Isn’t it Amazing What a Little Paint Can Do?
No truer words have ever been spoken. I LOVE PAINT! I will always profess my undying love to this amazing mood changer! In the course of over three years (the time we’ve owned our house), we have repainted almost every room in our home. Each room must convey a single emotion when we enter.
Kitchen = Sunny |
Living Room = Cozy |
Our Bedroom = Relaxing |
Office = Calm |
Mudroom = Inviting |
Laundry Room = Fresh |
Being an artist makes me a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to color.
I’d love to share some of my tips for picking out the perfect paint colors. Hopefully this will protect you from making a bad decision. But, rest assured that if you really don’t LOVE the color after you have painted one wall, you can take your paint back to the store and ask the “paint guy” to tweak the color for you. Or worst case scenario, you have to buy a new gallon. (Well, okay, that can get expensive.)
But, if you find a color you truly “LOVE”, it will translate into loving your home. So worth it in my book!
Before I paint any room, I go to several paint departments and gather several color chips that appeal to me. The colors that I REALLY think I’m going to like, I will grab a few extra chips of (shhhh, don’t rat me out for stealing paint chips.)
When I get home, I tuck the chips behind the switch plate cover, in the molding, or tape them on several different walls in the room. It is important to place the chips next to your trim moulding so you can see if the color will work well next to it.
After looking at the chips for at least a week during different times of day and different lighting (sunny or cloudy days) I am usually able to narrow down my choices to 2 or 3 choices.
Next I run back to the paint department and buy or have samples mixed up of the colors I like. Because I am a “work until I get it done” type person, I go ahead and paint big swatches on the wall next to the moulding on all four walls. This is important because a color that looks good on your sunny wall may not look so good on a shady wall. And you need to see the colors and how they coordinate with the wall color in an adjoining room. If you aren’t quite ready to commit to painting your wall, go ahead and buy some poster boards and paint the swatches on the poster board and hang or prop them up in your room.
A few things to keep in mind while you are looking at a color. Just be aware that the color may change as the seasons change. Winter yields brighter and cooler colored light in our home because the trees are bare. In the summer, our light changes to a greener cast and less harsh lighting as the trees fill out with leaves. I can tell you right now, that I wait for summer to roll around before choosing any colors in the green or yellow family. I need to make sure they look good with the light reflecting off the leaves and into the room.
If you are still having trouble choosing a color, invite a friend over who will give you their HONEST opinion.
If you STILL can’t decide, never fear – Pretty Handy Girl is here! “Here I come to save your color dilemma!”
Some of us are visual people, we REALLY need to see the room painted before we know what a color is going to look like up on all four walls. A special thanks to Emily at Decor Chick for testing my new venture last week. I’m calling it “Paint Preview“. Thanks to the wonder of technology, I can now virtually paint any room in your home or the exterior of your home! Save yourself time and money by previewing your painting project before the first drop cloth is laid.
Emily’s Living Room Before – SW Baguette |
Emily’s Living Room Paint Previewed – SW Anew Gray |
Want more information about Paint Preview? CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.
Until then, I’m thinking about repainting our garage doors and adding grills to them. What do you think?
Our Home Before |
Our Garage Paint Previewed |
i think the trial swatches is a really smart idea…there’s not enough people who think their choices through
Excellent post! We are linnking to this great content on our website.
Keepp up the geat writing.
OK,
I am NOT good w/ paint color. I usually know what I like and have an image in my head, but I am not good at pick.
HELP, Actually I just picked out a color w/ a friends help, put it in 1/2 my room and went UGH….I need my sunglasses….it is too BRIGHT.
What to you recommend for someone who needs their paint toned down…..can you take it back and they know what to do??
THANKS
Deb CLaytor
Deb, I would take it back to the paint dept. and ask them for their recommendations. Typically when I need to tone down a color, I might add a hint of brown or black, but it really depends on the color. A good color mixing expert should be able to help you. That is why I only buy from Benjamin Moore & Sherwin Williams dealers. Pro-mixers!
Good luck.
Brittany
Honestly I love the garage doors as is, the grids would look great though in the same color as the door is now. I think your garage doors blend in with your house rather than sream "hey I'm a garage door" I love the curb appeal your house has, just love it.
your interior paint looks beautiful! those garage doors are going to look so nice too. you have great taste.
I LOVE Paint!! and actually painting. what a great feeling, changing something that makes such a big difference.
I am SO ready to change some things with paint! Great info! I am going to put your blog in my list of favs! Love it! ♥
I love the garage doors painted 🙂
I also love the color of your front door! However you are right it is not shown properly in the first pictures.
Anonymous – The color was a custom mix that I had the paint guy match. But it is almost identical to Sherwin Williams Sunbeam Yellow 0078.
Paint those garage doors, it looks awesome!!! Love all the colors in your house; you're right, they do set the mood. Good job!