How to pick the perfect paint color
By Julie Schmale
Get a color you’ll love ON your walls -not just on the sample
Have you ever picked what you thought to be the perfect paint color, only to cringe as you see it on the wall….. oh no! You look at the paint cans sitting un-opened on the floor…. Do you keep going hoping it’ll look better once the whole room is painted? Or do you make up your mind to love it because you’ve already paid for it? (and who really wants to admit to any other human being that they made a costly mistake?) Do you stop here and just take your losses -but then you’re right back where you started…. And the next choice might be no different?!!
Wouldn’t you love to love it?!
Picking a paint color is just super hard from those tiny little swatches, it will almost never look exactly like the sample. Wouldn’t you just love to love the color you chose? And feel confident as you’re asking your hardware store to mix up 4 pails of it?! We all would. Too often, confidence is just not the most prevalent feeling we possess in that situation. But it can be….
How?? You ask…
We all put a lot of thought into decisions regarding the spaces we’re updating, renovating or building. We want to get it right -mistakes get costly in a hurry! But paint sometimes gets missed -maybe because there are so many options out there, and it’s tough to pick. -And to pick the RIGHT one, the FIRST time!
Here is the way to do it! It’s very simple. Just add ONE EXTRA step between taping the swatches to the wall and purchasing the paint.
Here it is…. Buy the $10 mini can that any paint dealer can mix for you….
Yep. It’s that simple… well…. There’s a bit more to it.
Go to the dollar store and purchase a small canvas. -You probably already know where this is going, and I can already hear those eyes rolling…. It’s just more time and more effort than you want to put in…. I get it. We just want to get it done! But honestly, it really is worth the feeling of “OH, I LOVE IT!” when you see it on your wall for the first time. Trust me.
Paint the canvas and let it dry. Then set it in the different rooms you’ll be painting. Make sure you move it around and look at it in different lighting, at different times of the day, and with your lights turned on and off. The following photos are all the same three canvas samples. Just look how different they seem in the different light.
If you want to get really intense, here is a blog about picking paint, taking into account whether the room is north- or south-facing AND which types of light bulbs you use! It all brings out different undertones in the paint color. VERY informative.
https://www.houselogic.com/remodel/painting-lighting/choosing-paint-colors-how-light-affects-color/
I did not get that intense myself in picking paint colors, but I did find it a very interesting read…
I picked it and loved it!!!
Most of my own house is Benjamin Moore “Classic Grey” and it goes with everything. It’s actually “greige” and is truly both warm and cool, without ever really being either…. And greige is a color I have always found hard to pick out. I don’t want my walls to look beige, yellow, or pink…. I also don’t really want the grey to come through too much, and definitely not any blue! (I’m extremely picky) Look at the photos below. That’s all the same color!
I DID take the extra step of painting a canvas. I DID look at it in different lighting and all that. And I DID feel confident when I bought the paint. And I DID LOVE IT on the walls!! It’s worth the extra step. It might seem silly because it’s so simple…. Still…. Worth it!
It’s your home. Your space.
There are so many beautiful colours out there. Picking the right one for your own home can be very challenging. Asking your friends (or your mom) is maybe sweet, but not very helpful. Their opinion just won’t make you love it. After all, you’re the one who has to live with the colour and decorate with it and love it…. So PLEASE, add that one extra step in your paint-picking-routine. You’ll be glad you did!
You’ll enjoy the confidence so much that you’ll want to paint another room!