Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends! I hope that you are able to spend your day with friends and family and bask in the warm glow of laughter.
But, after you have eaten all of the leftovers you can stand, lost a football game (sorry Texas A&M; fans!), and listened to the cousins argue about whose turn with the Wii it is, you may be ready to think about something more fun. If you are anything like me, that fun thing to think about will be your home.
I’m in the beginning stages of re-painting our powder bath. It’s a forgotten room, although one frequently visited by guests. And it’s just bor-ing. I’m embarassed to even show you how boring it is. But, I’ll do it, because I apparently have no shame.
Yikes.
Are you thinking of repainting a room in your house right now? Do you want to show your Mom the color you are thinking of for your bedroom walls? Want your Aunt’s opinion on that new color you are considering for your son’s room? Well, this is a great time to do it, folks.
If you are ready to try out some paint colors but not ready to actually pull the trigger on painting the room, I have a great way to show you how to hide test paint.
Now you see them…
Now you don’t…
When I’m painting test colors, I like to hide them behind pictures hung on walls or pieces of furniture. There’s no reason to live with test stripes on your walls if you can figure out a great way to hide them! In a room where you have a variety of lighting throughout the day, make sure you test your colors in enough areas to get a sense of what the paint will look like as the light changes.
Incidentally, I received my Farrow and Ball colour card (with THE Tori Spelling ‘Parma Gray’ paint chip) in the mail this week. I almost immediately rushed out to Home Depot to pick up a color match test sample of paint. As much as I know (or really, assume) that the F&B; paint is far superior in color depth and quality, I couldn’t pay $125 for a gallon of paint unless it was made with 24-karat gold. And maybe not even then.
My paint guru at Home Depot reminded me that the color match wouldn’t be absolutely, 100% perfect due to the base shade and pigment content, but since I was buying a $2.97 jar of test paint, that didn’t really matter to me. I slapped the test paint on my bedroom wall (behind my framed bridal portrait, if you most know), and it seems like a pretty dang good match to me! It may be slightly more blue than the Parma Gray chip, but the chip looks slightly more gray in person than it does to me on my computer screen.
Several of you had asked me to pass along the Home Depot formula if I was able to get a good match. For those of you, here it is:
BEHR
Base: Premium Plus Ultra Pure White (PP100)
Type: Interior
Sheen: Flat, Matte
Colorant for 8oz:
- B- Oz (0) 384th (30)
- D- Oz (0) 384th (7)
- E- Oz (0) 384th (4)
You are so smart!!! Love it!
FABULOUS idea to put the test stripes behind pictures!!!!!
Good luck with your painting!
Suzanne
So simple, yet so smart! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Great idea!!! My hubby hates testing paint colours maybe this will ease his pain. Let us know what colour you go with. I'm thinking of painting one of my bathrooms teal.
Rochelle
I received my Farrow & Ball catalog and paint chips in the mail too. I'm thankful that you already got the formula at Home Depot (copied and printed out). I'm wondering if Lowe's can do a pretty good match as well because they are MUCH closer to me.
Thanks so much! Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Even better way to test your paint is to use a piece of poster board. Paint down the middle third, leaving white on either end. Three benefits- no permanent stripes on the wall, you can move it around the room to see it in all lighting and the original wall color next to the test stripes will affect the appearance of the test colors.
Thanks, Debbie! That is a great idea! I have textured walls, which makes the paint color vary a bit, so I don't think that would work for me. But, I think that's perfect if you have non-textured walls, like I did in my old house. Great tip!
I want to paint my downstairs bath for the 3rd time since i've owned my home, haha! I don't know why I keep changing it! This is the first I've heard of the Tori Paint! I'm going to check it out, its really $125?!
it's always so hard for me to do the stripe test like you have done. I paint a big BLOB on 1 wall of the first color, then another BLOB on another wall and so on… the blobs get so ubearable that they force me to pick one and get the project done 🙂
Can't wait to see the tori paint on your walls
Would you mind sharing the current color of your powder room – I really like it!
thank you,
Cindy
Good luck with you painting project. Those colors are very pretty. I love the way you hide the paint too!
XOOX
Jen
Well, *feet stomp* do we get to see the test strip o the wall?? 🙂
I'm with grangran….what is the current color in your powder room????? Is it the same color as in your entry????
You are so brave to color match. I vowed years ago I will never do it again after having things go awry in client's homes. Obviously you found someone who does it well!!!!
Love that you hide the chips behind the pics!!!