Picking Paint

I’ve lived in this house for 3+ years now and have yet to paint any of the walls (aside from the occasional touch-up!).

I’ve had the “perfect” color picked for my kitchen from the minute we moved in.

SW 6213 - Halcyon Green

It’s the same color my girlfriend has in her living room, and I absolutely love it.  She and I share a lot of the same design philosophies, and just about anything I have could have come from her house and vice versa.

So for three years I’ve had the swatch marked on my fan deck.  And for three years, Paul has been telling me to just pick a color so he can paint!

Then, I decided that maybe a different color was for me.

SW6211-Rainwashed

It’s two shades lighter on the same strip.  In really like it, but it seems to be kinda gray.  I know it’s an illusion based on seeing other colors on that same strip in real life and in photos on sites like Favorite Paint Colors.  In fact, here’s a gorgeous photo they feature of Rainwashed.

Now I’m not so sure!

Today, I loaded up the boys (it’s Spring Break) and headed to Home Depot.  I picked up 4 colors – actual samples this time! – and made a sample board.

(Clockwise from Top Left): Glidden B20 Tropical Lagoon, Martha Stewart MSL 129 Sea Glass,
Behr Premium Plus 480E-3 Marina Isle and Behr Premium Plus Ultra UL220-8 Clear Pond

Here’s the skinny on each:

Glidden Tropical Lagoon – This one came out much more Robin’s Egg Blue than I anticipated.  And, it took the most paint to cover the 12×12 sample area.  (To me, this means that I’ll need more of it than any other to get the job done.)

Martha Stewart Sea Glass – This one is a little more vibrant than I anticipated.  The paint went on the easiest.

Behr (both) – These two were spot-on to the swatches I picked up, which really surprised me.  The Behr paints went on easily.

I think I’ll go with Marina Isle.  It’s the bottom right in the shot above.  When I was looking at swatches, I kept pulling it out and putting it back.  And, every time I’d see something else I thought I liked, it was still Marina Isle.  I think that’s a sign.

Paul is on his way home from work, so I’ll poll him over and over again!

Disclaimer: Of course, these are paint colors through the lens of my camera, adjusted for light on my computer now displayed on your monitor.  In other words, please don’t hold my photos to be a true representation of the actual paint color.  If you like what you see, get thee to Home Depot and pick up some samples.  They run about $3 each and are worth every penny to the Type A’s like me!

 

About these ads