While cream is definitely a color that you can use to decorate virtually any room of the house, the truth is that there are more than a few different shades of this paint color, and depending on the type you choose can drastically change how a wall looks, and the kind of aesthetic it presents.
Many people will choose a type of cream depending on the other colors in a room that they are mixing it with, so while darker and shadier variants can go well when paired with more neutral and soft colors, a brighter option can complement more striking colors and make them even more noticeable, so it’s essential to know which shade you need to pick up.
To make this easier for you, we’ve compiled a list of 23 of the best cream paint colors you can buy from the market right now, along with information on how they should be used, and the types of colors they will match with.
How To Choose The Right Cream Paint Color
Choosing the right shade of cream to buy all depends on the existing features in the room and how much you want to compliment them.
For example, a more traditional and rustic-themed room with lots of wooden tables and chairs can look a little strange when paired with a bright cream color that leans more toward being yellow, but the darker shades blend in much more effortlessly without ever clashing.
When buying any type of paint, you will also want to pay close attention to the LRV which refers to how much light the color will reflect, giving you an idea of how bright or dark the wall will be when you come to apply the paint.
Rooms that you want to be nice and bright, such as living rooms that have plenty of windows will benefit much more from having high LRV cream paint across the walls while darker shades are suitable for rooms where you want to feel a little more cozy and isolated, or where you are planning to use lamps and electronic lights such as in a bedroom or study area.
Finally, it’s always worth checking to see if the undertones are displayed on the can when you buy some new paint since this will allow you to know what colors have been infused and mixed together to create the cream which can drastically change where you decide to use the paint depending on its appearance and aesthetic.
The 23 Best Cream Paint Colors
1. Benjamin Moore Linen White
The warm yellow undertone of this Linen White paint makes it slightly darker and a little more classy than a lot of other variants, however, it does still have an LRV rate of 81 which still puts it on the brighter end.
Linen White is a fantastic option for a dining room, bedroom, or even a bathroom because of how versatile it is.
While it is relatively warm and comforting in its appearance, it becomes incredibly bright when exposed to the sunlight, making it a great choice if you want something light, but not too striking.
2. Sherwin Williams Steamed Milk
At first glance, many people can easily mistake Steamed Milk for simply being white, and while it is near-identical, it does also contain a very soft and elegant orange undertone that gives it its own uniqueness and personality.
With that being said, it is probably the best cream variant to pair up with white since there is no danger of the two clashing as they will instead enhance one another thanks to their tiny differences in shading and undertone.
3. Sherwin Williams Casa Blanca
You’ll notice straight away that Casa Blanca contains a little more gray in its undertone than a lot of other cream paints, and while this does make it slightly darker and provides a more serious and professional aesthetic, it still contains an LRV of 76, so it brightens up a lot when the sun is shining through.
People will often say that Indian White is still considered a creamy off-white color, but the mixture of beige and orange contains enough dark undertones to where it is almost its own color entirely, and while you can definitely pair it with white, the differences are immediately recognizable.
Indian White provides a very warm and homely aesthetic that helps to make any room in the house seem even more inviting, especially with bedrooms and bathrooms where the sunlight shines and bounces off the walls thanks to the relatively high LRV.
5. Benjamin Moore Ballet White
Ballet White is a mix of so many different colors that it can often be challenging to pinpoint what it actually is, but in terms of resemblance, cream is the color it relates to most. Ballet White has a lovely depth to it which is thanks to the soft mixture of gray, beige, and a hint of green.
The LRV is slightly lower than many other cream paints, so while the walls will still shine in the daytime, it’s a color that’s more suited for more quiet and closed-off areas in the house where you can enjoy some privacy.
6. Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee
The slight hint of a brown undertone in Swiss Coffee mixed with yellow and green makes this color slightly sterner and more straight-forward as opposed to other types of cream which tend to be slightly more creamy, but this only means that this paint color works perfectly when you’re looking for a substitute for white that isn’t as bright or bold in its appearance.
7. Benjamin Moore Windham Cream
Windham Cream leans a lot more into yellow than any other shades of cream you will find, which does make it a lot more of a fun and casual color rather than feeling sophisticated.
However, this does mean that it’s the perfect paint to use if you’re trying to theme a room around the warm weather, or if you’re redecorating a living room or bathroom ready for the warmer months, especially because it also has a high LRV of 80.
8. Sherwin Williams Summer White
Summer White also contains a lot of yellow, but it still retains the slightly lighter shade of cream that makes it a very safe paint that won’t end up ruining the atmosphere of a room, so long as you don’t match it with colors that are too bright such as red or green since they can end up clashing.
With that being said however, this is a cozy and calming color that goes perfectly in the colder months, but thanks to a high LRV, it also shines brightly throughout the summer, making it very versatile.
9. Behr Polar Bear
While Polar Bear is very close to being completely white, it’s the subtle pink undertones that grant it slightly more creaminess and a fantastic option for clean walls.
It is very bright, containing an overall LRV of 90, which makes it one of the most ideal cream paints to use in the living room where it can be exposed to plenty of sunlight and compliment any decor around the room, no matter whether they are dark or light in their color palette.
10. Sherwin Williams Alabaster
The very prominent beige undertones are what keep Alabaster from being completely white, providing the paint with an elegant mixture of being both warm and soft in its aesthetic, making it perfect for hallways and corridors where you can create a welcoming and relaxing atmosphere for your guests to walk into.
The bright backdrop also works very well at highlighting pictures and making them stand out, along with serving as a nice color to attach white, cream, and brown shelves onto where you can display any ornaments or decorations that mean a lot to you.
11. Sherwin Williams Creamy
Sometimes, when you can’t decide on a specific tone or shade, but you know that you want something that makes a room feel as comforting and relaxing as possible, it can be a good idea to play it safe and go with a regular cream color.
With that being said, while this Creamy paint is fairly standard and bright, it does also have slightly more yellow in its undertone which allows it to be more exciting than many other basic cream paints and is a perfect pairing with white and brown.
12. Benjamin Moore Acadia White
Smart, efficient, and oozing style, Acadia White is white paint that uses a good amount of yellow to turn it creamy without the yellow ever being too strong or noticeable.
This paint has often been described by those who have used it as classic and classy, making it ideal for when you’re looking to make a dazzling first impression on any guests or visitors that you are expecting in the near future.
While white works incredibly well with Acadia White, gray is also a good option that won’t clash, along with brown and even black if you want to ramp up the style as much as possible.
13. Benjamin Moore Soft Chamois
If you’re looking for a paint color that’s a little more golden in its look while still having those soft and elegant creamy features, Soft Chamois might just be what you’re looking for, providing a room with a touch of elegance and beauty thanks to how much sheen is granted in the undertone.
So many colors benefit from being paired with a golden backdrop including black and brown, however, it can often be worth avoiding neon colors since these can sometimes clash if you try to force them together with gold.
14.Benjamin Moore Vanilla Milkshake
Toeing the line between beige and cream, Vanilla Milkshake is a very neutral option that is considered to be incredibly safe and reliable, no matter which room you decide to use it in.
It’s a color for when you don’t want to bring too much attention to the walls surrounding a room which can sometimes be off-putting for guests and visitors, but this does also mean it grants a heightened focus on decor within the room such as any tables, chairs, or personal decorations.
15. Benjamin Moore Featherbed
Featherbed is another paint color that just about avoids being classed as yellow due to the slight hint of creaminess involved in the undertone, with it almost resembling a pastel yellow.
Because of how noticeable the yellow is in this palette, this may not be the best option for the bigger rooms of the house, but for small bathrooms and hallways, you can’t go far wrong with it, especially on those sunnier days.
16. Sherwin Williams Zurich White
Some of us don’t like how front-and-center a white wall can look, especially when it’s the first thing you see when walking into a house, and Zurich White fixes this issue by dialing the brightness down just a little bit by implementing some gray and cream into the color palette, creating a much more neutral but still expressive color in the process.
Warm, inviting, and lighthearted, this is a shade of cream that blends perfectly with brighter colors that could be seen on plants, chairs, and rugs for example.
17. Benjamin Moore Simply White
Despite the name, Simply White does contain a very light mixture of yellow and green which lends the color a very delicate creamy appearance that is still incredibly bright and eye-catching, so you can be sure it will steal the show when used in any room.
For many of us, pure white can be a little too bright and demanding, but infusing just a light dash of cream allows Simply White to be a lot warmer while also blending in much easier, even with the more bright and vibrant colors.
18. Benjamin Moore Cloud White
This is an extremely bright and lively creamy white mixture that is at a very low risk of clashing with any other colors found in a room, however, black tends to work the best if you want to give off a very classy and stylish atmosphere that is sure to blow your guests away.
It’s worth noting that because this paint does border on being almost entirely white, it can wash out fairly easily which can end up removing the creaminess altogether, so it really depends on which color you would prefer to be stronger and more potent, white or cream, that should dictate where you use it in the house.
19. Benjamin Moore Timid White
Timid Yellow could definitely be described as the perfect mixture between yellow and gray, giving off a very muted yet stylish appearance that effortlessly mixes with white and other lighter shades of brown and gray.
While the yellow is definitely noticeable, the inclusion of the gray helps to even it out enough to where it never looks too out of place to be used in a living room or dining room, making this a very versatile paint option that puts just enough yellow into the creaminess to make it unique and vibrant without being too distracting.
20. Benjamin Moore Natural Cream
Natural Cream puts a much darker and moodier spin on the regular cream color palette that so many of us are used to seeing, with this paint almost leaning more towards a beige in how it looks.
Because of this, it gives off a somber and sophisticated vibe, and since it has a very low LRV, it is best suited to darker rooms where it can stand out the best.
21. Sherwin Williams Antique White
With heavy undertones of beige and orange thrown into the mix, Antique White is a reasonably dark paint color with a tremendous amount of depth which almost becomes a tuscan color in how it looks.
Despite this, it still possesses a very creamy aesthetic that allows it to easily separate itself from both dark and light decor and walls, though it is probably a little too dark to be suitable for any cabinets or shelves in the kitchen.
22. Sherwin Williams Dover White
This paint color fuses creamy white with a very suave premium golden yellow undertone to form a very warm and relaxing color that manages to be incredibly bright and reflective in the warmer months while still being more neutral than many of its counterparts.
Dover White goes together with cool colors the best such as blue and silver, so if you are decided to use any more bold and striking decor which is black or brown for example, it can be worth making sure that you don’t go overboard with having too many of them in the same room otherwise they can clash and look out of place.
23. Benjamin Moore Ballet White
Ballet White is much more muted than standard white and takes on a much darker gray tone which suits bathrooms incredibly well.
On top of this, the color also has an incredibly rich depth which makes it very hard to wash out, and while the LRV isn’t too high, it can still pair nicely with other bright colors.
Because it almost resembles beige, it provides a nice contrast to white walls or ceilings so that you can prevent a room from looking dull or flat, though we wouldn’t recommend using Ballet White for all of the walls in a single room since it can end up looking a little drab or plain if it’s not given other contrasting colors to bounce off.
Summary
While many people assume that cream is just a single color with simply a few lighter and darker shades, there are actually an extraordinary amount of variations all with their own unique undertones and LRV which make each one very unique and suitable for different purposes.
Whether you’re looking for a color that borrows the soft and warm essence of beige, or something that leans into a striking yellow to make it as bright and vibrant as possible, you can guarantee there is a type of cream paint that is suited directly to your needs.
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