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Old 08-03-2007, 11:34 AM   #1  
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Default Desperately need wall paint color- help!!!!

Hi everyone,

I am getting very frustrated picking paint colors for our house. I AM SO INDECISIVE WHEN IT COMES TO CHOOSING PAINT AND WHEN I CHOOSE IT ON A SWATCH IT NEVER LOOKS THE SAME ON WALLS!!!

It's an older house with some character, which we love. The original part of the house (only 2 rooms) was built about 130 years ago (!!!), but over the years it's been added on to and renovated. It's nothing fancy, but we really like it. We've been here 3 years now, and we have only painted the bathrooms, kitchen, and living room. We have bedrooms, an office, a large entry way, and an extra room that are all stark white.

I LOVE color - we have a lot of fairly deep bright colors (deep red, gold, blue, green- not as gaudy as it sounds) in our home in the artwork, furniture (a dark red couch), etc, so I think walls need to be more neutral to set off the colors we have elsewhere. Our style is bright, cozy, warm, sorta quirky and artsy, and very comfortable.

Ok. Here are my two points causing indecision -- first, should I try to unify the space by paiting the foyer, office, and den the SAME COLOR OR DIFFERENT IN EACH ROOM? -- they go one into to the other - not 'open' exactly, but they flow one to the other. Or different color each room (more choices)?

My other problem is that we have EXPOSED WOOD all over the house - a previous owner was a wood worker and he built gorgeous kitchen cabinets, bookcases, etc. all over the house, and ALL the trim work is wood. So, I'm having a hard time with picking a color that looks good with exposed wood (it's pine and sort of a rich goldenish pecan color).

Ok, ya'll can see that I need some serious help here. I need to get this done in the next two weeks or so. Please recommend any paint colors you think would work, especially SPECIFIC colors (by brand) that you have used that work well. I'm not good at this at all - know what I like when I see it but not so good at picking it, so I really need help.

Any recommendations will be deeply appreciated - especially exact colors and brands!

Thank you in advance to the wonderful, and I'm sure stylish, folks here at 3FC!!!!
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Old 08-03-2007, 01:14 PM   #2  
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I would suggest asking for help at your local paint store. I used to work at Lowes and there is usually at least one knowledgeable person in the paint department. Do you want to match colors in you art work (or at least pick a color to compliment them), then take it with you to the store. That makes it so much easier. Also, can you take a sample of the wood with you? Maybe a small drawer from the kitchen that pulls out?

Now, I love color! I have a red couch too. I think it might be fun to paint a neutral color to unify the rooms, but then choose one focal wall in each room and paint that a different color. Or paint the walls neutral and the ceiling a different color (unless everything is rounded, then that is a pain.)

I was going suggest a mushroom/taupe color for the neutral, but I don't know how well that'd go with the wood work. Perhaps a creamy color?

Oh, and if having the color slightly different than the swatch bothers you alot, you can buy a small amount of the paint and paint a large piece of poster board. It'll give you a more "true" idea of the color. It's hard to see how the lighting in your home will react with the color when the swatch is so tiny.

Good luck! Sorry I don't have any specific paint colors to recommend.
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Old 08-03-2007, 02:11 PM   #3  
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I also have no paint color suggestions but you could always run a solid color through each of the rooms. Since they run together and then in each of the rooms on a various wall do a different accent color. I could get a better idea if I could see your house . My husband is a painter so I'm constantly changing my colors and looking for new ideas. He has recently done a few bathrooms{for clients, not mine yet} with the striped paint look. It looks fantastic, you would think it was wallpaper.
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Old 08-03-2007, 02:15 PM   #4  
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I highly recommend the Behr brand of paint found at Home Depot. It is a little pricier than the others, but covers in one coat beautifully and comes in many different finishes.

As far as colors go.....not too good at that part!
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Old 08-03-2007, 02:38 PM   #5  
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Ha! We have the same colors! Dark/brick red, green, blue and gold and we are not done yet. And we had a dilema, sort of too. We wanted the hallway gold but it connects to two walls in the living room which is green. Well, this same living room wall goes down the stairs to the entry into the family room in the basement. They are seperate rooms but the walls are connected and they are round, not square, ugh! Took some creative painting to make it look like square and the colors not run into one another so...I think I would paint them all the same color, but it's hard since we don't really know. I'm sure whatever you do it will be nice.

Brendansmom...we did a stripe room and it was nice. We did blue...dh hated doing it because it was hard, lol. But, little does he know (actually he thinks I am joking) our bedroom is getting the same technique, lol!
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Old 08-03-2007, 04:34 PM   #6  
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Thanks for all of the ideas and suggestions. I may try to post a pic tomorrow, but I am not at home right now.

B's mum - You are lucky to be able to change paint so often. I want to get this so I like it and don't have to change it for a while!

Zenor - I think maybe a creamy color would work well with our wood (it's a medium shade pine). I'm thinking of something that in my brain looks sort of "wheat' colored.... kind of a light cream with maybe a hint of a buttery yellow. DH said he did not want yellow, and I'm not too crazy about yellow (bright) walls either, but a nice creamy neutral. Now we all know that there are about 100 shades of wheat at your local paint store!!!!

Keep the ideas and thoughts coming! Any particular favorite shades (for anyone who has painted recently and loves their color) would still be very much appreciated.

Oh, I like the idea of an accent wall too.


Anyway, thanks a bunch everyone. I'm still open for more suggestions!
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Old 08-04-2007, 11:14 AM   #7  
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I went and got a few Benjamin samples - they are $3.49 for a sample that will do something like a 3 x 3 section of the wall. I bought four - various shades of beige (some more yellow) and will see how they turn out. However, as I was buying them, I noticed the Ben Moore paint is something like 47.99 a gallon!!!! Whew! That is cost prohibitive, so if I find a color I like, I will have it matched at lowe's or home depot.

As no final selection has been made, I am still open for suggestions and paint colors. I will try to post pics, but once again, I'm heading out the door!

Thanks everyone
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Old 08-05-2007, 08:09 PM   #8  
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Oh my. I got all these quite neutral shades but now I'm not so sure I don't want a little color... light green can be fairly neutral.

I'll make one more plea for ideas or specific brand and paint colors any of you 3FC'ers have liked in your own abodes. Thanks!!!!!!
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Old 08-06-2007, 03:37 AM   #9  
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Do you have Crown paints in The States? I have a gorgeous shade caled Egyptian Sand that is a deep goldeny yellow. I don't like bright colors on walls but I do love color. I like this shade because it's warm and softly vibrant but also manages to be neutral and not in your face, if ya know what I mean. It would look good with exposed woodwork and actually works well with several color combinations. I have painted it in two rooms and the sun hits it differently. In the study, it's paired with sage green, gold and splashes of orange. In the living room, it's paired wth gold and dark blue.

As for your 3 different rooms, you could paint them varying shades of the same color, that'd be nice and still harmonious. I don't think I'd go for 3 different colors unless they were maybe neighbors on the color wheel. Do the 3 rooms have a common feel to them, or a unifying accent color?
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Old 08-06-2007, 10:41 AM   #10  
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Hi!

Do you have a Sherwin Williams paint store near you? They were very helpful when we painted my daughter's bathroom. I brought along the shower curtain that I made for her and they matched the colors almost exactly to what was in the curtain. We went with wild colors in there, but it turned out really nice! Also, with Sherwin Williams paint, you only need one coat and it rolls on quite easily. Do you have an Entertainment Book? I actually found a 35% off coupon
for Sherwin Williams in there and used it. Just that one coupon paid for the book! One more thing- We have oak trim/moldings and we wanted to bring out the wood work in our son's room, so we used a color from Sherwin Williams I believe called: "Rice" My son wanted the oriental look in his room, so this color goes quite nicely with the reddish & gold curtains and bedspread. It's also a neutral color, so just about any color scheme goes with the walls. Good luck with whatever you go with. Just remember, it's only paint and if it doesn't turn out, you can always re-paint! (I'm sure if you go neutral, you won't have to worry about that!) Take Care!
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Old 08-06-2007, 02:30 PM   #11  
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HI!

Just checking back to see if you decided on a color. I think the creamy shade would be nice but a light green as well. I've seen a really light sage green that looks good...barely there, but a little color.

Let us know
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Old 08-06-2007, 02:41 PM   #12  
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Benjamin Moore Rosemary Sprig is a gorgeous Sage color.
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Old 08-11-2007, 05:48 PM   #13  
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Thanks everyone!!!!! I just checked back on this thread and see that I got lots of suggestions! We do have a Sherwin Williams about 30 min away, and a friend actually suggested it. I got really busy the last week or so with company in town, but I have only 2 more weeks till school starts (I teach), so I need to get cracking.

I am going to check out all colors suggested here - rice sounds interesting as does Egyptian sand. I have little pops of red as well as other bright colors and black accents, and both of those sound good with that. I have made a goal to get paint by Monday, so DH and I can paint early this coming week (fortunately we both teach, so we can do this together while we're off).

I am thinking now that I'll go with a neutral - I just don't want to be BORING, and I do love color. But, as you can tell, I'm a little terrified of choosing it, even though I love it. ARghh. It's frustrating.

Thanks for all the ideas, ladies. I REALLY DO appreciate it so much!
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