I was just reading Maria Killim's blog regarding this topic. I'm also contemplating white paint. It seems that many of the pros seem to say that white will never brighten a dark space - there's a Donald Kauffman quote on the subject that seems to get thrown around a lot. Anyway, it seems the consensus is don't do it. However, I'm going to jump in and do it because I like white best.

My house isn't exactly a beach cottage but that's kind of the look I'm going for. So, I'm going to paint my open concept house mostly white. This is all in rooms that have some light. I'll add that I've got some rooms on the east side of the house that are fairly close to the neighboring house that don't get much light at all, I'm not painting these white since I think they would look dreary. I guess I'd try to think about if it would feel dreary. With the drywall does it seem ok? If you're going to prime the drywall you could live with the primer a little bit and see if it seems dreary.

Sorry I wrote a book - best of luck!

I would have to disagree that white doesn't "brighten" a room. My kitchen has no windows. It was painted white first and was quite bright! Then a coat of a slightly more creamy white was put on, wow did it get darker in there. It was an amazing difference.

How colors are affected by a specific environment is another story.

Make sure you have enough ambient light. People can do dark colors as long as you have enough supplemental lighting.

Donald Kaufman didn't mix white paint. He mixed full spectrum colors including full spectrum near whites. Many of his colors are very, very pale. Near white.

It all depends on which white. Get the right white for the light and it works just like any other color.