Paint colors

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Anonymous

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I'll admit it, I have no sense of interior design, especially for a woman. I'm not ashamed, though, because I have other talents. For example, I'm an excellent speller and I can remember names and faces well. But anyway, it's time to choose some paint colors for my endless home remodeling project. Anyone have any suggestions for interior paint colors/schemes? Exterior suggestions, too. Thanks!
 
The "safest" color is beige (although people will argue it's the most boring).

I actually like it... but we also tend to like colors with some green it like moss.

For kitchens a light yellowish paint is good (for some reason, yellow just reminds me of breakfast).

There was a trend for red in the bathrooms, dining rooms, living rooms but not too sure about that.

It's also dependent on how your home is laid out... but I would go with something safer in the areas where you will have the most guests see and then do the risky/pop colors in like the bedrooms or baths.
 
What I love to do is browse the interior images of IAC model apartments (or, for that matter, model homes) on their site and take mental notes. If you can find one you like - all you have to do is mimic the picture! I used to save favorite catalogs from Pottery Barn (don't laugh) or other places and do the same. That is what works for me. Sometimes it's builder-beige / Swiss coffee that works. Sometimes it's an accent wall.. Other times it's bead board with an accent color or tasteful wallpaper above the chair rail. It all depends on what the goal for the room is. I'd start here!: IAC's site. Any collection of images you love and is your style will work, though. When you browse just keep in mind how much or little natural light you have in the particular room, how many things breaking up the wall color i.e. doors, windows, or is it one big wall space with vaulted ceilings... the less light and the fewer things breaking up the color, the lighter I go...and also the sort of paint you intend to use whether it be flat, eggshell, etc. because the more glossy, the more imperfections it will reveal on your wall. Good luck!
 
Just go to the library and find some issues of Architectural Digest and Home Mag- you will be inspired. I have a tawny yellow in my kitchen- it's not overpowering, and it's not the plain old beige. Some of my friends have a particular shade of red- don't know what it is- it's not fiery red, and it's not brick red.. it's slightly feminine. But that needs a clean house to look good. Bluish/Greenish shades work well with the bedrooms since they are calming. Have seen a purple bedroom with dark wood flooring and white sheet set, but again, that would needs to be maintained clean and clutter free..
 
My master bedroom and bathroom are a light brown/mocha color. When I moved in, I thought the color was perfect for my taste, but over time, I've realized that brown is not a good wall color for me (at least in the master bed/bath, where it is in my house). I'm drawn to earthy colors for bedroom linens and accents, and with the walls brown, I feel like any other brown would be too much brown. Additionally, I've realized that brown is not a soothing color for me in either place; it's humdrum. When I replace my upstairs carpet and flooring next year, I'm putting a lighter, non-brown color on the walls.

Another bed/bath is a very nice, mellow, medium-to-light yellow color. I've received many compliments from guests on the yellow in both places.

Downstairs, I have a medium sage-like green color on many walls that has worked out very well. Designers say that green is relaxing and soothing, and that has been my experience.

In addition to the recommendations provided by others, I've also learned (from HGTV) that the ceiling height, room size, and floor color are important factors to consider when choosing paint colors.

Good luck and have fun!
 
We've been really happy with the quality of Dunn-Edwards paints, and have used it both for the interior and on the garage/shutters. We have all the common areas inside our house done in a Dunn-Edwards light brown called "Terracota Sand". It gets a lot of compliments.
 
Thanks for the recommendations. They're really helpful. I'm leaning towards an almond color for the common areas, but not sure about the bedrooms. Maybe slate-grayish-blue. I also really like pale yellow and peach, but I don't want to end up with a weird rainbow house.

CK, I have the whole Dunn-Edwards palette spread out on our dining table. I'll keep an eye out for Terracotta Sand.
 
We've been burned by color swatches...one time we picked what looked like a nice peach color for the bathroom, put it up on the walls and found it looked just like hot pink. What worked for us in the last house was we went through the models, and the sales guy was nice enough to give us the exact Sherwin Williams color numbers. For example we used the beige color of the model for the main areas (it was beige but a really nice beige that our visitors always commented positively on). So if the salespeople are nice enough to do that for you too, that would work well for you. But if you have to use swatches, probably the best is to take the swatch to a model house with colors that you like and try to match the swatch to the color on the wall, instead of just viewing swatches at the Home Depot.
 
I second Dunn Edwards... we even saw colors at other places (Pottery Barn uses Sherwin Williams I think) and matched it at DE because their quality is tops.

Our last 3 paint jobs by 2 different contractors all used Dunn Edwards.

EDIT: I think Pottery Barn uses Benjamin Moore. Why do all these paints have two names? Home Depot is going to carry Martha Steward paint... and that's a good thing.
 
I think that's the one con of DE, they don't have mini-can or sample sizes.

I do second fadetogrey though, the color looks totally different sometimes when it's up on the wall and dry.
 
If you hire the budget Korean painters from LA, they'd use a mixture of inexpensive white paint with some kind of white glue or bonding liquid for spraying. It lowers the cost significantly and looks REALLY good for white paint, but I'm not really sure what's in the stuff.
 
[quote author="momopi"]
If you hire the budget Korean painters from LA, they'd use a mixture of inexpensive white paint with some kind of white glue or bonding liquid for spraying. It lowers the cost significantly and looks REALLY good for white paint, but I'm not really sure what's in the stuff.
[/quote]

We got 3 quotes for the paint job, and all 3 painters are Korean. They were all recommended by people we know (none of whom are Korean).

I wonder if Koreans have some sort of monopoly on painting?
 
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