How do you choose the right white paint?

Start with the undertone: warm, cool or neutral

Every white leans warm, cool or neutral, and that lean is the undertone. It's the first thing to pick, because it decides how the room feels. Dulux says warm whites can have undertones of yellow, pink or orange, and they bring softness and a welcoming feel. Cool whites have hints of blue, purple or green. Dulux says those suit modern, open-plan rooms with plenty of natural light.

Neutral whites sit in between. Dulux describes Snowy Mountains Half as a slightly neutral white that works with both warmer and cooler colours, which makes it an easy pick when you can't decide.

Taubmans puts the trade-off plainly. A pure white with cool undertones can feel clinical or sterile. A warmer white with yellow or pink undertones feels more welcoming. Taubmans also links undertone to style: a coastal look suits a white with blue or grey undertones, and a traditional room suits a warm white with yellow undertones.

Not sure which way a white leans? Taubmans says its Colour Wall at Bunnings lays out whites from cooler tones to warmer ones. Seeing them in a row makes the lean much easier to spot.

Cooler whites suit sunny rooms, warmer whites suit dim ones

Match the white to the room's light. A bright room can take a cool white, and a dim room needs a warm one. Taubmans says cooler whites tend to work well in north-facing rooms, while warmer whites help a dim room or a south-facing room. Dulux agrees, saying cooler colours help calm brighter light and suit north and west-facing spaces.

Get this wrong and the room shows it. Taubmans warns that a cool white in a dimly lit room can make the space feel grey and add to the gloom. Dulux says that if a room needs lifting, a warmer tone can help brighten it.

• North or west-facing, lots of glass: a cool or neutral white.
• South-facing, shaded or small windows: a warm white.
• Lit mostly by lamps at night: check the white under those globes too. Dulux says ceiling lights and lamps can change the tone.

Compare whites by LRV: eight whites side by side

LRV is the quickest way to compare whites from the same short list. Taubmans explains that LRV shows how light or dark a colour will look, on a scale where 0 is black and 100 is white. Higher means brighter and more reflective. The table below lists eight whites with the LRV and description each maker publishes on its own colour page.

No white in that list wins outright. Vivid White is the brightest, which suits a crisp modern trim. Whisper White is a warm ivory that Dulux says works with most colour schemes. Most people end up somewhere in the middle. Pick two or three from your undertone and light, then let the sample decide.

Outside, a very bright white can glare in full sun

A bright white on a house in full sun can be hard on the eyes. Taubmans says a white without much body on a home that gets full sun for much of the day can create a lot of glare. Its advice: if glare may be a problem, look for whites with an LRV between 65 and 80.

That's worth knowing, because every white in the table above sits above 80. They're bright, clean choices inside, but on a sunny wall you may want something softer. Check the LRV on the maker's colour page before you commit.

Taubmans also says to think about the colour of your roof and windows, the other surfaces you're keeping, where the house sits, and the other homes on your street. Our guides to exterior house colours and painting a brick house cover the outside in more detail, and our exterior house painters can walk the house with you.

Which sheen goes where: low sheen walls, gloss trims, flat ceilings

Use low sheen on walls, gloss or semi-gloss on doors and trims, and a flat finish on ceilings. Taubmans calls low sheen the sweet spot for most interior walls. Dulux says gloss is perfect for doors and architraves, and Dulux Ceiling White has a flat finish and goes on in two coats.

Sheen changes how a white looks, too. Dulux says higher gloss paints are very reflective and can make colours look lighter than the same colour in low sheen or matt. So a white trim in gloss can read a touch brighter than the same white on the wall. In a hallway or a room with big windows, Dulux suggests matt to soften glare.

Worried about white going yellow? Taubmans says matt and flat finishes are more prone to yellowing, while gloss and semi-gloss are less likely to yellow. It also says a water-based paint stays true to colour and won't yellow. For the full rundown by room, see interior paint finishes and our guide to painting doors, skirting and frames.

One white everywhere or two whites mixed: both work

Both approaches work. It depends on the room. Taubmans says that if you want a small room to feel bigger, pick a very softly tinted white and use it on every surface. The eye keeps moving around the room without stopping where one colour ends, so the space feels larger and the ceiling higher.

Going all white? Use the right paint on each surface. Taubmans names a ceiling paint for ceilings, a wall paint for walls, and a water-based enamel for doors and trims.

Got features worth showing off, like high ceilings, dado boards or wainscoting? Mix your whites instead. Taubmans suggests pairing a bright fresh white with a more neutral shade to create a tonal difference. That small gap plays up the character of the room.

Test two or three whites for at least three days

Never pick a white from the chip alone. Sample your short list on the wall and live with it for a few days. Dulux says to test at different times of the day and under lamps at night, and to leave samples up for at least three days. Taubmans calls sampling the most important step.

1. Get samples. Dulux sample pots come in 100ml. Its non-marking A4 colour stickers come in its 80 most popular colours, and Dulux says they help show how the light in your room changes a colour.
2. Go big. Taubmans suggests painting a 1m by 1m piece of cardboard with three coats of each white.
3. Move it around. Look at it in daylight, under lamps and in other parts of the room. Taubmans says the spots near the ceiling and near the floor tend to show the biggest colour changes.
4. Check day and night. Look in morning light, afternoon light and under your own globes.
5. Look next to what stays. Dulux suggests checking colour behind the sofa, near the kitchen cabinets or against artwork.

When you're painting over a darker colour, the undercoat matters. Dulux says preparing and undercoating walls helps you get the truest colour, especially over darker colours or bare surfaces. Taubmans says white can need more coats than other colours, and it recommends two to three coats for most of its paints. Our guide on how to paint a room walks through the job itself.

Getting your whites painted on the Sunshine Coast

Once you've got your white, the finish comes down to prep and the right paint on each surface. We've been painting Sunshine Coast homes since 1985, and we hold QBCC licence 1281728. Our interior house painters work right across the Sunshine Coast, including interior painting in Noosa.

Send us your address and the whites you've short-listed. We'll book a free site visit and give you a firm quote. For a quick guide price first, try the instant estimate.