Is there anything more nuanced than white paint? We’ve all seen the joke where the husband repaints with a new color his wife picked out, only for it to look the exact same (to him)!
For the picky, the perfect white definitely makes all the difference! Here we will take a look at two super popular soft whites by Sherwin Williams: Greek Villa and Alabaster.
We will see each of them in real homes, and talk about the technical differences. Let’s go!
Technical Differences Between Greek Villa and Alabaster
The major difference between Greek Villa and Alabaster, is that Greek Villa tends to have a slightly stronger beige undertone, where Alabaster may look slightly more gray or a touch more yellow in comparison.
Both are creamy whites in the same general color family, and both read pretty neutral. Greek Villa is a hair lighter, and Alabaster is a little bit less saturated (more gray).
Here you can see both on the color wheel:
You can see that they are very very similar in the grand scheme of things.
Here they are painted next to each other in real life:
As you can see, this photo by @figandelmhome was taken outdoors in bright natural light. Greek Villa does have a more beige undertone, where Alabaster is reading more white.
Despite not always looking it, Greek Villa does have a higher LRV than Alabaster – 84 vs 82.
The LRV of a color indicates on a scale of 0 – 100 how much light a color reflects (or doesn’t reflect). True black has an LRV of 0 and pure white has an LRV of 100.
In the paint world, we are working in a range of about 3 – 93 because no paint color is purely black or completely white.
How Greek Villa and Alabaster Compare Inside Real Homes
Now that we know how to spot the difference, let’s practice!
Greek Villa vs Alabaster in the Bathroom
This first bathroom is Greek Villa, with Sherwin Williams Jasper on the lower part of the wall:
This bathroom is Alabaster:
In these examples you get a good look at Greek Villa’s undertone, but Alabaster is looking pretty plain white. This is mostly due to the fact that it is the trim white as well.
Here is another bathroom in Alabaster, but where the trim is painted in the crisp plain white of Extra White:
In that photo you can really see the creamy undertone. The difference is almost unbelievable!
Just to be fair, here is a similar idea where Greek Villa looks creamy on the walls when paired with a cool white trim:
The contrast here is slightly less, because Greek Villa is lighter than Alabaster. Comparing these last two photos, you can see that Greek Villa leans more beige and Alabaster is a touch more yellow.
I would not say that Alabaster has an especially yellow undertone, but more so than Greek Villa, which leans more orange-beige
Comparing Alabaster and Greek Villa on Cabinets
Next lets see both on kitchen cabinets! I have truly seen Alabaster on hundreds of cabinets at this point, but I have just one Greek Villa kitchen to compare it to. In the graphic above, I did adjust the lighting slightly to try and mimic similar conditions.
Here is Alabaster looking its most typical on kitchen cabinets:
Here is Greek Villa:
Again you can see that both look very creamy, but Greek Villa is slightly more beige.
Greek Villa vs Alabaster in the Living Room
Lucky for us, I can show you Greek Villa and Alabaster in very similar living rooms! In both of these homes it is the same white for walls, trim, and ceilings, so this is their pure and unadulterated form!
Here is all-Greek-Villa-everything:
…and the same for Alabaster:
Both of these spaces look very neutral!
Is Alabaster or Greek Villa Better
Where Alabaster and Greek Villa look the most similar, is outside!
This first photo is a compilation of two similar houses in similar lighting:
The top half of the house is Greek Villa, and the lower half is Alabaster. Here they look almost the same.
Here is another comparison on very similar porches:
In both of the examples so far, both colors look neutral and creamy white.
Here are examples that show more undertones:
On this overcast day, Greek Villa looks much more creamy and beige.
Here Alabaster looks slightly more yellow, but to be honest, pretty similar:
All of this being said, most exteriors see both Alabaster and Greek Villa looking pretty white:
That’s all for this one! I hope it helps you decide which color is the perfect white for you, and if not: Here’s more!