme but that is my ambition for my hall, where I want some full-on Victorian polychromy.

 

[Moo]

I like the colours in your photos. With a really gentle white (Fired Earth do a good one called Gesso) it would all look so cool and elegant.

Come to think of it, you've got exactly the right shade of white in the background of the print!

 

[Jill]

Thanks for those suggestions, i'll have to make a list of all the paints i'd like to try from F&B and Fired Earth and send for a batch of testers. Joce i've got an old F&B shade card would you include All White or would you say that is there equivalent to Pure Brilliant White? I've got a Craig & Rose shade card and the Regency White looks quite good and I know I can easily nip to B&Q and buy a tester. Easy of application and durability will come into my final choice.

Nigel, I am quite happy to just have Blue and White, and as Joce says the wood will add some warmth. I'm not very adventurous with colour schemes (yet) in fact to start off with I was only going to have cream, green, pinky/terracota and black in the house, but blue has already sneaked in. I'm only on my second room so by the end of it all I expect it will be nothing like my original idea. As Paul is colourblind then it is all down to me, which I don't mind at all.

AMC - have you got your pictures up yet? I'm looking forward to seeing your photos.

 

[Moo]

Jill - if there's going to be a largish area of that lovely print, do be very careful about what 'white' you choose. If it's too near the dreaded Brilliant White, it'll make the white in the print look quite grubby.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Jill - All White looks too bright for your toile to me - yes, similar to Pure Brilliant White.

Your curtains look quite dark and light blocking - is that deliberate? That dark blue against a very pure brilliant white is not sounding very cosy to me, I'd soften it with something a little more creamy.

If it were mine, I'd have the toile on the walls, a white ceiling ( or a very soft grey-blue) and the blue and white ticking on the bed and curtains.

I don't know which FnB stockists are near you but in the good ones - there's one in Grantham - they have decent sized MDF cards painted in all the colours. You can hold your swatches against the individual card and get an exact match to the white in the fabric - much cheaper than trying out endless tester pots.

 

[michael]

I’ve always tended to stick with white ceilings but maybe something like this would be more effective in the living room.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sistine_chapel.jpg

I’ve always fancied a bit of trompe l’oeil around the house. Love those renaissance ceilings with classical characters looking down at you from painted illusionistic balconies

Or perhaps staring up at something like this whilst you’re wallowing in the bath
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusionistic_ceiling_painting