White is one of the most popular bedroom colours especially for those of us whose decor style leans minimalist. It’s timeless, versatile and visually calming. But not all white paints are created equal especially when it comes to bedrooms. Bright, stark white paints can make a bedroom feel cold and clinical, and that’s definitely not the feeling you want for a bedroom.
Instead, it’s often worth opting for white paints with very subtle undertones for a bedroom as the colour won’t look as stark as pure white. These shades still deliver the brightness and simplicity of white, but the tiny (almost barely-there) hint of colour adds warmth, depth, and comfort creating a much cosier feel in a bedroom especially in north and east facing bedrooms.
As white paint reflects light so strongly, they can look very different in a room depending on the room’s natural and artificial lighting in and the orientation (whether it’s north, south, east or west facing). So before you commit to a white paint it’s always worth testing in various parts of the room and looking at the paint at various times of the day, as the light changes.
Below are some of the best white paints with varying undertones but all will be cosier than a stark, bright white especially for bedrooms that don’t get much natural light or are looking a bit stark.
Best white paints for a cosy bedroom
1. white with yellow undertones
White paints with a slight yellow undertone can add plenty of warmth to a bedroom making it feel very welcoming. These creamy shades are particularly suited to north facing bedrooms and any bedroom that doesn’t get much natural light where they’ll look a lot less yellowy than in a south facing room. That’s exactly why I wouldn’t suggest a white paint with yellow undertones for a sunny, south facing room as it will likely read too yellow.
Here are two paints to consider: a pale creamy white and a slightly darker creamy white.
2. neutral white
A neutral white is a shade that is closest to pure white but has a teeny-tiny hint of an underlying colour. A neutral white paint doesn’t lean too warm or too cool meaning it doesn’t have warm yellow or red undertones and neither does it have cool blue or green undertones. Instead, neutral white paints usually have a barely there grey or beige undertone meaning it won’t look stark like a pure white can.
Choosing which (barely there) undertone to go for is entirely up to you and the lighting conditions in your bedroom. Generally speaking the ones with a beige undertone will look slightly warmer than the ones with a grey undertone but there isn’t a huge difference as both are neutral whites.
Here are two paints to consider: a neutral white very subtle grey undertone and a neutral white with very subtle beige undertone.
3. white with red undertones
Some white paints come with a very subtle hint or red/pink undertones and these are also great for creating a cosy feel in a bedroom. Even though the undertone is usually barely noticeable it brings a softness and warmth to the white.
Being a warm white, these paints are ideal for making a north facing bedroom feel cosy and inviting. They also work well in east facing rooms. That said, they can absolutely be used in south facing rooms but just remember the pink might look a bit more pronounced in sun drenched spaces.
Here are two paints to consider: white with a very subtle hint of pink and a white with slightly more pink.
Here are all the paints suggested above so you can see how different each white is:
one | two | three | four | five | six
It’s worth mentioning that nearly all of the paints above don’t look white on screen but they are all shades of white (yes, even the last one!). Paints always look very different on screen and even the exact same paint colour can look different on different screens. The only way to know if a paint colour is right for your bedroom is by testing it under different light conditions.
image credits: nordic knots | opus atelier | geneva property group | anu reinson | zara home
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