How to choose the right paint color....
I have lived in this home for 17 years. The main living area paint color has been the same for 17 years!
Matt and I repainted about 8 years ago. I painted it the exact same color...SW Creme.
I love this color. It is bright yet soothing in the day and warm and soothing at night. For me, it is the perfect color for this space.
But "yellow" isn't the "in" color right now...lots of whites and greiges and grays...very few "creams."
I've fallen in line with some home decor "fads"....I have infused teal and cool reds, embraced boxwood wreaths and replaced ceramic tile and marble with travertine. I have painted my interior doors black and replaced much of my flooring with the darker, hand-scraped hardwood and laminate. I can't bring myself to paint my kitchen cabinets but I did install glass front doors, a larger window and open shelving to brighten it up!
I have used the "greige" colors (specifically Revere Pewter) in several of the bedrooms. Because of 20' ceilings in the living room and the massive task of painting around cabinets in the kitchen and all the window trim in the den, I have dreaded painting the main living area.
Since we leave on vacation next week, I thought it would be a good time for a painter friend to come in and paint my entire living area. The worst thing a woman can do is watch a painter paint her home.
Why? Because it WILL NOT look the way you want it to look until there are two dried coats on the wall and all your "stuff" is back in place. Until then it is either too dark or too light, too blue, too green, too pink, too purple. And inevitably you will begin to second guess your choice and in turn drive your painter insane! Go away...come back when it is all done and dried!
So that was my plan.
My M.O. for choosing a paint color has always been the same. I pick up a few hundred "paint chips" at the store and bring them home to look at in my light. DO NOT fall in love with a paint color at the store...it WILL NOT look the same in your home lighting.
Bring a few hundred paint chips home and start narrowing down your favorites. Trust me, you will be able to narrow it down to 3-4 colors you THINK you like! Then go buy sample pots of the paint you THINK you like.
Find several walls that get several different "lights" throughout the day. Trust me, paint changes color as the light changes outside....so while you may love the color in the morning, that horrid "green tone" you dislike may show up in the afternoon or evening.
Since I already had a can of leftover paint from Mitchell's room makeover, I started with the Revere Pewter. I love it in that room but in my living area...ECK! It was horrid...just too dark for my taste! Prime example of how a paint color can be amazing in one room of your home, and terrible in another!
So then I found a few others I THOUGHT I liked! Bought sample pots and painted large sections on two walls.
I have looked at these walls for two days...morning light, afternoon light, night light!
When it came right down to it, I still love the original color...more than anything I THOUGHT I might like.
So for now I am going to stick with the "cream" I picked out 17 years ago. It may not be the "in thing" right now, but it is a color I love.
And in the end that is what home decor is all about...finding what YOU love and doing it. In spite of what Pinterest and other bloggers tell you!
P.S. I was immediately asked "what did you do about the big painted splotches on your walls?" Remember my advise about ALWAYS keeping a can of touch up paint in the house, protected from extreme temperatures, so it will last? Yep, I have that...so painting over the large splotches was no biggy! If you don't have the paint or know exactly what you painted with originally, you may be in trouble!
