Warm colors are on-trend for 2025

You don’t have to be tuned into the countless online websites, magazines and blogs to know that “warm” is the design “it” word right now. And warm white paint colors are at the top of that list. Despite the prevalence of greens, deep blues, burgundies and browns, whites remain the most popular paint colors for interiors and exteriors. In a word, it’s classic, and will be in-style forever.

Stark modern whites that were popular a few years ago, especially in modernist settings, have given way to the approachability and warmth of painting walls a creamy white. Think of those cool all-white kitchens that look so dated now. There are thousand of white paint colors available. Since whites are the most commonly purchased paint color many companies offer tens of whites. It’s a chore to collate the options and zoom in on the tone of white that’s right for you. I’m going to help you with that!

Hue, value and chroma

Colors can be described by 3 characteristic hue, value and chroma. Hue speaks to what color family the color is from…red, green, blue, etc. Value refers to its lightness or darkness on a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is black and 10 is white. Finally, chroma refers to the colorfulness of a color. The chart below breaks down these colors’ numerical notations helping to define what’s a white and what’s an off-white. There is only a nuanced difference between them. But this categorization is not so important when choosing the right color for you. Pick what looks best in your space given the orientation of your room to the sun, the other colors in the room, the architecture of your space and the vibe you’re going for. 

What’s a warm creamy white?

While is popular to talk about undertones the correct terminology is hue family.
Each color belongs to one. So when bloggers refer to a color having a yellow undertone, if they are correct, they are actually referring to the fact that the color comes from the yellow hue family, even if it’s a white. Yellow, red and orange are the warm colors and colors which emanate from those hue families are warm colors. Their warmth ranges from a slight nuanced amount, sometimes barely perceivable, to out and out highly chromatic versions of these colors. But the warmth or coolness of a color is also a relative term in that any color, cool or warm, will be perceived as more so or less so based on the other colors right near them.

Warm whites come from the yellow, yellow-green, red and orange hue families. The ones which look really creamy come from the yellow hue family.

Benjamin Moore’s best warm whites

Benjamin Moore has some rockstar whites. 

Benjamin Moore Simply White OC-117

Great for an interior this white is bright and clear with just a hint of warmth. The take away is white! Take a look at this color graphic from The Land of Color. You’ll see all of the stats for this color.  It comes from the yellow hue family. On an exterior this color will look very white.

Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee OC-45 

You can find a whole post on this popular color to take a deeper dive. It’s warmer and more creamy than Simply White.  On an exterior its got enough chromaticity that it reads like a cream.

Also from the yellow hue family you can see with a chroma of .62 it has more color.

These are the kinds of whites I recommend for exteriors where the intensity of the sun will make a cool or very neutral colorless white too stark.

Benjamin Moore Cotton Balls OC-122

From the yellow hue family heading towards yellow-green this is a bright, light warm white that works equally well indoors or out.

Here we see how paired with a much darker color the white gets “pushed” to appear even whiter. But look at the ceiling painted a more neutral white and you can see the warmth in cotton balls.

Benjamin Moore White Dove OC-17

No best warm white paint color list can be complete without White Dove. It is a warm white that is not yellow in appearance though it’s from that hue family. Outdoors it appears neutral. Indoors it has enough warmth to not appear personality-less!

Sherwin-Williams Greek Villa 7551

There are 2 Sherwin-Williams warm whites I lean into a lot. Greek Villa is the first. It is so versatile for any style architecture or room type. It’s warm without looking yellow and is so pretty. I’ve used it as a trim color for walls which have more color or alone as both the wall and trim color. It’s impossible to find fault with this one.

Sherwin-Williams White Flour

This one you never see listed on blogs but I think it’s great. Iv’e used it for stucco exteriors in warm locations and for interiors with wood stain trim or plaster walls.  It’s perfect for a mediterranean style house.

C2 Milk Moustache 080

C2 has a lovely line of paint colors. Milk Moustache in fact is aptly named. This white has the softness of milk. It’s a very gentle white without coming off as cream.

Dunn Edwards Whisper DEW340

A very popular Dunn Edwards choice for a bright yet warm white. It will work well on walls ceilings and trim.

Behr Night Blooming Jasmine YL-W10

This luscious white is as delicate and soft as a flower petal. It pairs with just about any other color. It’s not very colorful and should be considered a white not off-white. This can be lovely as a kitchen cabinet color.

Some Tips on Directional Light.

To make the best of your warm white paint color.

Northern Exposure
North-facing rooms are the darkest in the home with diffuse, shadow-less, and slightly grayish or neutral light most of the day and year. Most painters prefer to use this light because it is more constant than direct sunlight. Everything in the space will appear and feel, cooler on a color spectrum. Using a warm color here will help warm it up a bit depending on how saturated the color is. Although these whites are warm they probably will feel dull in a room with this kind of light.

Southern Exposure
South-facing rooms are the brightest in the house, with the daylight being dominant from late morning to mid-afternoon. These spaces, like north-facing rooms, have consistent light all day, but with crisp strong shadows and beams of light. The warm bright light tends to render colors accurately, even to the point of intensifying any color placed within it. A warm white will look great here.

Eastern Exposure
East-facing rooms are brightest in the morning, with a light of a lower altitude casting long soft shadows. The morning light can vary from a grey-yellow to bright and white, which tends to wash out color. It is important to determine what time of day east-facing rooms will be used and what importance natural light will play. If the function of the room lends itself to afternoon or evening use, a warm palette will help balance the lack of natural light. A warm white in an eastern facing room used in the morning will be soft and appear very light. Later in the day it may feel duller.

Western Exposure
West-facing rooms have their strongest light in the late afternoon and early evening with a light of a rich gold-orange hue. The light can at times appear overwhelmingly orange. Morning use of a west-facing room means more warm tones can be used without the risk of skewing hot. A warm white here will seem warmer and altered in color if you spend lots of time here in late afternoon.