Creamy
SW 7012 · Sherwin-Williams
Sherwin-Williams
Creamy
SW 7012
Subtle yellow-beige, a warm color
- Color family
- White
- Sold for
- Interior and exterior
Sherwin-Williams Creamy SW 7012 is a cream white with more yellow in it than Alabaster SW 7008, the white it is most often weighed against. Its LRV of 81 puts it in the off-white band, bright enough to lift a room yet still a color beside a crisp white trim. Our method reads it as a subtle yellow-beige. People use it on walls, cabinets and trim in rooms with warm wood and brick, and on houses that should look white without looking stark.
Updated
Is Creamy warm or cool? Undertones by the numbers
leans yellow
Undertone
Subtle yellow-beige
A gentle lean, quiet on the wall.
Creamy measures as a small, clear lean to yellow with no red in it, so it reads as cream rather than peach. Beside a crisp white trim such as Pure White SW 7005 the walls look plainly cream. Beside warm oak or cherry cabinets the yellow melts away and the walls look like a soft white. Cool gray tile and blue-gray quartz push it the other way and make it look buttery. Dover White SW 6385 is its near twin, a hair lighter and just as yellow; few people can tell them apart on a wall. Alabaster SW 7008 is a point lighter and carries about half the yellow. Westhighland White SW 7566 is the brighter, cleaner white above both.
Creamy in north, south, east and west light
Creamy is a white for rooms that get little sun. In a north-facing room, where most whites go gray and flat, its yellow holds and the walls read as a soft warm white. South and west light do the opposite: by afternoon the walls look distinctly yellow, and low western sun can push them toward gold. East rooms get the cream at breakfast and lose most of it by evening. Warm 2700K bulbs deepen the yellow, 3000K keeps it close to the chip, and cool 4000K bulbs make it look dingy rather than white.
Watch for
- Goes plainly yellow in a bright south or west room by mid afternoon
- Beside cool gray tile or a blue-gray quartz it reads buttery, not white
- Against Pure White SW 7005 trim the walls read as cream, which is either the point or the problem
Best rooms and surfaces for Creamy
Creamy suits rooms built from warm materials: oak or walnut floors, brick, terracotta, brass and traditional millwork. As a whole-house white it works in older houses with wood trim and in north-facing houses, where its yellow does the work the sun cannot. Bedrooms and living rooms take it well under warm lamps. It is a common cream cabinet color, covered in the questions below. It is a poor pick for a bright modern kitchen with gray quartz and stainless steel, where it looks yellow next to everything cool. A bathroom with cool white tile is worse, because there the yellow has nothing to hide behind. Keep it off a wall that also carries another near-white; against Alabaster SW 7008 it simply looks like the yellower one.
Creamy on an exterior
Creamy is on the Sherwin-Williams list of top exterior colors. On siding in full sun it reads as a warm white and the yellow all but disappears. That is how it gives a white house that does not look stark. In shade and on a north wall the cream comes back, most of all against a brighter trim. Trim in Pure White SW 7005 keeps the lines crisp; trim in Creamy itself gives the soft single-white look common on older houses. It sits well with brick, natural stone and a dark front door such as Urbane Bronze SW 7048.
Try Creamy on your own walls
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Creamy vs Alabaster, Greek Villa, Shoji White and Dover White
AlabasterCreamyCreamy vs Alabaster SW 7008
Creamy is a touch darker; both have a subtle yellow-beige undertone.
Alabaster SW 7008 is a point lighter, a difference no one sees on a wall. What separates them is yellow: Alabaster has a small dose and Creamy a clear one. Side by side, Alabaster looks like the white and Creamy like the cream. Pick Alabaster for a warm white that still passes as white in a modern room. Pick Creamy when you want the cream on purpose, with brick, oak, brass or traditional trim.
Greek VillaCreamyCreamy vs Greek Villa SW 7551
Creamy is noticeably darker; both have a subtle yellow-beige undertone.
Greek Villa SW 7551 sits three points lighter at an LRV of 84 and carries less yellow. It reads as a bright warm white where Creamy reads as cream. In a sunny room Greek Villa stays white while Creamy turns buttery. Choose Greek Villa for walls and trim that should look white in every light. Choose Creamy for a north room or an older house where a little visible warmth is the goal.
Shoji WhiteCreamyCreamy vs Shoji White SW 7042
Creamy is noticeably lighter; both have a subtle yellow-beige undertone.
Shoji White SW 7042 is the darker and grayer of the two, seven points down at an LRV of 74. It has a soft greige cast where Creamy is clean cream. Against white trim Shoji White reads as a pale putty and Creamy as a warm white. Shoji White is the calmer wall for a bright room. Creamy is the one for a room that needs yellow warmth rather than gray softness.
Dover WhiteCreamyCreamy vs Dover White SW 6385
Creamy is a touch darker; both have a subtle yellow-beige undertone.
Dover White SW 6385 is the closest match to Creamy on any page here, a point lighter and just as yellow. The two sit next to each other on the same fan-deck strip, and once they are on a wall most people cannot tell them apart. Take Dover White if you want the faintest bit more light in the room. Take Creamy if that is the sample you already tried; there is no reason to switch.
Questions about Creamy
Does Creamy look yellow?
Yes, in bright daylight and beside a clean white it does. Its measured lean is a small, clear yellow with no red, so yellow is what shows in a sunny room or against crisp trim. In a north room, next to warm wood or under 2700K bulbs it settles into a soft warm white. The people who call it yellow have usually put it in a sunny room with gray tile.
What colors go with Creamy?
Sherwin-Williams pairs it with Studio Taupe SW 7549 and Reynard SW 6348, a warm taupe and a brick orange. It has no listed trim white; Pure White SW 7005 is the usual crisp trim and Westhighland White SW 7566 the warm one. Beyond that it suits oak, walnut and cherry, brick and brass, and a deep green such as Pewter Green SW 6208 on a door.
Is Creamy good for kitchen cabinets?
Yes, if cream cabinets rather than white ones are the goal. On doors and drawer fronts the yellow reads clearly. It looks best with brass or bronze hardware, a wood floor and a warm counter. Give it a cooler wall, City Loft SW 7631 or Pure White SW 7005, so the cabinets are the warm element. Against gray quartz the cream can look like an older kitchen that was never repainted.
Is Creamy a good bedroom color?
It is, most of all in a bedroom with morning or northern light. There the cream reads as a soft warm white, and the lamps deepen it at night. Pair it with white or cream bedding rather than gray, which makes the walls look yellow by contrast. In a south-facing bedroom with afternoon sun it turns buttery by three o'clock, and Alabaster SW 7008 is the calmer pick there.
What is one shade lighter or darker than Creamy?
On its fan-deck strip the next step lighter is Dover White SW 6385, a point up and nearly identical. The next step darker is Aged White SW 9180, seven points down and a step toward beige. Among its closest matches, Ivory Lace SW 7013 is a touch darker and Whitetail SW 7103 is five points lighter, a bright cream white.
Get a sample before you paint
Use the visualizer to narrow your shortlist, then confirm the finalist on your actual wall. A peel-and-stick sample of Creamy, checked in morning and evening light, is the last step before a gallon.
- Made with real paint
- Delivered next day
- Peels off clean
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