Benjamin Moore White Down: LRV, Undertones and a Little More

Picking the best cream paint color for your home can be TOUGH, as not only are they unpredictable, they can vary wildly, from bordering on straight-up YELLOW to winking at the GREIGE end of things! So, to help with your decision, we’re taking a close look at Benjamin Moore White Down, which JUST MIGHT BE the perfect hybrid of both.

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In order to show you RELATEABLE & REAL homes, I ONLY use photos from my Online Color Consulting clients. This means I don’t always have the quality pics I need (hence the ‘QUICK Review’), but DEFINITELY have some SUPER helpful info to help you on your way!

What type of paint color is Benjamin Moore White Down? Is it warm or cool?

White Down is definitely a WARM CREAM paint color. If you have north-facing light, it can look more muted and subdued, however, if you south-facing or afternoon western light, it will lean more into its warmth, picking up a considerable degree of yellow along the way!

What’s the LRV of White Down?

White Down has an LRV of 78.25, making it an off-white paint color.

Not sure what LRV is? It could save your paint lovin’ life – read all about it HERE.

What are the undertones of White Down? Will it look yellow?

So, here’s the deal…you can’t get cream without yellow – it’s like having good wine without grapes! However, the yellow in White Down is SIGNIFICANTLY reduced compared to many other cream paint colors, and this is thanks to a soft GRAY undertone.

In the above photo, my client hired me to change her room FROM White Down, into something more muted. However, I kept the photo as it shows how strong White Down can look, which you’ll notice ESPECIALLY around the fireplace where it sits just a bit off with the more orange-pink base of the stone. That being said, as far as cream paint colors go – it’s pretty tame.

To the RIGHT of the fireplace, notice how much more muted and subtle White Down can look!

What’s the best way to sample White Down?

Like with every paint color, I highly recommend using SAMPLIZE. Samplize is a peel & stick paint sample that you can easily move around your room for over HALF THE COST of traditional sample pots – and they deliver right to your front door!

Learn all about Samplize HERE

If I’m painting my walls White Down, what’s the best white paint color for my trim?

With its pretty, soft warmth, White Down leans more into warm whites vs stark or cold ones, for example…

Benjamin Moore Cloud White
Benjamin Moore White Dove

Is White Down a good color for the exterior of my home?

White Down can be a beautiful exterior paint color, but it WILL wash-out if you get even a moderate amount of natural light shining on it. Colors with a higher LRV will do this, especially on exteriors, in which case, I MIGHT just partner it with a brighter white (ie: Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace) to encourage contrast.

Is White Down a popular paint color right now?

White Down isn’t super popular. This isn’t because it’s not PRETTY, but I’ve found most of my Online Color Consulting clients lean more towards creams with more warmth/yellow in them.

Is White Down a good paint color for my kitchen cabinets?

White Down can be a GORGEOUS choice for kitchen cabinets if your countertop needs more warmth than a traditional white or warm soft-white paint color offers.

What Sherwin Williams paint colors are the same as or similar to White Down?

Every color has its own particular nuances and there will be NO perfect match – you WILL see shifts in undertones, temperature and depths, but you could check out…

Sherwin Williams Aged White – although I think White Down is considerably nicer. Really, Sherwin doesn’t have great comparables for White Down

And if you’re thinking of color matching between brands (ie: getting BM to make an SW paint color), you might want to read THIS first.

What type of paint colors look good with White Down?

White Down is a SUPER flexible and versatile neutral paint color, leaving you room to explore colors like…

Warm grays with a green undertone or purple undertone
Cool or stormy grays with a blue undertone
Some beige and tan paint colors (just not overly golden ones or pink undertones)

Not sure if White Down is right for you? Want a bit warmer or cooler? I’ve got more!

BENJAMIN MOORE BALLET WHITE

BENJAMIN MOORE LINEN WHITE

SHERWIN WILLIAMS CREAMY

NEED HELP?

Check out my Online Paint Color Consulting

Leslie Morrison
July 12, 2022 at 10:00 pm

I just had my dining room painted white down and kitchen painted elephant tusk. My cabinets are honey maple and my dining room furniture is dark woods and warm white with yellow undertones. I like the elephant tusk but the white down looks a little cool with my furniture. Thinking I should have gone with Berber White which leans more tan. Either my eyes need to adjust or I need to paint the furniture or repaint the walls. Do you think I should give it a couple weeks?

Marlene Cross
January 14, 2023 at 5:56 pm

I painted my west facing bathroom in White Down, fixtures are unfortunately beige with beige bath tiles. Painted woodwork in white and white tile floor. Thank you for the early recommendations for west facing rooms. It looks fabulous! Thank you again.

Carmella
December 20, 2023 at 6:30 am

Hi,
I’m doing my kitchen over . I just sent my maple cabinets out to be painted Benjamin Moore White down. What would be a good wall color. My quarts is white with swirls of silver&holds. My tile floor suede look sand & cream same goldish tan in the counter. I would love any suggestions. I’ll try to attach floor and counter.

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  KylieMawdsley
  December 21, 2023 at 6:47 pm
  
  Hi Carmella! I would worry that White Down could be pretty yellow for a white quartz – even White DOVE can be tough sometimes and it’s more of a warm white!
  
Pam
January 5, 2024 at 9:51 am

Hi Kylie. Thank you so much for all of your helpful advice. I have a log home that has pine tongue and groove walls and ceilings and all of it was stained when the house was built 50 years ago. Over time the stain color has aged to an orangy-honey color that we are determined to change. To lighten up this wood work, we’ve decided to paint the tongue and groove walls only. We’re teetering between White Down and Ballet White and just don’t know how these will react to that orangy-honey stain color on the ceiling. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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  Author
  
  KylieMawdsley
  January 24, 2024 at 5:44 pm
  
  Ooo, it’s definitely hard to say without seeing it, but off the top, it sounds like a slighlty more beige color (having an orange undertone) could be better than these more cream (yellow) based colors? Have you looked at colors like BM Muslin and Maritime White?