White paint is a cornerstone of interior design – versatile, timeless, and endlessly nuanced, it sets the tone for a space like no other. And if you have started the journey to finding your perfect white shade, you’ll know the possibilities are endless. Which is why it can be helpful to filter your choice down to brand, the best brands in fact.
The best Farrow & Ball white paints are some of the best white paints, period. However, even putting this filter on things still leaves you with hundreds of choices. So here, we shine a light on six of the best white paints by Farrow & Ball, each with its own unique character, charm, and ability to transform a room.
Finding the best white paint means striking the perfect balance between crispness and warmth, brightness and softness – and no one understands this delicate dance quite like Farrow & Ball. As Patrick O’Donnell of Farrow & Ball explains, ‘White still reigns supreme for ceilings and skirting, but we are considering the nuance of whites rather than bright, industrial white.’
1. James White
(Image credit: Farrow & Ball)
The most mercurial of whites, James White is a chameleon color like no other white paint I have seen. It has a slight green tinge, which makes it instantly grounding, calming, and soothing. In a north-facing room that lacks light, you would be excused for perceiving it as a very pale sage green paint; as such, it is one of the best paint colors for rooms without much natural light, as it doesn’t fall flat when deprived of light, it simply sings.
In light-filled rooms, its faint green undertone does nothing more than to make it a more complex and sophisticated white shade. It was first crafted for a garden room, and it remains the ideal color for rooms in which you want to bring the outside in.
It is my favourite white paint for bedrooms, as it brings a room to a blissful hush, thanks to barely there green tinge and cool white base. It is quieting and lulling. Farrow & Ball note that ‘it is often a favoured bedroom color of the super stressed,’ and it’s easy to see why.
2. Cabbage White
(Image credit: Farrow & Ball)
Cabbage White is something of an enigma, it is quite an extraordinary color. It has the faintest whisper of pale blue, so subtle it feels almost imaginary. While it’s unmistakably a white, certain lighting (especially in north-facing rooms) can coax out its cool, bluish undertone.
I once painted a chest this shade, expecting it to be a pale, airy blue paint, but ended up with a very white chest, with the softest tinge of blue (if you squint). That said, don’t let the mention of blue scare you off.
Cabbage White reads white in most settings, especially in brighter, sun-drenched spaces like south-facing rooms. It’s perfect for rooms with coastal decor or those chasing that Nancy Meyers meets cottagecore charm. Its pale blue undertone imbues a room with a certain freshness, as though the doors have been flung open and the fresh summer air is drifting in.
3. Pointing
(Image credit: Farrow & Ball)
Pointing is an exemplary example of a rare thing: a warm white paint. If you have ever seen the intricate pointing used on Cotswold stone, this is the closest a color can get to that wonderful honey-hued white color.
‘Pointing is incredibly popular, and lends a softness to the 5th wall and avoids that chilly blue note you get from a generic white,’ explains Patrick. The fifth wall that Patrick refers to is, of course, the ceiling, which many interior designers say deserves to be decorated as beautifully as your walls. It would also look right at home, as befits its origins, outdoors, and would look exceedingly smart on external walls, railings, woodwork, or picket fencing.
4. School House White
(Image credit: Farrow & Ball)
School House White is an unerringly flattering shade, caught somewhere between an off white paint and a neutral paint. There are no cool undertones to be seen here at all, which is a real boon if you want to decorate with white without making a room feel like an echoing, empty gallery. As a result, School House White is one of Farrow & Ball’s most popular white paints, and it has become a reliably versatile go-to paint for interior designers.
‘A nuanced shade like School House White enhances dimension while keeping the space light,’ explains interior designer Jaimie Zehner of J.Z. Interiors. School House White looks effortlessly timeless throughout the home, and is one of the best white paints for kitchens, thanks to its forgiving, almost nostalgic nature.
5. Shaded White
(Image credit: Farrow & Ball)
Shaded White is much more of a neutral when doused in shade than a traditional white would be, and appears lighter when exposed to plenty of sunlight. If you’re searching for the best warm white paint, Shaded White is worth swatching to see how it appears in your space.
If you are decorating with neutrals throughout your space, Shaded White, when beside warm neutral tones, presents itself as a white, rather than a warmer neutral, so it is great for balancing neutral interior schemes.
6. All White
(Image credit: Farrow & Ball)
All white is precisely that, a completely white paint, but it is a much more sympathetic color than many jarring, luminous whites.
‘All White contains no other pigment other than white, avoiding the blue undertones of a brilliant white,’ explains Patrick. It’s those icy blue undertones that can make a white paint feel harsh and cast a clinical chill over the space.
It may feel that this chill is an inevitability if you need to decorate with an unadulterated, uninhibited white, but Farrow & Ball have masterfully created an all-white paint that packs all the punch of a totally white paint. It achieves that ‘crisp and clean’ look and avoids making rooms look and feel like a surgical suite.
Used on trims, baseboards, and coving, it will look smart and refined, and to make a room feel dramatically loftier, use All White on the ceiling for maximum effect.
As I have mentioned, not all whites are created equal, and unless you opt for a total, unsullied white paint, there will be warm or cool undertones at play that will alter not only the appearance of a room, but more importantly, the feeling you have when you’re in that room. When selecting the best white paint for the job, swatching numerous different shades is not only advisable but essential for getting the tone right.
Farrow & Ball is, and has been for a long time, among the industry’s finest at providing us with many iterations within the same color family, and their best white paints might just be where they have outdone themselves.
link