We are happy to announce that we are in the final stages of buying our first home! Right now we are in a holding pattern just waiting for our closing date, April 10th. In the meantime, I have been using my resources to pull some paint colors for our new home.
Let me begin by saying, despite popular belief I am not a decorator. While I do choose paint colors, upholstery, and furniture for our clients, this is just 10% of what I do. I spend majority of my day detailing casework (or cabinetry), custom nurse stations and reception desks, wall and ceiling details, column details, floor transitions, and so much more. My favorite part of the project is construction administration. I enjoy making site visits and watching our projects be built and working with the contractor when design issues arise. I also dive deep into the installation and specification of all the materials I select. Ask me to detail my kitchen from beginning to end, piece of cake. Ask me to pick a paint color for that kitchen, that might take me a while. I usually call in the help of other designers I work with that are great with selecting paint. Picking paint is an art to me and I am not as good at it as others.
When we moved into our condo the owner/landlord was nice enough to let me select paint for the entire unit. Of course I procrastinated and did it at the last minute. I grabbed a fan deck in our library labeled "Concepts in Color" by Sherwin Williams and made 5 paint selections from there. I made a couple good choices, but 2 of the paint colors have been bothering me since we moved in. I didn't want this to happen again on the new place, so I have been spending a little time every day this week deciding on a pallet for the new home. I think I am almost there!
Since I know I am not the only person that struggles with this task, I thought I would share my process. Now I know most people don't have the resources I do and access to the entire Sherwin Williams line at her fingertips, but most the the research I did was with the Internet anyway. So here it is.
1. Pinterest. This is where I started. I began by gathering images of what I liked as a general paint color for the whole home. Pinterest is awesome because you can actually see the paint on the walls of a home and you aren't depending on a 1"x1" chip to seal your fate.
2. Google. One you find a paint color you like, Google it! Google images will find even more pictures of that paint color installed for you to look at.
3. Fan decks. I usually go towards Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore. I find the color I pinned on Pinterest and look at the whole family in the fan deck. Does the color go green, pink, or gray as it intensifies? Being that we have clear finish maple cabinets in our home and teak wood floors in the living room, I wanted to stay away from anything with a pink or orange undertone (which is what is there now).
4. Order paint samples. As a designer I can order samples on the Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore website in multiple sizes. I like to order the largest sample possible, usually a 8x10. They take a while to come in if you do free shipping, but it's worth it. I am waiting for mine to come in.
5. Tape those paint samples to the wall. While I am waiting for my samples to come in, I use our library at work to pull the 4"x4" samples we have there. We knew that we wanted the general paint color less yellow and a little darker than what we have now so I brought them home to our current place, and held them up on the wall. I was finally able to narrow my decision down to what hopefully is our final selection. Knowing that I love one color in our place, Sherwin Williams Tone Taupe, I held the colors up to that one to see which one best coordinated but is a shade lighter. We have a winner! Sherwin Williams Loggia!!
TIP 1: It is important to remember that paint, as well as any material, will look different under different lighting. So I plan to take the sample to our new home and verify it works there before we buy a few gallons. Fingers crossed!! I can't wait to see the final outcome!
TIP 2: I just found this on the Sherwin Williams Website. Calculate how much paint you need! I plan to use this when the time comes! http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/color-selection-tools/paint-calculator/
Good Luck!!
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