PDCo Home: Color Selection & Painting

best white paint color
best white paint color

I’m a few weeks behind in writing this post, so many of you already know we completed painting the house around the holidays! We chose to take on this task ourselves to offset some of the budget overages in other areas. It was definitely hard work, but with access to a sprayer, it made the job feel less daunting! Seeing the walls painted with fresh white paint brought us one step closer to watching the interior finishes come together. The house finally had a clean feeling to it (except for the plywood floors still).

white dining room
sampling whites

A few months ago over on Instagram, I shared some stories about my process for making color samples, and the four whites I was trying out from Miller Paint. (I also made a whole video about this last summer for our Pittsburg Residence, which you can view here.) I have never used any of these whites from Miller Paint’s Evolution line, so it took some time for me to try them out and narrow it down since I had no past experience to fall back on. But there was one that stood out right away, called Sugar Dust. While I kept this one at the top of my list, I still made sure to check the others with our other samples and in our home’s light.

At the end of my sampling process (which is a several day job), Sugar Dust still came out victorious. It’s the perfect amount of a fresh white feeling yet just warm enough to provide a soft look.

white master bathroom
white paint colors
some background on miller paint

Miller Paint is a local company to the Pacific Northwest, with stores across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Their paint formula was made specifically for the Pacific Northwest, created by a Portland artist and painter, Ernest Miller. The company’s whole history and mission is fascinating to me and I love the local aspect to it.

the final specifications

Let’s get to it! Paint is always the question designers get asked most about. Half of my in-home consultations cover color questions. I know with my own home, people will be intrigued about the “recipe” we’ve created.

With our drywall, we did a smooth coat finish and we topped that with a thick layer of primer which we sprayed and then rolled for best coverage (contractor’s orders!). The primer we used was Miller Paint’s Super Seal. Between the product and technique, we had really good coverage!

Next, we picked up our Sugar Dust Evolution paint in their “paper” finish, which is their equivalent to a matte sheen. In our bathrooms, we bumped up to the “canvas” finish for a bit more protection. The Evolution line is pure luxury — so thick and creamy, you can feel AND see a difference! Best of all, we only had to do one coat and the coverage was incredible!

Last thing to note — we did the walls and ceiling in the same color. When going with white, I see no reason to do a lighter/brighter white on the ceiling. Having a natural flow from the walls to the ceiling makes the room feel bigger because your eyes aren’t stopping from a visual break in color. For our trim, we’ll also do the same color (because hello, modern) but we will switch over to their specialty trim paint in semi-gloss. Again, the same color will have a nice flow, but the change in sheen will give the slightest variation due to light reflectance.

white hallway sugar dust
upcoming events about paint

We’ve had so much fun collaborating with Miller Paint’s team on our project, and we have some exiting upcoming events planned! From giveaways to live discussions/Q&A’s, be sure to keep an eye out on Instagram for these!

Sponsored Post: Transparency is important! I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with some incredible companies on our home project. These collaborations may include discounted or donated product in exchange for content. But rest assured – I actually selected products from these brands based on the fact that I love them! Collaboration opportunities came later, and I’m really grateful each company wanted to work with us on our project, too!


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