Color Therapy Palette, Vol. 1: The Best Off-Whites

For example, I have what I’ll call a “Chamberlain Palette” regarding my watercolors and oils. It starts rather traditionally with a warm and cool of each primary color plus an earth palette, and then moves into specifics I can’t live without—Olive Green Dark, Prussian Green, Golden Green; four more yellows, five more reds, Sepia Brown, and on into the night.

As far as colors for interiors are concerned, I feel like my taste is both very contemporary and very Old World. I favor bruise colors, underwater colors and saturated colors. I don’t like yellow or green as much as I like green-yellows and yellowy greens. Pink and purple are difficult, and I always prefer grey over beige or linen. I enjoy Vermillion, blue red, brown red and spice, but context is everything. Black is beautiful, and everyone knows I love Brown.

In choosing color for a whole apartment, I like movement and changes throughout, so that each room is a breath of fresh air and completely its own thing. I also like unity, dialogue, drama, whimsy, passion and play. How’s that for a philosophy of life in general?

Over the coming months, I’ll have articles on reds, blues, yellow, greens, neutrals and darks; and if anyone is willing to underwrite me, we’ll pick Pantones and start our own paint company from scratch. Volume One in this series begins with fundamental information no one should do without: how to choose an off-white. There are no pictures this time—white is impossible to photograph.

Swiss Coffee OC-45. This is my favorite off-white. It’s an off-white with no yellow in it, but it’s still warm and creamy and never random. Yes, this is what I use in my own home.

Minced Onion OC-128. I think of this as a distilled raffia color—it’s grassy and bright, and looks good with dark wood like mahogany and wenge. Where off-whites are concerned, this is as yellow as I go.

November Rain OC-50. I don’t like this as much as my clients do. It’s warmer than grey, and ideal for the sage green crowd. Good for downplaying an area. Not exactly cool, but still feels like Paris in the winter.

Soft Chamois OC-13. This color lies somewhere between gold and grey, and has a wet cement quality. I used this personally before I discovered Swiss Coffee. Looks great with dark red wood, such as Bombay Mahogany.

Titanium OC-49. This is just a nice, cool grey, but not too steely or blue.

Atrium. Quite possibly the king of whites, but little drops of purple make it difficult to mix and match, and impossible to use as a trim color. All-white Bauhaus aficionados, try this: Atrium as a wall color, super white as a trim.

Montauk Driftwood WW19. A decorator friend of mine turned me on to this, and it’s one of her favorite colors. It truly does have a dried wood quality, and oscillates between beige, blue and grey depending on the light and context. Use it on Park Avenue, or your beach bungalow.

Whisper VM133. Looks white, glows blue, especially in shadow.

Putty WW22. Warm like a French Grey, but still off-white.

Cove Point WW29. My new favorite off-white. Cooler and greyer than Swiss Coffee, but not ice cold. Sleek but still soft. If your tendency is Cameo or Antique, you probably won’t like this one.

White Dove and Decorators White. If you want something off-the-rack, try one of these for the wall: White Dove is warm; Decorators, cool. Use one for the wall and the other for the trim. These are also my default trim colors—White Dove for yellow or beige, Decorators for everything else.

- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter

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These probably look better in person.

posted by atomicranch79 on July 22nd 2008 at 6:39am
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it would be great if you bloggers noted where the fabulous benches and couches in the photos can be found. :)

posted by Oneformybaby on July 22nd 2008 at 6:47am
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what companies make the paints? OC paints are Aura? what about Atrium? Am I missing something?

posted by greenlight on July 22nd 2008 at 6:59am
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This is perfect timing. I'm actually buying off-white paint for my office tomorrow. Thanks Mark.

posted by brittanykate on July 22nd 2008 at 7:02am
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Thanks for this post! We are considering WHITES for our super narrow hallway. Who knew the infinite number of choices out there. This post narrows things down a bit.

posted by daniele on July 22nd 2008 at 7:03am
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Daniele-- You may want to consider non flat paint for the hallway. I ended up going with a satin finish and it really helps the light bounce around expanding another wise narrow space. Good luck!

posted by azure on July 22nd 2008 at 7:17am
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oc stands for Off-White Colors by BM.

posted by peaceyall on July 22nd 2008 at 7:42am
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i'm choose an OC and picked up the OC fan deck since i've gone through too many samples already.

i'm painting a living/dining area with orange-brown wood kitchen cabinets and a brick wall with brown mortar. been having a tough time with colors, but i think i'm getting close. trying to pick a warm color with a hint of brown and no red or orange, and not too yellow.

has anyone tried muslin OC-12? i think it might be too dark due to the brown mortar.

i did try ballet white, but it looks very flat and it's also cool.

any other suggestions?

what

posted by peaceyall on July 22nd 2008 at 7:48am
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Yes, brand names would be helpful. The OCs appear to be Benjamin Moore colors while the WWs appear to be Ralph Lauren.

posted by wig3000 on July 22nd 2008 at 7:55am
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Farrow & Ball owns the off whites and dirty whites. Their colors are far more sophisticated and subtle.

posted by Palmetto on July 22nd 2008 at 7:55am
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I used minced onion in my bathroom renovation, and it looks phenominal!!

posted by Lexipup on July 22nd 2008 at 8:12am
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I'm with Palmetto on this one....no one makes whites like Farrow & Ball.

posted by timeless on July 22nd 2008 at 8:25am
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What - no Cloud White?? :-) Maybe it's a Canadian favorite. The designers in Canadian House and Home magazine talk about it so much that I chose it for all my trimwork based on name recognition alone.

Actually, I took the BM paint swatch to Home Depot and got it colour matched in Behr paint, as I was buying one of the enormous buckets and it was worth the $ savings to feel a little cheapskate shame!

I've painted one room and the faux Cloud White is deliciously wonderful. It's very warm and glow-y, which might be why it's popular with Canadians.

posted by tam-tbag on July 22nd 2008 at 8:37am
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I've used November Rain in my home and quite liked it. It worked nicely with other off whites and beiges, and set off wood beautifully.

posted by misssphinx on July 22nd 2008 at 8:53am
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If you want to match Ikea furniture (so they look built in) use Benjamin Moore Navajo White - tip from the Benjamin Moore paint story guy. This saves the hassle of matching.

posted by E Mae on July 22nd 2008 at 9:37am
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The King of Whites is Donald Kaufman, hands down. He did the whites for the Getty Museum, the Calvin Klein store on Madison (which is more of an ivory) for John Pawson, and for countless galleries.... his whites are luminous and complex, and yes, I have 3 of them in my own home.

posted by mschatelaine on July 22nd 2008 at 11:35am
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Farrow & Ball: what are your favorite off-whites??

M

posted by mark c on July 22nd 2008 at 2:54pm
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Mark, thanks for very much for this post. I love white walls, but tend to go too cool. To counter that, I'm considering Atrium White for my very bright livingroom and bedroom. I live in a mid-century modern building. Do you think Atrium white is okay for that? Or is it too soft?

Also, have you ever tried BM's Opalescent White? I think it's a newish color. If so, what did you think of it?

Thanks again,
B.

posted by maddux on July 22nd 2008 at 4:28pm
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I'm in process of hiring painter for my interiors. What off-white would look good in a bedroom with natural finish red oak floor, natural cherry furniture (it's medium dark), and north-eastern exposure? I appreciate any suggestions.

posted by whatsleft on July 22nd 2008 at 6:59pm
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Farrow and Ball's Off White and Old White are beautiful, with a lovely depth of color. I have also used Stone White on the trim in a bathroom with black and white tile, but it's quite green.

posted by LindaMc on July 23rd 2008 at 2:16am
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whatsleft -

order the donald kaufman cards -- they are quite large -- and stick them up on the wall to see. You will notice that they will never seem grey in low light, and will change colours along with changing light conditions -- that's because they are full-spectrum paints, with as many as 14 or more pigments in each shade, instead of the standard 3 or 4. Try it, you'll see.

http://www.coxpaint.com/store/cart.php?target=category&category_id=254

posted by mschatelaine on July 23rd 2008 at 4:48am
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