How do i persuade dh the house would look better white!

gabyjane

Has anyone repainted one white?

We (well i!) watch a lot of home shows, property ladder etc and pretty much all of them finished iv'e noticed have white walls. We have a new build (coming up to 2 yrs old now) and it is still the typical magnolia they paint them, we (well dh still does!) loved it at first but i not long after we moved in re painted the bathroom white and it made an immediate improvement..i now want to do the rest of the house. Dh is thinking it will look too white and clinical but i don't agree as we have colour in each room and will have a feature wall in the bedroom so it has things to break it up..

Should i just do it! at the end of the day it can be painted over again?..another reason is cost really as we currently have to do touchups using dulux trade which isnt cheap..also we have no windows in our hallway as such so think again it would brighten it up?

TomsMom

As an alternative to white, what about Timeless (by Dulux), almost white but not as stark? We've got it in the bedrooms and I love it. Might be a good comprise for your OH and you still get very close to the white you want.

gabyjane

Hi thanks for the reply..i was thinking that but i am the worst decision maker EVER and had visions of going into B&Q or focus and standing for hours staring at all the off whites, there are loads of them too much for me to cope with!!..the more i sit here though the more i like the idea of it white!

the_other_mce

I too would love white all over the house but am worried it might look too stark!! Am about to paint the living room and hallway in white (next weekend!) so I'll let you know how I got on..... I know I'm not a 'magnolia' person but I don't really want lots of colour this time round (been there and done that!)

Errata

Pop into your nearest DIY shed and have a look at the Dulux paint colours cards. There's squillions of nearly white shades, zillions of cream shades, and lots of other pale shades.

gabyjane

Thanks the other mce let me know please! we did our last house white and it looked lovely and clean but this is bigger/different!

Errata trust me that is not a good idea as i would be there hours poss days umming and ahhing!!

the_other_mce

My hallway in my old house was white (with white and black style tiles on the floor) and I loved coming home and walking into it - it always seemed so bright, clean and spacious (even though it was actually quite small)! The home and garden type magazines have put me off painting my new house white because they all seem to say "designers recommend that you don't use pure white - go for a creamy shade instead". I'm going to go for it because I'm a bit of a rebel!!! I'll let you know what I think either way .. plus if I hate it at least white is a good base colour to paint over!!

Jason_Jain

I renovated my house and went for the white look.

Dulux Light and Space in Frosted Dawn went onto the kitchen and dining room walls and traditional white into the hallway. The main bedroom got Timeless and Cotton White and the other two rooms got an Oyster Pink and and Almond shade.

I think it looks great - clean and fresh. A couple of finger marks here and there but no bother.

The GF thinks I live in an asylum.

I prefer a more subtle colour-way in the house. Having a striking feature wall and three strong walls of colour is nice but a bit too much for me. I think I would be bored of something like that within a year. House fashions move quickly and can be fickle, I feel.

flea72

i have white throughout my house, and think its horrible. Used to think it was trendy due to all the design programmes, etc. but in reality its boring - no amount of cushions, upholstery and nicknacks takes away from the fact, you have painted your house in such a plain colour

it soon looks dirty too, which you only find out when you have to do a small touch-up job, that results in the whole room having to be repainted due to the difference in shades

Looks great to start with, but i think you tire of it quicker than colours, because you just see the blank canvas, and your mind runs away. Also being white, you know it will only be a 5min job to cover it up with another colour, so its not a major task, whereas if you already have colour on the wall theres alot of prep work, before you can get started (so invariably you dont bother)

Flea

Rockporkchop

Don't do it! I wanted cream but painted our bedroom white as both DH and I were too lazy to do all the boring cutting in painting around the top and bottom. It looks nice at first but after a while it feels too stark and clinical and it always seems grubby. And as someone said, your curtains and cushions don't even look nice against it. We painted it cream after three weeks.

Doozergirl

The thing is that design programmes don't paint them white. they do paint them in an offshade. If you painted it all in stark white then it wouldn't look right.

Painting it all stark white doesn't exactly make you a rebel though! Painting the house several different off shades of white doesn't exactly make you interesting either. I have three interconnecting rooms - one is magnolia, one is jasmine white an done has something to do with a sunrise and frankly they all look the same. I have no idea why I still do this to myself If it was all magnolia I'd be perfectly happy, especially as the colour is introduced in quite loud feature walls, the difference between 'white' and 'magnolia' is essential warmth and coolness.

Our friends have a beautiful and very expensive London flat entirely decorated in 'clunch' by Farrow and Ball and you'd think it was white at first glance; but if it were white it simply wouldn't look as great as it does. You need some light absorbed in a room - just bouncing it around might make it look bigger but is that the sole aim?

Our development, we don't have the budget for off-white so it will be magnolia; because white will be too clinical for an entire house. Ultimately people read 'white' or 'cream' but there is more of a sublety to 'white'. There are genuinely hot and cold colours - stark white is cold and not the best choice. I hate the jasmine white in the dining room, it simply isn't warm enough to offest the red wall and that will be changed, probably to magnolia. The red will become a dirty lavender because I hate the red too!