Picking Our Interior Paint Colors
This past Saturday, my husband and I went to go pick out the paint colors for our new home. We finally decided on a painter — a guy who was recommended to us by a friend, who does “excellent work” and is “a hell of a painter.” He starts next week!! I am SO excited for this to get under way, and to show you the before and after pictures.
I think a fresh coat of paint is going to make a world of difference. The paint in the house is not exactly up to par, shall we say. Okay, so the living room is actually not that bad — it’s a dark blue, but it’s just too dark for my taste, especially in the place where I’ll be spending most of my time. This room needs to feel light, open, and airy, especially with how much natural light comes through the big windows.
The other rooms also need some help. The dining room and an upstair bedroom are tacky shades of pink and peach, the trim is EXTRA EXTRA glossy, the white walls are fading into a garish yellow, and the paint lines in every room are so messy. It looks like it was just thrown on the walls in a rush. But these rooms are not even the worst offenders . . . the kitchen. is. bright. red. The seller did not include pictures of the kitchen on the online listing. And I can see why.
I don’t know much about paint, but I’ve slowly been learning about differences in paint and finish throughout this process. Our painter prefers to use Sherwin Williams, and will only use Extra White for the trim color. I’m not sure why, but the man has a method, and I’m cool with it.
On Saturday we went to Lowe’s to pick out our Sherwin William paint colors. Prior to this, I had browsed through some blogs (I’m talking about you, YoungHouseLove) for color inspiration and was all set with my choices. I’ll give you the inside scoop, though: Lowe’s only has “HGTV Sherwin Williams” colors. No, no, no. I wanted an endless possibility of color, and I wanted what Sherry and John use! So, we quickly ended up at the actual SW store down the street for all the color options under the sun, and my heart was content. We picked our favorites, went to the house, put them up to the wall, and chose our favorites!!
Even though the painter will only be starting with the main rooms (living room, bedrooms, and dining room), we picked out colors for everything and will get everything done eventually down the road. We want the trim, hallways, bookcase, fireplace, and bathroom to be extra white, and the living room and bedroom will be an off white. The other rooms in the house will be intriguing shades of French blue, coral, dark blue, and soft green. Yes, as much as I love houses that are all white, I need some color in my life! Think Erin Napier, rather than Joanna Gaines.
Eventually, the basement will be a dark blue. And, I couldn’t resist choosing a dark hunter green for random accents around the house. I thought it would bring some of the history of the house forward. We are finding out that basically all the trim, the staircase, other accents in the house were once ALL dark, dark green. How interesting! I wonder if it’s the original color, but either way, we’ll pay it homage.
We will keep you updated on the whole process, with pictures and all! For now, here is exactly what we’re using:
Trim, Fireplace, Bookcases – SW ProClassic Trim Paint, Extra White (SW 7006), Semi-Gloss
Ceiling – SW Eminence High Performance Ceiling Paint, Flat
Primer – SW Multi-Purpose Latex Primer
Living Room Walls – White Heron (SW 7627), Eggshell
Dining Room Walls – French Moire (SW 9056), Eggshell
Main Bedroom Walls – White Heron (SW 7627), Eggshell
Front Bedroom Walls – Jovial (SW 6611), Eggshell
Back Bedroom Walls – Navajo White (SW 6126), Eggshell
Halls – Extra White (SW 7006), eggshell
Bathroom – Extra White (SW 7006), satin
Kitchen – Liveable Green (SW 6176), satin
Basement – Salty Dog (SW 9177)
Random Accents – Dard Hunter Green (SW 0041)