Sherwin Williams Alabaster vs Pure White: Which White Is Right for Your Home?
If you are trying to choose between Sherwin Williams Alabaster SW 7008 and Pure White SW 7005, the difference can seem surprisingly small at first.
Put them into an actual home, though, and they can feel quite different.
Both are beautiful whites, but the right choice has much more to do with your home's natural light, flooring, cabinetry, stone and other fixed finishes than which colour happens to be more popular.
This is always where I start when selecting a white.
Alabaster vs Pure White
The main difference between the two is warmth.
Alabaster SW 7008 is the warmer choice. It has a soft, creamy quality that can make a room feel relaxed and welcoming.
Pure White SW 7005 has a cleaner appearance. It is still a soft white rather than an extremely stark white, but it generally feels fresher and more neutral beside Alabaster.
If you place physical samples of the two colours next to each other, the difference becomes much easier to see.
That is one of the reasons I rarely look at a white in isolation. Comparing several whites together helps reveal the undertones that can otherwise be difficult to pick up.
When I would consider Alabaster
Alabaster can be beautiful in a home with warmth already running through the finishes.
Think warm timber flooring, natural stone, warm neutral fabrics, beige or greige finishes and softer organic materials.
In this type of palette, the warmth in Alabaster can help everything feel connected rather than introducing a white that feels too sharp.
Where I would be more careful is in a home with predominantly cool finishes.
If your stone, flooring or cabinetry has a strong cool grey or blue grey undertone, Alabaster may suddenly appear warmer or creamier than you expected.
This is why looking at a paint colour online is never enough.
The question is not simply, “Do I like Alabaster?”
The better question is, “Does Alabaster work with everything that is staying in this room?”
When I would consider Pure White
Pure White is one I would consider when the home needs something a little cleaner and fresher.
It can work particularly well with contemporary interiors, cleaner stone finishes, more neutral palettes and crisp cabinetry.
It can also be useful when you want a white that feels fresh without moving into an extremely stark or clinical looking white.
Again, your surrounding finishes will influence how it appears.
A white can look beautifully balanced on a sample card and then reveal an undertone you had barely noticed once it is placed beside your benchtop, flooring or cabinetry.
Which one works better with timber flooring?
There isn't one answer because timber itself has undertones.
This is something that is often overlooked.
One oak floor may have a beautiful soft neutral appearance, while another may lean golden, yellow, orange, pink or grey.
If your timber has noticeable warmth, Alabaster may sit very naturally alongside it.
If your flooring is paler, cooler or more neutral, Pure White may give you the cleaner relationship you are looking for.
Rather than choosing your wall colour first, use the flooring as one of your starting points.
It is a fixed finish and is usually far more difficult and expensive to change than paint.
What about stone benchtops?
I use the same approach with stone.
Start by looking at the overall background colour of the stone, then look more closely at its veining and secondary colours.
A warm stone with cream, beige or warmer veining may work beautifully with Alabaster.
A cleaner stone with cooler grey or more neutral colouring may relate better to Pure White.
The white does not need to perfectly match the stone.
What you are looking for is a relationship between the two where neither colour makes the other suddenly appear dirty, yellow, pink, blue or overly grey.
This is often where the wrong white becomes obvious.
Natural light can completely change a white
Never make your final white selection without looking at it in the actual room.
Natural light changes throughout the day, and your white will change with it.
Look at your sample in the morning.
Look at it again around the middle of the day.
Check it in the afternoon and then again in the evening with your lights switched on.
You may be surprised by how different the same white can look.
Room orientation matters too, but I don't believe in choosing a colour simply because someone says it is the perfect white for a north facing or south facing room.
Orientation also behaves differently depending on whether your home is in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere.
Your actual room should always have the final say.
Can you use Alabaster walls with Pure White trims?
Yes, you can.
Pure White can provide a subtle cleaner contrast against the warmth of Alabaster walls.
But you don't automatically need two different whites.
Sometimes I prefer using the same white across the walls, trims and ceiling and changing the paint finish where appropriate. This can create a beautifully calm and cohesive result, particularly in an interior where you don't want the trims to become a feature.
It really comes back to the architecture and the overall feeling you are trying to create.
Alabaster or Pure White?
If you want a softer, warmer white and your existing finishes support that warmth, Alabaster SW 7008 is worth considering.
If you want something cleaner and more neutral while still retaining some softness, Pure White SW 7005 may be the better starting point.
But I would never choose either one simply because you have seen it used beautifully in somebody else's home.
Their flooring may be different.
Their stone may be different.
Their cabinetry, natural light, furniture and lighting may all be different.
And that changes everything.
The best white is not necessarily the most popular one.
It is the white that works with your home.
Before you commit
Once you have narrowed your selection down, test a large physical sample in the room.
Don't hold a tiny paint chip against the wall for five minutes and make the decision.
Place the sample beside your flooring, cabinetry and stone. Move it around the room and look at it at different times of day.
Taking this extra step can save you from discovering an unwanted undertone after the entire room has been painted.
Need help choosing the right white?
If you are looking at dozens of whites and they are all starting to look the same, Choose the Right White Paint™ is designed to make the process much easier.
I take you through the same things I consider when selecting whites professionally, including undertones, natural light, fixed finishes and how different whites work with the materials already in your home.
The guide also includes specific white paint selections from leading paint brands, so you can narrow down your options rather than starting with hundreds of colours.