Why We Chose Sherwin Williams White Duck for Our Exterior Paint Color

Sherwin Williams White Duck (SW 7010) is a warm and creamy white that turned out to be the perfect choice for the exterior of our home. We were fans of this paint color from the first time we saw it on a house, but like all of the other home-building decisions, we did our research to make sure it was the right paint color. In this article, I’m going to share everything we learned to make your decision-making a little easier if you are considering White Duck for your home.

Sherwin Williams White Duck LRV

The LRV for White Duck is 74. But you may be wondering what this value really means. LRV basically helps us determine how bright or dark a color is. LRV stands for Light Reflectance Value and is measured on a scale of 0 to 100 where 0 is pure black and 100 is pure white. So a value of 74 puts White Duck on the light side of the brightness spectrum.

What are the Undertones of White Duck?

White Duck does have some subtle yellow undertones, but overall it is a neutral color. It also has gray undertones which tone down the yellow. So what you end up with is a creamy white with some hints of greige. Greige is a color that is somewhere between gray and beige.

When it comes to the undertones of a paint color, lighting plays a big part. In a particular lighting situation, you might notice a certain undertone, but then in different lighting, a separate undertone can reveal itself. For example, on a rainy overcast day, our house painted White Duck looks creamy, but on a bright sunny day, it appears to be a soft white with no visible creaminess. It’s important to keep this in mind when choosing a paint color.

Similar Colors to White Duck

As I mention above, Sherwin Willaims White Duck was a contender for our exterior paint color from the very beginning. But to make sure it was the right color, we chose two other colors that were very close and did a comparison. Narrowing it down was difficult because there are so many white paint colors to choose from. After a lot of research, we chose Natural Choice and Oyster White both by Sherwin Williams.

As you can see, they both are creamy whites with warm undertones. But let’s take a closer look at each.

Natural Choice Compared to White Duck

Natural Choice has an LRV of 73, which means it is a shade darker than White Duck which has an LRV of 74. It also has a stronger yellow undertone than White Duck.

Oyster White Compared to White Duck

Oyster White has an LRV of 72, making it the brightest of the three colors we were comparing. As for undertones, it is very similar to White Duck with yellow and greige coming through. But it also has some subtle green undertones as well.

Test Before Buying a Lot of Paint

When you are trying to decide on a paint color, it’s always a good idea to try out the colors before spending money on a lot of paint. The worst thing you can do is buy two or three 5-gallon buckets, start painting your house, and then decide that it is not the right color.

To avoid this issue, we got samples of each: White Duck, Natural Choice, and Oyster White. Then we found a space on the front of the house and painted an area with each color. Keep in mind that you should apply two coats when doing test samples like this because one coat isn’t enough to give you the actual color of the paint.

If we had to do it over again, we would have gotten peel-and-stick samples from Samplize. Their samples are accurate color representations no mess involved, and they offer overnight shipping if you are in a hurry to test different colors.

We felt like Natural Choice, was a little too creamy. Oyster White was really close, but seeing it next to White Duck reaffirmed our original decision that White Duck was the right color for the exterior of our home. So we ended up choosing Sherwin Williams White Duck. Applying the paint samples to the brick helped us to feel confident in our decision.

Our Original Inspiration

I have to give credit where credit is due! When we first started looking for an exterior white paint color for our home, we came across this house by Garden Gate Homes. It’s painted in Sherwin Williams White Duck. We loved how the exterior color of the home had a softness and slight creaminess. So thanks to Garden Gate Homes for building this beautiful house and sharing the photos.

We loved White Duck from the start and only became fonder as time went on. Now that our house is complete, and we’ve had time to see that paint color in different lighting and times of day, we are so happy we made this choice.