White can make a space feel light and crisp, but the wrong shade of white can feel sterile. Choosing white paint comes down to the lighting in your home. A north-facing room will enhance a cool-toned white, while a south-facing room will enhance a warm undertone white.

Unless you're looking to showcase the undertones in your white paint, choose a white paint whose undertones will counteract the room's lighting. So, pair a blue undertone white with warm lighting and a yellow undertone white with cool lighting, which creates a more balanced color in the space without oversaturating the undertones.

White paints with warm undertones lend a sense of comfort to your space and can offset cool-toned decor and furniture. Cotton White SW 7104 is a bright white with subtle yellow undertones for a pop of indoor sunshine. If stark white isn't for you, plenty of off-white hues still offer clean brightness with a whisper of color. Intricate Ivory SW 6350, for example, is a more pigmented Cotton White. Only Natural SW 7596 offers a red-brown undertone that feels airy during the day and richly cozy at night for a warm white that doesn't look yellow. 

Some may assume warm whites are better than cool whites in an interior space, but whites with cool undertones can be just as inviting as those with warm ones. Grey Mist SW 9625, as the name suggests, is a calming white offering gray undertones that feel warm and classy in any space. If you want a cool white with more adventurous undertones, try Arcade White SW 7100, a brighter white with gentle violet undertones that's sure to enchant in a nursery or den.

Even if you're not painting your walls white, you're likely using white for your doors and baseboard trim. However, it's not as easy as picking a white paint and slapping it on. The best strategy for finding white trim paint is to match the undertone to the color of your walls. Meaning if your walls are a warm color, choose white with warm undertones. Ibis White SW 7000 and White Hyacinth SW 0046, respectively, offer red and yellow undertones, making them great for framing red and yellow-hued walls.