Wednesday, January 18, 2012

How To Choose A Paint Color

Ever since I painted my kitchen Sherwin Williams' Comfort Gray, I've been contemplating changing the color of our back staircase. The staircase leads into the kitchen, and its yellow walls don't look so great against the blue gray kitchen walls.



Painting the stairway would be no problem, except for the fact that it connects to the upstairs hall, down the front staircase and into the foyer. That snowball just keeps on rolling!

So, the yellow walls' days are numbered. But, now comes the big question: What new color should I choose?  

Today I'll share my process for finding the perfect paint color.

1. Research. Look through magazines, design blogs, Pinterest photos, Google images and your neighbors' houses to get an idea of the colors you like. You never know where you might find inspiration. I tried the blue from the Dunphy's house on "Modern Family." (It's BM Labrador Blue, in case you're interested.)

2. Pick up a few (or twenty) paint samples and put them on your wall. If you are doing a large space, put the samples in a couple different locations. The paint looked very different in the light of my back hall than it did in the sunny foyer. Make sure to paint a couple of coats to ensure that the original wall color isn't seeping through.




3. Live with the paint samples for a few days to see how you like them in different light. I thought for sure I would go with a gray or beige, but after trying 4 or 5 different shades, it wasn't working for me. Beige was boring, and the gray was too depressing, especially on days when the sun wasn't shining. I needed color.



4. Try different shades and intensities of colors. I like blue/green, and as you can see I tried lots of them.


5. Eliminate the colors you don't like, and paint larger sections of wall with the paint you do like. I originally thought I'd go with the darker Van Courtland Blue or Oyster Bay, and so I painted larger areas with those colors. However, after a couple of days, I realized they looked gloomy in my space. I needed a lighter color.

6. Make a decision. After living with the paint samples for a few days (or weeks), you'll have one that speaks to you. Even if you keep trying to ignore it, because it's the same color you painted your master bathroom and you realize you could have skipped steps 1 - 5. But, where's the fun in that?

The painters are here, applying Sea Salt as I type. Gee... I hope I like it!


Am I the only one with 20 sample-size paint cans? How do you choose the perfect paint color?

21 comments:

  1. I can't wait to see, I love the Sea Salt!
    And I have at least 20-40 sample paints. :)
    xoxoxo

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  2. I like sea salt the best out of those colors. Can't wait to see the finished photos. I know it will be gorgeous!!!

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  3. Ooo, good choice! Can't wait to see the finished results!

    maxwellhouseinteriors.blogspot.com

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  4. I´d go for the seal salt.
    I can´t wait to see the end result!

    www.tatianadoria.blogspot.com

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  5. My inspiration comes from the same places as you - bogs, magazines, pinterest (gotta love it!). Then I get out my trusty paint decks and pull out a few colours (usually no more than 4 or 5) - tape the swatches to the walls, live with it for a few days, paint a sample of the 2 or 3 best ones and I'm good to go.

    Like the sea salt - am looking for a blue for my bathroom and this just may be the one.

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  6. Now that is a sure fire process if ever I've heard of one! ha! I don't think I could live with multiple paint colors on my walls for several days. I'm too impatient. I pretty much know what color family I want and then it's just up to me to choose the correct shade of that color. That's the part where I collect multiple paper samples and hope that I've made the best choice. I am too cheap to buy a bunch of sample pots too! Ha! That color is probably going to be a good one for you since you've already used it before and are drawn to it. That's always a safe bet! Can't wait to see it completed. You're lucky that you don't have to do the painting too!

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  7. I never paint samples, I just buy and paint. I have had to redo a couple of rooms, but I do my own painting so I don't have to pay a painter.

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  8. That will look great. Oh, how I wish I could hire painters instead of doing it myself. I think I am going to pay someone to do the master bath. The last crew that painted it did a terrible job. It is the only room in the house that I didn't paint.

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  9. Basically just like you do! Sometimes I take a handful of the same color paint sample, tape them together and tape them to the wall. LOVE the Sea Salt...even the name-xo Diana

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  10. I love the sea salt...I am sure you will love it. You can do lots of crafts with those sample bottles. I should know. I could open a store with the extras I have left over.

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  11. I do the same exact thing! Only, I don't remember ever having that many different shades on the wall at once. But you have so many areas merging, it's a tough one! I happen to like the yellow you had the best! But the Sea Salt is super pretty too.

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  12. I think its going to be beautiful. A soft blue. Love it with the white wood.

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  13. I'm sitting in my Sea Salt colored office right now loving your choice! : ) It took me many a paint sample to come to this paint color and I love the result.

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  14. yay! I was hoping you'd choose Sea Salt! Just a quick glance at your selection and I immediately went to it. And I think since it needs to cover such a huge area and upstairs as well, it will be the most versatile and you won't tire of it. We had a home that was painted yellow EVERYWHERE - I mean EVERYWHERE. I felt like I was living in a butter dish. Then I started a new job and the entire office was painted - YELLOW! Needless to say, yellow will never be appearing in my home again.

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  15. Lol, I have at least 50 sample sizes from SW!!!!! I also use them to do old pieces of furniture with too, so they are usually not wasted. May I ask, what color white do you have on the bottom part of your wall? I never realized there was so many whites out there?????

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  16. What a great post! Can't wait to see the final results.

    Hope you are well :)

    Love Jenny
    www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com

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  17. Love your blog! I am now a follower. Thanks so much for stopping by mine! I love that gorgeous staircase. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

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  18. thanks for your visit and kind thoughts at my blog.
    I too paint samples. I used those cute little paint pots you can buy for a couple dollars from Benjamin Moore but now they have (at a higher price) the already painted boards in a larger size. I haven't tried those yet but will likely stick with those little paint pots. You've really gone through a lengthy process. I love the Sea salt that you chose.

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  19. Blues are definitely hit or miss. I was helping a friend pick colors and we found a beautiful silvery blue for a wall. when the sample 1' by 1' dried, it was "congrats it's a boy" baby blue. Yikes!!!
    Hope it turns out fabulous!

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  20. Me pick a color?.. Ha!.. we had color blotches on the outside of our house for SO LONG that once when I was trying to tell someone where we lived they asked.. " do you live by that Freak house that can't pick a paint color?"..... ahem!

    Maddie, who did in the end pick the most perfect color ever and is happy with it to this day!

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  21. There's a free online tool which you can use to preview different wall colors on your photo. It can help you to decide.

    Give it a try: www.zabarw.pl

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