Is Anyone Good With Paint Colors?

17 May 2023, 09:19 AM

I need to paint two bedrooms. Both have a ton of light. One is small-ish (say, 10x14), and the other is really big (imagine a room where you could fit a queen size bed, and then another one at the foot of that one, then room for a couple of dressers and nightstands).

The little room needs to work as a gender neutral nursery.

The big room needs to work as a guest room/exercise room.

I'm thinking light colors, but not true neutrals. I am partial to blues and greens; aversion to purple, orange, pink, brown.

And when I paint, I use Benjamin Moore.

OK, go nuts!

17 May 2023, 09:39 AM

Mikhailoh

For the small room a pale blue. Crisp white trim.

https://www.benjaminmoore.com/...57/california-breeze

17 May 2023, 09:46 AM

Mikhailoh

For the big room a color I have used extensively in my house.

https://www.benjaminmoore.com/...r/631/aberdeen-green

17 May 2023, 10:54 AM

jodi

That Aberdeen green looks nice. Any sort of pale sagey green. (Ive found that you want to pick one a little lighter than the chip you like - they seem to go on darker than you think)

17 May 2023, 10:54 AM

jodi

We have a blueish grey all through our house, I never thought I’d like the color, but I love it. It’s very peaceful, and the paintings look nice on it.

17 May 2023, 02:36 PM

Cindysphinx

Ooh, I like those!

I might do the green in my bedroom too. Right now it is some kind of attempt at a neutral brown.

It reminds me of the inside of a coffin.

17 May 2023, 03:11 PM

Mikhailoh

I'm big on clear colors. I think they reflect light better. A little greying down is ok, but better reserved for cabinets and furniture.

17 May 2023, 03:14 PM

Mikhailoh

What do you have on the floor, and what colors are the furniture?

17 May 2023, 03:16 PM

ShiroKuro

Mik, what is a clear color?

17 May 2023, 03:49 PM

Mikhailoh

Color with no darkness or what I like to call muddiness.

17 May 2023, 04:27 PM

Nina

A paint tip that really helped me - let's say you like the color (that green is really nice) but it's just too intense or strong. You can ask the paint people to reduce the color intensity (not the color itself) - so you could ask them to mix you up a test pint or whatever the smallest size is of the green, then 75% green, then 50% green, etc.

We ended up with a color that was 25% whatever. I'm not a fan of strong colors on walls, and this was a way to keep the general tone of the color without having quite so much pigment.

(Jodi probably knows the actual names of what I'm talking about, like I'm sure there's a term for intense, maybe saturation?)

Also when you get to that point, try a large-ish test swatch on a few different walls, areas that get sun, areas that are in the shade, etc. Also let them dry fully. The colors can really change when they're dry. When I did this, it was really super obvious to me which of the paint swatches were going to work and which weren't. Forget the color chips, you need to see it on the wall, dry, in sun and in shade.

17 May 2023, 05:08 PM

AdagioM

quote:
Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
Ooh, I like those!

I might do the green in my bedroom too. Right now it is some kind of attempt at a neutral brown.

It reminds me of the inside of a coffin.

ummm, how do you know what that looks like? are you a vampire?

17 May 2023, 06:54 PM

Mikhailoh

quote:
Originally posted by Nina:
A paint tip that really helped me - let's say you like the color (that green is really nice) but it's just too intense or strong. You can ask the paint people to reduce the color intensity (not the color itself) - so you could ask them to mix you up a test pint or whatever the smallest size is of the green, then 75% green, then 50% green, etc.

We ended up with a color that was 25% whatever. I'm not a fan of strong colors on walls, and this was a way to keep the general tone of the color without having quite so much pigment.

(Jodi probably knows the actual names of what I'm talking about, like I'm sure there's a term for intense, maybe saturation?)

Also when you get to that point, try a large-ish test swatch on a few different walls, areas that get sun, areas that are in the shade, etc. Also let them dry fully. The colors can really change when they're dry. When I did this, it was really super obvious to me which of the paint swatches were going to work and which weren't. Forget the color chips, you need to see it on the wall, dry, in sun and in shade.

Another good trick is to tint your ceiling white like 5 or 10% the color of the walls. That way it doesn't yellow out so much.

17 May 2023, 07:11 PM

ShiroKuro

quote:
Color with no darkness or what I like to call muddiness.

Ahh, ok. Thanks!

I'm not a fan of the super flat grays that I see in a lot of real estate listings these days. There are some grays, and gray-beige, colors that I like, but I also see a lot that look the color name should be "gun metal" or something.

Not a fan.

Oh, and now people are painting their floors gray. Yuck!

Sorry for the threaddrift, Cindy!!

Re painting it on the wall and seeing what it looks like, that helped us a lot. I remember Steve pointed out that with lighter whiges and off-white colors, which is what we used through out, they can even pick up greens from outside the windows and so on. So we chose very carefully and were really, really happy with the results.

A fresh coat of paint in a new color makes such a huge difference in the room too!!

17 May 2023, 07:22 PM

Mikhailoh

Some grays are really nice and warm - Shwerwin Williams Agreeable Gray looks fantastic aired with darker warm tones and white trim. But a whole house that's gray? Ugh.

The other thing is don't even consider what's trendy. It won't be for long. Use beautiful colors that you love. There are a ton of them.