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Friday, August 13, 2010

Martha Stewart - Paint

Martha Knows Best

I am in exterior paint color hell.
I knew exactly what color I wanted to paint the windows on my house.
a greyish, seafoam, aqua, sort of color.

I picked a paint color.

The painter put it on the windows and it looked terrible in the bright sunlight. Too pastel, too bright, too green. 

My painter insisted on using Benjamin Moore paints so I started with their colors.

Then when I couldn't find anything I liked,
he said I could choose a Sherwin Williams color and they'd put it in the Benjamin Moore paint.

This time I was smart....I thought.

I tried four different colors each on a large piece of foam core.

The next morning when the painter arrived...I was still walking around the house trying them all in the shade and in the sunlight. Whatever looked good in the shade, did not look good in the sunlight and vice versa.

The painter said, "I'll be back tomorrow. You decide and order paint."

So I went and got four more colors and painted four more test boards. One seemed just right but not that much darker than the first one I tried and hated. Because of this I went with the next darker color which seemed too dark. But the guy at the paint store said it would look lighter outside.

So I bought the paint in the darker color. Painter came today and started painting. And I hate it. 

How can picking a color be so hard when I know just what color I want?

Then I went to Home Depot while the painters were painting and I was hoping I'd return and love it.

I went straight to the Martha Stewart colors because this time I was going to paint my front door myself and I thought I'd pick whatever paint I wanted. 

I wanted periwinkle and neither Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams had a good one.

But Martha had the perfect shade called "Bluebird".

She also had the prettiest shade of greyish, seafoam, aqua.

I called my paint store and they said they didn't have her formulas but could try to match it. 

I felt too guilty stealing Martha's color. So I just bought the Bluebird and went home.

Tomorrow, I'm going to wake and go outside and see how the color looks to me today and if I still don't like it...I'll be back on a quest for the correct color.

Have you noticed how Martha always has such a beautiful selection of colors? I'm always happy when I go with one of her's. Or do I just feel confident in choosing one of her's because I know she has good taste? And if she likes it, then surely I will too.

I'm very unhappy now. I bet I end up repainting all the windows myself. I can't afford to have the painter do them again.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

No swatches for us to see. Picking color is a true talent. Having said that I am going to sound self-promoting when I say I have a bit of that talent. It is all about the undertones of the individual colors. Have you tried Restoration Hardware. They have beautiful colors. Post your color choices, the worst and the best.
Traci

Teri said...

I had the same thing happen years ago when I was trying for that shade of green... it came out all pastel mint green. UGH!

The Designer said...

The trick to choosing the right color is know what colors are added to the bucket. Always ask the most talented person at the paint store and find out what shots will be added. This will tell you what tones will show up on the wall. That is also why the BM Historical colors are so popular, they have shots of black for a dusty look. If you are looking for a pale green or blue, pull from the gray charts not the blue or green ones. They will look gray on the card but show up green and blue on the walls. Hope this helps!

The Designer Insider

Sonya@Beyond the Screen Door said...

Wow, what great advice! Especially from The Designer!
So sorry you're having such a tough time! I agree, picking paint especially for the exterior is a tough challange! Hang in there, you'll figure it out!
Can't wait to see the "Bluebird" door!

Nita Stacy said...

Well, I called in a new color this morning and picked it up and it was too light! Thanks all for your advice. I've seen so many photos of houses on the internet that were my inspiration and then I can't get that same look.

Designer Insider: Thanks so much for your advice. I just took the paint back with a swatch that I had from another company that was the right darkness but they don't have anything similar in Benjamin Moore. So I've asked the paint guy to add black and whatever to get the paint I just bought down to that shade or as close as he can. He said it would grey it up some...I told him I was fine with that.

I'm going to post now my inspiration photos...and you'll see what I am going for.

Oh...my painter went home and told me to call him when I know for sure. I'm sure he hates me.

Cindi Myers said...

Two things...

Martha Rocks
and
Don't worry about the painter!
You are the one who's going to be looking at it everyday!