To get the best from a crisp white paint you need to put in a bit of prep. Charlotte Cosby, Head of Creative at Farrow & Ball, recommends applying a primer and undercoat to make the finish long-lasting and to fill in any small defects. If you're concerned that these extras will bump up the budget too much, then it can be useful to see what relevant home decor discount codes are currently live. Aaron at Coat Paints adds, 'Water-based emulsion will work just fine on the ceiling and it’s the default choice - but how about this. Choose a white Soft Sheen emulsion paint for the ceiling which has a subtle shine to it and can be really effective at bouncing light around the room. It’s not for everyone, but it can look super effective especially in low lit spaces or at night with lamps.' The best white paint for your walls will depend both on your natural preference toward warm or cool tones, and the aspect of the room you're painting - so whether the windows face north, south, east or west. As most of you know, I shy away from colour on my walls. However white paint is far from a fail-safe option – with hundreds and hundreds of different whites it can be easy to end up with a shade that’s too yellow, too blue or something altogether different to the pin-worthy look you were going for. Anyone who has ever looked over a paint chart or two will tell you there’s no such thing as a pure white paint. There are literally hundreds of shades from off-whites to brilliant whites, not to mention the ‘hint of’ hues that were very popular several years ago. I’ve never been the best with a roller and so I leave this to my husband James. Give me a paintbrush for woodwork though and I’m your girl! Here are a few of the colours that we chose to decorate our pad, taking into account the aspect of each of the rooms. Bright White

I don’t have any snaps of two of the most recently decorated areas in my house but if you’re after a hard-wearing mellow, creamy white (without a yellow tinge) then you could consider Dulux Timeless. This colour has been around for yonks and was apparently one of Dulux’s best selling shades for a while. James has recently used the Endurance version to cover our hall, stairs and landing and I’m loving the results. It’s a dark area with very little natural light but Timeless has warmed it up a treat as the colour seems to reflect the oak doors and skirtings around it.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE PERFECT WHITE PAINT

We have finally made it to the fun decorating part of doing our Victorian terrace up, except it's not very fun as I hate making decisions (I've made enough in the last 8 months to last a lifetime). We are looking for one neutral colour to paint the whole house in, then adding bits of colour in each room. NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank to close at least 172 branches in 2023/24 – here's the full list, plus alternatives I spoke to Kiran from technical and she has made what seemed like a daunting job become an exciting enterprize to look forward to.

Emma at YesColours adds, 'A south-facing room will need a cooler white to counteract the warm glow of natural daylight, any white with a hint of blue or green is ideal.' For a modern look, you can also move away from the traditional white ceiling altogether and paint the ceiling a statement colour – this could be the same as the walls for a really cohesive feel, or a different tone.'

7. Dulux Antique White U.S.A.®

Brilliant white has a very slight blue tint to it that can leave a room feeling a bit chilly. It’s best reserved for south-facing spaces with loads of natural sunlight.

We have just painted our bathroom in White Mist (Dulux) which is the perfect amount of 'off-whiteness' but it would be too cold of a colour for the rest of the house. We also quite like Timeless (Dulux) except I'm worried that in big quantities it will look a bit like magnolia. I used Milk White in my old bathroom and some may say it has the slightest mint green tint. It has a very fresh appearance but isn’t stark or clinical. Dulux Almost Oyster Our Colour Scales collection provides a wonderful solution for creating a light fresh design scheme that gives the illusion of space, ‘Masquerade’ works beautifully alongside ‘Masquerade Mid’ and ‘Masquerade Light’ to create an elegant and welcoming scheme in a small space.'NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Ulster Bank, which are all part of the NatWest Group, will now shut at least 172 of their bank branches in 2023 and 2024. A south-facing room gets a lot of natural daylight and can often be bathed in golden sunshine for a lot of the day. This means any underlying warm tones in a white paint - like yellow, red or brown - will be amplified, making a seemingly innocuous pale ivory white suddenly look decidedly yellow once on the walls. Am facing the dilemma of wanting to decorate the whole of our ground floor in the same colour, so incorporating a kitchen/dining space, north east facing with lots of light (big window in kitchen and 3m wide bi-folds in the dining area), then also a living room which faces S/SW with floor to ceiling windows, and relatively large entrance hall area – S/SW facing but no windows, just a front door with some stained glass in it. Cathryn Sanders at Earthborn says, 'Whites and off-whites can vary significantly depending on their undertone, with different types of natural and electrical lights impacting greatly on the perceived colour.'