Top White Paint Colors for Exterior
a professional paint color consultant breaks down her most used whites
With endless amounts of paint colors, brands and finishes, selecting the perfect hue for your project can feel like a daunting decision. Especially when choosing an exterior color, the decision is one that can easily make you second guess yourself. There are endless details that will affect the look of your home’s paint color, from topography to the neighbor’s house to your trim color. Someone else’s perfect shade may look completely different on your home, so it’s always best to consult the experts!
Factors to Consider
An even more daunting task is picking the perfect hue of white. A bright, classic white home will never go out of style, but the countless undertones and shades sure do make the decision a difficult one if you’re not a professional paint colorist. Rowan Hall lead designer, Alfie Rowan, shared that when she arrives for a paint consultation, she immediately studies the surroundings of the home. She takes note of the roof color, landscaping, backdrop, stone, brick, and even the position of the sun.
Feeling overwhelmed? Our Knoxville interior design firm staffs professional color consultants who know how to choose the perfect color for your home. They know their paint decks and finishes, have their favorites, and can walk you through the best options for your specific project. To schedule a consultation with a Rowan Hall Interiors paint color specialist, call our office at 865-585-2945 or contact us here today
Our Most-Used Whites
Rowan Hall color consultant, Sylvia, and lead designer, Alfie, put their heads together to narrow down four of their favorite whites for an exterior paint job. They’re letting us into their expert brains, breaking down their picks and pointing you in the right direction for your new white home.
Sherwin Williams Alabaster (SW 7008)
Sherwin Williams Alabaster (SW 7008) is a warm, bright white with beige undertones. It has just enough warmth to soften it without leaning too far into cream territory. Free of yellow tones, it looks clean without being overly reflective or sterile. Alabaster is immensely popular and versatile. Sherwin Williams’ 2016 Color of the Year, it can be used to brighten both interiors and exteriors with a classic neutral shade.
Left: Home Bunch; Right Top and Bottom: Brick and Batten
Sherwin Williams Snowbound (SW 7004) 
Sherwin Williams Snowbound (SW 7004) straddles the line between a crisp off-white and a soft true white. With its taupe undertones, it’s slightly cooler and brighter than Sherwin Williams Alabaster (SW 7008) while still sharinging its level of versatility. Delightful against dark colors, it pairs perfectly with blacks, maintaining high contrast without appearing too stark. It coordinates well with cool grays and colors with green, blue, and greige hues, just cool enough to compliment them while also looking at home amongst truly neutral palettes. Receiving natural light as an exterior color, Snowbound will appear brighter and whiter outside than in interior spaces, where slight undertones of pink or greige may be visible depending on adjacent colors. With just a touch of pigment to soften it, it never leans too warm or too cool, avoiding ever appearing yellow or blue.
Top: Brick and Batten; Bottom Left: Color Wheel by Rugh Design; Bottom Right: Living Letter Home
Sherwin Williams Shoji White (SW 7042)
Sherwin Williams Shoji White (SW 7042) is a cozy, creamy off-white. Warm and inviting, Shoji White sports beige undertones with just a touch of gray to neutralize it. Against dark charcoals and blacks, it appears more white than cream, while lighter pairings bring out its softer side. Its buff tone is derived from an orange pigment, so it avoids being a yellow-tinged white despite its warmth. This also results in a stunning contrast against cool colors such as light, airy blues. Shoji White has certainly earned its spot on Sherwin Williams’ Top 50 Colors list alongside our other white recommendations, Alabaster (SW 7008), Snowbound(SW 7004), and Eider White (SW 7014).
Top Left: Southern Living; Bottom Left: Whitney Parkinson Design; Right: Mod and Mood
Sherwin Williams Eider White (SW 7014)
Sherwin Williams Eider White (SW 7014) is a cooler off-white option with soft gray undertones. Perfect for those who want to avoid both creams and whites that look overly stark in direct sunlight, Eider White is reliable in its brightness and versatility. Though it is slightly cool, Eider White is fundamentally neutral, and therefore pairs agreeably with just about any other color.
Top Left: homedit; Bottom Left: Sherwin Williams #swcolorlove Gallery; Top Right: Making Home Base, Chelsea Coulston; Bottom Right: Rugh Design
Let’s Get Started!
Even with these picks from a well-trained eye, there are endless factors still to consider. Will you change your trim color or repaint your windows? Do your neighbors have white homes that will affect the brightness of the color you choose? Do you have brick or stone with difficult undertones to match?
Selecting a white paint color is never a quick pick! Our color consultants are here to help, near and far. If you live in Knoxville, Farragut or any of the surrounding counties we serve, one of our professional colorists can come to you. We will point out things you may not have considered, narrow down your options, and give our best recommendations for your project. Call our office at 865-585-2945 or contact us here today.
Not local to Knoxville, Tennessee? That’s okay! We are happy to consult with you virtually to help make the best possible choice for your home. Give us a call to organize a meeting today.
Need more help gaining a vision for your project? Sometimes you know what you want but you’re not sure how to get there, and our Knoxville interior design team is here to help! Schedule a discovery call or consultation with us to start bringing your dreams to life.
