Picking Paint Colors

The number of paint choices is infinite! Melissa Gulley Portfolio You can choose from Benjamin Moore’s substantial pallet, or Sherwin Williams, California Paint, C2, Pittsburgh Paints, Fine paints of Europe, Donald Kaufman, Farrow and Ball, Muralo, Behr, Ralph Lauren, Martha Stewart, Valspar, Dutch Boy, Glidden, Pratt and Lambert (are you dizzy yet, there are still dozens to go) or simply have something matched for a custom color.  As custom colors go, you can have almost anything matched - fabric, a toy, a cutting from a magazine, etc. - and the best part is, it’s free to have a custom color made.  You just pay the price of the paint.  You would think that with the amount of paint choices out there you would be able to find the perfect color quite easily.  Not.  I can’t tell you how many times I have gone the custom route after searching high and low.  Now granted, I am pickier that the norm (I think even for designers).  Habitually chic When working on a project I like to pick paint last.  I work from the least choices- the rug – and end with what has the most choices - paint.  When I sit down with my fan decks to finally pick colors, my client - usually right next to me - is thinking “this is so fun! In a minute or two I will see the perfect color she picks”.  Not so quick.  Watching me pour over colors is like watching paint dry.  It’s long and boring and I am often quiet (I know you didn't think it possible), lost deep in thought! I am studying the minute color nuances and comparing them in different lights.  It takes a while, and it should.  Then when I have three fabulous options, we need to put them on the wall.  I need 2’ x 2’ color samples on each wall of the room and a minimum of two good coats.  I look at the colors in different lights – morning , noon and night, rain and sunshine and dark outside with the lights on.  My client is usually skeptical at first, but is always amazed at how the color that was the first choice changes drastically in various lights and is sometimes not the final pick.  The absolute right color always reveals itself after this test.  The right paint color can literally “MAKE” a room!  Michael Partenio People sometimes say to me “what’s the best color for living rooms or hallways etc…?”  There is no “go to” fan deck of the best colors for a specific room - not even close.  What looks good in one space will look completely different in another and it’s an BIG mistake to pick without swatching.  Click on the link below - I copied and pasted a post from one of my absolute favorite blogs www.maison21.blogspot.com about just that SWATCHING: http://maison21.blogspot.com/2010/07/good-swatch-bad-swatch.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DecorativebutnotSerioustheMaison21blog+%28maison21%3A+decorative+but+not+serious%29 Cote De Texas blog