I LOVE when Benjamin Moore puts out its Color of the Year. Not because I care about the actual color, although, that is fun … but more marketing than trend. No I actually love the booklet they put out which includes a palette of colours. I love the booklet for two reasons:
- I find that there is always an important trend indicator for colour and where it is going in the year ahead.
- I usually find colors that I have missed hidden in and amongst the thousands of colors in Benjamin Moore’s color collection.
The 2016 Color trend Booklet was an exceptional year and one of my favourites. A lot of the colours in that booklet are still current today. Their colour of the year in 2016, was Simply White and there was a collective gasp when it was announced. Some people in the colour world do not even regard white as a colour. It is … Others were dismayed because too many people defer to white or beige as safe colors ….. they aren’t …. A designer, I admire, had a more optimistic outlook and declared that maybe it was an opportunity to clear the slate and start fresh after being inundated with grey. Except grey is still here.
That year there were 5 whites. Yes 5, unheard of in a single palette.
Ahhhhhh, a great opportunity to talk about white, I thought.
To get white right is hard. It is a neutral colour with undertones. It can be warm or cool and everchanging in natural or artificial light. If you pick the wrong white it will make your room wrong!
Here is the key thing, that year, the color of the year was not really about white. It was about color and getting the right white into you color palette. The rest of the palette for 2016 was full of bright beautiful colour. So then we end up with two questions. “what colour to have on our walls to show off all this beautiful colour in upholstery, carpets or art and the answer is …… the right white. Or if you choose to be bold and put one of these colors on a wall what white will you use for the ceilings and trim? ”
Here is the rest of the palette for 2016. I would say a lot of these colors would still work today!
So all those whites in the top row had purpose. Because all the colours in the lower rows needed one of those whites …. The right white to go with each one.
And when you look at all the whites in the off white collections how do you choose the right white Benjamin Moore
FIRST, when you look at all these whites you are seeing undertones. Ninety-nine percent of whites have an undertone. And they are either cool or warm. So creams, and off whites are likely to have undertones of reds and yellows. Teeny tiny amounts but when compared to another white are discernible. The cooler whites will have blue or black or green, making them appear a pale gray. Green can complicate things though because green can also be an undertone in beige. The only exception is greige. It can go warm or cool depending on what it is paired with.
So just a little reminder
And all the colours in this colour wheel can be undertones in white.
It is hard to get pure white. Simply because pure white does not cover very well. It can take many coats of paint to cover what is under pure white. This is why paint companies add a little colored pigment in order to make white a two coat job.
So here is a run down of the whites in this palette and tips on how to use them.
ICE MIST
PAPER WHITE:
SIMPLY WHITE:
MARSCAPONE:
BALLET WHITE:
And there you have it. Five whites from Benjamin Moore to help you choose the right white that works for your room. There is no one universal white that works in every situation. It doesn’t exist. I salute Benjamin Moore for adding four extra whites to help you make the right choice.
Here is Benjamin Moore’s Colour of the year for 2019 Benjamin Moore
If you want to choose the right WHITE call an expert.
Color Changes Everything. Live Beautifully and colorfully.