Honestly, one of the hardest things is picking a white paint for a room that isn't white. Because the reflection of the current paint off everything in the room alters even the swatches you've done on the walls. It's not easy, so don't beat yourself up for having a tough time. I think the main thing you need to decide is what you really want from your walls. Do you want a white room? Or do you like the idea of a white room, but in actuality want a small hint of colour to the walls? The biggest mistake a lot of people I've met with for design consultations is they usually say they like white rooms but 'don't want something too stark in their own house', but in the end they don't go white enough and end up disliking their paint quickly. I'm not sure if that really helps or makes your life harder, but just thought I'd throw it out there from experience.
Post by FormerlyRR on Feb 16, 2016 14:10:05 GMT -5
Part of why you might be having trouble is that you are looking at the swatches with a background of the current color. Sadly what you really need to do is paint a piece of foam core or something like that with each color, and then put a larger pure white piece under it to isolate the color. I went through this last fall with my parents, it took probably 10 or more samples o get the right white to paint over the builder's "toasted almond" that she hated so much.
She ended up with Dover White from SW and says it is a lovely, creamy white that is easy to live with.