24 Paint Samples

Choosing paint colors was the part I’ve been dreading most about this kitchen renovation. Any indecisive person can relate to my nightmare: having to choose from 17 million colors. I’ve been scouring Pinterest for weeks now and had a list of colors I wanted to try so when I left Home Depot on Saturday with 12 paint samples, I was pretty confident that I would have at least one color that I liked. After all, I only had 5 paint samples for the outside of the house and chose one almost immediately. Surely, finding a true gray wouldn’t be that hard.

14 paint samples later, one big meltdown, a few tears and maybe some not so nice words directed towards Cory {who said he didn’t need to spend weeks on a paint color. He could go in and pick one out in 10 minutes. Well, sir, now’s your chance. Go on in and find me a true gray!}, this is what we had.

And the worst part? NONE OF THEM WERE GRAY!

You see number 11 down there? That’s from the same gallon of color we have in our bedroom, Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. I know I’m awful and never shared any pictures of our complete bedroom {because it’s not complete yet} but here it is below in my DIY Lamp Makeover.

No one would ever say that’s the same color. I swear, it is.

And don’t even get me started on the colors for the kitchen!

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This was the color (SW Rainwashed} I was aiming for which is paint sample #2 above. I know the lighting is bad in the sample picture but there was no way #2 was coming out this light. And it’s even lighter and more airy in other photos. I know you can’t trust colors on a computer screen and colors will look different in different lighting situations but every single one of these was this way!

Don’t believe me?

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#4 is BM Brittany Blue. Um, hello lavender.

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#5 is BM Woodlawn Blue.

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#6 is BM Palladian Blue.

Maybe the lighting is just that different in our house because I let it sit all day and into the night to see it at different times of the day. I opened all the doors and blinds to check it in natural light, I closed all the doors and blinds, turned the lights off, turned the lights on, and still…not what I was looking for!

Finally, after Cory spent an hour {not 10 minutes, btw}* looking at colors he came up with two colors that were the right colors but still too dark. It’s #12, Tin Foil, for the living room and #8, Sunken Pool, both by Behr, for the kitchen. After letting it sit overnight and walking by it 79 times, we went back to Home Depot to have both shades lightened. The sweet lady at the counter just gave them to us.

*I spent a grand total of ten minutes choosing the colors–it took that long because they had to mix four paint samples for me. Just sayin…–Cory

I mean, after 24, they ought to be free.

And there’s the winning color combination. The gray is gray in all the rooms we’re using it in. It’s the right shade and the purest one we could find without any blue, green, lavender, or beige undertones.

#PraiseJesus

Hopefully, I’m done picking paint colors for a long while or I might have given myself a panic attack. Now, I just need some ideas on how I can use all these paint samples!

Wanna catch up? Start here:

Staying Right Where We Are
Our House Throughout the Years | Kitchen & Dining Room
Our House Throughout the Years | Living Room 
Sloan Kitchen Challenge
Sloan Kitchen Challenge | Progress
We’re Moved Back In!
Sloan Kitchen Challenge | We Have Walls! 
Sloan Kitchen Challenge | More Progress
The Day It Finally Happened.
Life Lately