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New home, needs paint inside

doggeh lover

148 Harmony Ln, Macomb, IL 61455 | Zillow We are buying this home next month, and want to repaint almost all of the interior walls. It's 450 miles away, so we need to make decisions here where we are now. Have a highly recommended painter lined up for after we close on 3/1. She wants to use Sherwin Williams brand paint, which is fine, but I am stuck trying to come up with colors/shades I want. DH is one of those who believe you rarely switch things up, so I need to be pretty sure of the choices made. I've looked at SW website and a few others, but feel stuck, so far. Anyone have recs for other inspirational pictures? Any ideas appreciated. Work must be finished before 3/12. I included the Zillow listing to show what we are dealing with. Thanks for your time! ***Can click on 27 individual photos by tapping on side of house, video tour doesn't seem as accurate***

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23 replies

Latest reply was from Laurie

rachylou

Veteran

I'd be inclined to go full-out Chip and Johanna Gaines here. It's pretty open-concept right? I.e., you can see one room from another re. kitchen/living/dining. Do you have a lot of artwork to display?

LJP

Veteran

Yeah I agree with Rachy ( I’m still recovering from the house price - how is that possible ?? A 1300 sq foot home here starts in the 300’s . ) Anyways - I’d do a bone white , not pure white , and might be tempted to paint out some of that wood too ( closet doors , etc) .

Pat_P

Navaho White (a warm creamy white) is a classic choice! I think the Sherwin Williams version is a little warmer and darker than the Benjamin Moore one.

Indigoprint

Veteran

So fun....we use Navajo white too!. I usually like a soft white on the walls. To me it brings out the best in wood and is a nice background for wall stuff.

Irina

Veteran

I’m also in favor of soft white, the only color that doesn’t annoy me in a long run.

LJP, well, my eye popped then I saw the price. I don’t think one can find a house like this for that amount of money anywhere in Ontario. Lucky people

Helena

Veteran

Congratulations! What a beautiful home. I LOVE the tree in the front - so beautiful. Based on the comments above I looked up palettes with Navajo white ... in case you wanted a bit of variation. I loved this one, but there are so many to choose from for inspiration! I think changing the blue to a nice green could be nice too if you want colour somewhere.

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Runcarla

Veteran

If you have the time/money - get the popcorn ceiling scraped off! The texture absorbs light, and can make the inside seem darker. Smooth ceilings are better for reflecting light.

Nice palette, you sourced Helena.

Congratulations, doggeh lover! Looks like a nice house with a great yard, in a cute community!

NancyW

Veteran

There are many, many whites. I have Navaho White throughout my home and I love it, but it can look like a pale yellow. Would yellow work in your home? There are no true neutrals. Take your cue from your flooring/countertops/kitchen cabinets, if the white looks good with them you are on the right track.

Anonymous

The exposure of the room can dramatically affect the way any color, including all the many variations of white, appears. I recently had a lot of painting done in my house, and found this website to be especially helpful in picking just the right shade: https://www.kylieminteriors.ca.....off-white/

That link is about north-facing rooms. She also covers east, west, and south exposures. I hope this helps. Let us know how it all turns out!

Theodora

Just a suggestion, to help make your terrific new home(congratulations!) fresher, more relaxing and happy- paint those dark wood doors and trim white. It will make an amazing difference, and it’s not like those are cherry or mahogany (for all the “keep the wood” folks out there). If you watch any HGTV you will see how much brighter and happier that makes any home.

Also, I have seen where they do a soft lime wash or whitewash on the brick, so the original still shows through. It looks amazing!

kellygirl

Veteran

OOh, how exciting! I agree that you can't go wrong with white. Navajo is a very popular color but it can read "antique" or sort of dingy depending on how much natural light you get. I think the last three houses I've lived in here were painted Navajo white on the inside!

unfrumped

Veteran

I have SW Navajo White in a couple of rooms and like it for them, but it’s definitely an off-white with yellow undertones and not “ white” where you choose cool vs warm whites but they read more white.
I would not do NW as whole house unless your deco coloring runs a lot to browns, rust, blue themes, so doing something from afar might try a more white , but With your woodwork you do need neutral to warm undertones.

So, if you “ Google” different SW paint names you can get their photos of the color in a BR, bath & LR- not the same as seeing IRL, but something.
Can you get on the HOUZZ website? There are a million discussions of paint choices & especially whites ( all variations thereof. There’s s lot of love for Alabaster but I can’t remember if it’s neutral/ warm enough. Also, you can do searches of room photos by choice of wall color, floor color/ material and they would have various furnishings, so could see which is most inspo for you.
Don’t use gray! Too cool and not with your other wood tones.

Also, check out Kylie Interiors ( or something like that) online- she does full discussions of SW paints & compares whites, off - whites and discusses the undertones.

Kate

Veteran

Check out Maria Killiam, she is a wonderful resource for all things paint.
https://mariakillam.com/blog/

Actually, I found YLF when I was looking for help with choosing the right white paint. I lucked into Maria's website via Google, where I found my perfect white (and got other help with colors too). Maria had recently had a fashion consult with Angie, and posted about it on her blog. I was intrigued, checked out Angie's blog, and here I am, over a decade later.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Totally agree on the popcorn ceiling. Besides breaking up the light, they can get dirt and cobwebs in them and are hard to clean.

Much as I wanted to get my apartment furnished quickly, I actually have similar advice for you. It’s hard to tell how paint will react with different kinds of light. If a do-over is unlikely, I say wait until you’ve had a chance to see how you live in it. Paint splotches on the walls, and take your time looking at them.

Enjoy the new house and the adventure!

ma

Veteran

Xtabay — that is a helpful/interesting website. Thank you for posting!

April

Veteran

I can't recommend Maria Killam's work enough in helping with this.

First identify what you will *not* be changing (tilework, flooring, etc.) and then find a white that does not fight with the undertones.

Every color changes based on what's beside it. The Navajo White that people love in many spaces will, if you use it as trim next to a cooler gray wall color, look like Cheez Wiz, and you can't really see that until it's too late.

I have hired Maria's team for virtual consult on two houses now (once for an extremely expensive 100% exterior repaint including trim) and have never regretted it. You can also download her eBooks and try it for yourself, though it's hard to get it right.

Attaching a photo of the rear of our house when the painting was in progress. See that brown part? That was originally gray but it's faces south and the paint had just vanished over time (wrong sort of paint, used by the builder to save money.)

Once all the shingles were done in the gray recommended by Maria, the existing white trim turned full-on Cheez Wiz. Her recommendation for trim color was absolutely perfect. Go Maria!

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Anonymous

MA, you’re welcome! I really went down a rabbithole when I was picking out paint colors, and she saved my sanity. Who knew picking out a shade of white paint could be such a journey? I got some of those stick-on samples from Sampleize, and that helped a lot, too. Glad it’s all done!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

In case you care what Emily Henderson thinks. https://stylebyemilyhenderson......-you-paint

PS before the message becomes unchangeable, you might want to edit it so your address isn’t posted online.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Proceed with caution when removing a popcorn ceiling -- sometimes they hide an uneven or damaged ceiling. Ask me how I know.

I was just at Sherwin Williams today to start getting paint color options for most of our interior spaces, as we are redoing much of the first floor. I looked at a LOT of whites and light neutrals. The Najavo white that everyone uses is a bit warm, so be warned. It could be good if your spaces don't get a lot of sunlight. We have a warm wood ceiling and a lot of windows so a lot of sun in our spaces, so we are going cooler, something along the lines of one of these, which also blend nicely with the new tile floors and complement the cool dark brown tones in our new kitchen cabinetry.

If there is a SW store near you, check to see if they have a day when a color expert will be on hand. It just so happens that a consultant with decades of experience in selecting paint colors will be there tomorrow, so I'm going back with all my samples and photos.

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doggeh lover

Thanks so much, everyone. Really appreciate all the info, suggestions and links! Will be back to write a proper thanks and answer questions, but gotta run for now.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

DL, just an update — I went to SW yesterday and the color consultant was super helpful! We narrowed my choices down to two and I brought home two small sample cans (under $18 total). I’m going to paint a big piece of foamcore (I have piles of it I use for framing) and carry it to various spots in the house where the colors would be used, to see how it looks in different areas and different light.

elpgal

Veteran

I highly recommend you wait till you move in and see how the light changes in different seasons.

Laurie

Veteran

Another fan of professional help when making these kinds of decisions. A few hours' fee for a consultant or designer, when you are at the pre-move in point, could pay off in spades.
Our exterior is 4 shades of a base color, for example. You'd never know that - it all looks the same, but the brick, siding, screened porch and shed are all variations on the base grey. Our shutters are charcoal, not black...I would not have known the huge difference this all would make without a professional eye.

Inside the colors or variations on a shade flow from room to room.

Congratulations on the home and move, and the chance to make it super beautiful!

(I also found Angie through Maria Killam!)