I secretly would love to have the job of naming shades of paint. I love names like "Smokestack", "Rice Cake" and "Scandinavian Sky". I always ask people the names of their paint shades when I visit their homes. It tickles me that my nursery is "Bonnet Blue". My son's room, on the other hand, is "Sebago Blue". I believe Sebago is a lake in Maine. I also have a table painted "Ground Cover". A lovely shade of green, naturally.
But, my favorite shade of all time was introduced to me by ItyBtyFrog called "Verde Antique". She used it in her laundry room once and, I loved it so much, I used it in the basement bathroom in our old home. When we put the house on the market, half the realtors wanted to know the name of the shade. Unfortunately, the room had no windows and the lighting in this photo just doesn't do it justice.
I've learned always to test paint before using it. Our last home needed complete repainting when we bought it. My kind brother in law, who owns a commercial paint sprayer, offered to paint it for us. We picked out a very light putty color called "tender taupe". The tender part should have tipped us off. After hanging out in the backyard for a couple hours, we went back in the house to discover our entire house was painted a very muddy shade of pink! My mother loved it, my husband DID NOT. So, we had to redo. This time in "Suede" and "Ranchwood." Ahhhh, Dear Hubby's masculinity restored!
So, I need suggestions! What is your favorite shade?
(All paint shades credited to Wal Mart Color Place. Cheap price, but great paint!)
My favorite color right now is "Marmalade" - it is a warm, light orange. I think it would be great for an accent wall...I think you can find it on Behr.com as well!
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to be the LUCKY one that gets to name the paint samples too!!! I loved the Verde Antique so much I used it in my guest bedroom in our current house. I went model home hopping with a friend yesterday and we saw some cute paint ideas. That is a good resource for colors. I am getting ready to paint my living room (for the 4th time...really having a hard time choosing colors here!). I love the color of my family room/kitchen/dining room. It is fiolli (sp?) antique lace. It was a sample from Lowe's but had it mixed at Wal-Mart. What room are you going to paint?
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should let you pick out some colors for my house to help you get your fix. I have such a hard time choosing. We're drowning in beige here. Perhaps my paint choosing anxiety comes from visiting a friend's multi-level house where all the main living areas were a shade of tan that I would have named "Wendy's Frosty".
ReplyDeleteMy Very favorite paint color is "Fendland Green".(it is a kwall howell shade, but anyone can mix it for you) It is the most beautiful sage green ever created. I had it in my old house, in my living room accented with reds and yellow. I had it in my bathroom accented with lavender, and I had it in my hallway. I seriously could paint my whole house this color and live happily ever after. And it goes so well with everything.
ReplyDeleteHave fun painting!
Is your antique verde a green (like the verde suggests??) I'm looking for a good green for my loft...
ReplyDeleteMy favorite 'neutral' is "sensible hue" apparently it's a 'wheat' color. Not too yellow though.
http://lifewiththecrazies.blogspot.com/2006/01/i-found-my-camera-woo-you-know-what.html
Not sure if that picture does it justice...
Thanks for your kind words and for stopping by.
I love choosing paint colors and painting! I also love that green. The bad thing is I can't remember all the colors we used in our house. But I love the shade of yellow we used in our living room. I'm going to have to look the color up when I get home. Take pictures of rooms you paint when you get done!
ReplyDeleteMy kitchen is painted a calm gold color and I think it's called "olde town."
ReplyDeleteI just painted my girls bathroom a color called "Dried Fava"...also a Wal-mart color. It has that just cut open avocado color. I LOVE it. I am painting our basement a Kwal-Howell (sp?)color called crisp kahki (sp again). Our main floor is called "frontier tan" that is probably the Wendy's frosty color that Valarie is talking about.
ReplyDeleteYes, painting. It is one of my past times not just for art, but on my walls as well. I can never seem to decided on just one color though and have so many schemes for decorating that I would need about four houses to get it all out. LOL I hope your paint journey is as enjoyable as it is for me!
ReplyDeleteJust today I bought the shade darker than Verde Antique! It's Green Marble.
ReplyDeleteWe just redid my oldest son'e room with camo printed bedding and curtains. The Green Marble was a perfect match for one of the greens in his bedding. I do like the Verde Antique and just may have to find a room to put it in!
I do love Wal-mart's Color Place paint!
I have a funny paint story...always test the paint before you decide on an entire wall. We picked the colors from a book, and the painters painted the next day. When I got home, I flipped because our muted maroon was ghastly red...needless to say, we repainted.
ReplyDeleteOur entire house is white, so I'm not too helpful here. I'm taking notes on all of these paint color suggestions though :-)
ReplyDeleteI envy you. I want to paint my home so bad. The light yellow walls are driving me nuts. I guess I will have to start working on my ss to see if he will let me repaint. But until then I will have to deal.
ReplyDeleteI really like rooms that are not white, but I am not too brave (and usually don't own the home I am living in). When we were in Venezuela we did a room in like a dark aqua blue (no clue as to what it's name was). It was so fun to do and I loved being in that room.
ReplyDeleteYour old bathroom looks so nice!
Have fun!
My favorite shade? I have too many at the moment and have not painted in AGES. I want to though. Our whole house is builder's taupe except for the kitchen that I painted a dark dark teal. I'm embarrassed to tell you that I cannot remember the name. But it's purdy!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Yes, paint colors are so fun! Our living and family rooms are a light sage "Koala Bear"... so soothing... wish I could paint every room this color. (Koala brand from Home Depot)
ReplyDeleteI'm so bad at colors -- I swear I'm "decorating-illiterate". But I love the color my hubby used to paint our bedroom. Like a sandy-cream color. I also like the forest green color we used to cover up the yucky purple wall that was in our living room.
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of your bathroom! Looks like you know what you are doing.
I could have written your first paragraph---the only room we had to paint when we moved in was the son's room (it was lime green...now it's a demin blue shade). But, I'm totally bored with the colors now. I'm no good at choosing paint colors....I'm here for good advice.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking painting my boring white laundry room a lovely shade of lavender, though.
I love the "bungalo gold" shade from Lowes I used in my great room. I was afraid it would turn out really dark and I would feel like I was living in a cave, but it's perfect. I get compliments on it all the time. I complimented it with accent walls in my kitchen painted "russet" (Lowes also) which almost the color of a red potato. I love changing wall colors! Now if I could only get those pictures hung. . .
ReplyDeleteWe're loving our Viva Gold. That is a gorgeous green!
ReplyDeleteLove this bathroom! My fave color is from Home Depot (sorry Walmart) and it's APPLE GREEN. I know Steph is surprised! ;0). And it truly is APPLE green! So fun with my red gingham couches in my reading nook upstairs.
ReplyDeleteHere are my favorite colors from Benjamin Moore
ReplyDeleteAmbience (very pale yellow)
ocean air (very pale blue)
silver sage (light green)