I'm horrible at choosing paint colors. This in itself can be frustrating, especially at time when I've sent my husband back to the store for the 3rd can of paint in the "light gold family" when changing up the living room. (a story from before I had this blog--I'll tell you more someday!) What makes my inability a little more embarrassing is that people around me seem to think that I'm good at it. From time to time, people I know show me paint chips asking "which one should I choose?" I stammer, "Uh, I'm not really good at this, really. Ask Jan. Or Sarah. Or Deb. Or anyone but me, really.
Anyone."
But now, for my own house, I have a secret weapon:
Pottery Barn and Benjamin Moore publish a palette of colors each season that coordinate with Pottery Barn colors. The current season is always available and complimentary at each store. Past and current seasons are available online for a fee
here. These are all beautiful collections of color. What I really love is that you could randomly pick any 2, 3, 4, or even 5 or more colors out of a single deck and any combination would look lovely together. Watch:
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| Hodley Red & Manchester Tan | | | |
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| Jalapeno Pepper, Pale Avocado, & Firenze |
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Schooner, Spanish Red, Caliente, & Hush
 | | Spanish Olive, Clarksville Gray, Nightingale, Hathaway Gold, & Jicama |
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It's like Paint Colors for Dummies. And yes, I'm the dummy! Welcome to my blog.
I grabbed myself a "Fall 2010" palette when I bought
my duvet. love that I didn't have to browse around a paint store with my duvet looking for a coordinating color. Since my husband had asked for blue, I chose from four blues in the collection. First, I rejected the darkest color, Newburyport Blue, because it was darker than any of the hues in the duvet. Of the remaining three, I most loved the darkest color, Schooner, but thought it would be a bit much, even for a cozy bedroom. The lighter one, Constellation, was beautiful but I ultimately decided to go with the medium blue, Santorini Blue. Juuuust right, baby bear.
I had it color matched to Valspar Premium, because there is no Benjamin Moore near my house, and because Valspar was $5 per gallon that weekend. I love me a good sale. Though, I'm not loyal to any brand (I've used Valspar, Behr, and Kilz premium paints each more than once) I always choose the paint with the primer included. When I've skimped and gotten the cheaper stuff, even for stuff like ceiling paint (white over white can't need a primer, right?
Wrong.) I've always regretted it when the extra coats are needed or the uneven streaks show up. It's worth the extra few dollars to get the good stuff.
I loved the color as soon as it went on the walls. It was like painting blue suede onto my walls. It's darker than I would probably want to go in most rooms, but in a cozy master bedroom, it was perfect. Yum!
Thank you, Pottery Barn Paint palette. Sorry Benjamin Moore, for totally stealing your colors. You will have to open a store more convenient to this busy mom's house. But Ben, I think of you often. I keep your paint palette in my purse now, so if I see something I may want for my bedroom, I can check and see if you match it or not! In fact, I've decided that any color I paint in my house will be from this deck from now on. There are plenty of colors to choose from, and I know that at the minimum, it will match what I already have.
So what about you? How do you choose YOUR paint colors?
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