Have you ever walked into the paint store, approached the rainbow myriad of colors on the wall, choose what you thought was the absolute perfect color for you wall, bought 3 gallons of paint paying about $50 a gallon, hired the painter to paint your walls, and when the color went up YOU HATED IT!!! If you have ever had that happen you are NOT alone. This happens a lot! I had one woman tell me she had the painter paint 5 different paint colors in her kitchen and then she called me.Crazy Paint Chip Lady

I could make this blog post really short and tell you to save yourself a lot of stress, money and time by telling you to call me or another interior designer for a paint consultation…..BUT that would be too easy right?!!!

You want to do it yourself….or at least TRY it yourself. You watch HGTV right????

Okay for those of you who are stubborn or have “that eye” here are 3 secret paint picking tips you have to know before you buy your next gallon of paint.

1. DO NOT pick a paint color in the paint store!! Ok……WHAT? you say?! I say this and I mean it. It is the absolute WORST decision, biggest mistake. The lighting in the paint store is not like your home. In fact it is as far away from lighting in your home as you can get. So what do you do? You need to get a full paint deck from whatever company you desire to use. If you use Home Depot paint they will charge you for the paint deck so use whatever paint deck you can get your hands on. Here’s another secret….paint companies have the formulas and names of other paint colors in their computers so don’t worry.

2. Take the paint deck home and fan it out on some of the furniture pieces, carpeting, or find a pillow you love and fan it out next to the item. Find the color in the deck that you think looks just like the item you are trying to match. Write down that matching color, get one color lighter and one color darker. Companies like Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore have websites and you can order large swatches of those colors to view in your home.

3. Get a small quart or a sample packet of your chosen paint color and paint it on a piece of cardboard or poster board and hold it up to your walls at home. Look at it a couple different times of the day too. If you are not sure of the exact color do this with a couple of colors.

It is important that you go through these steps to pick your paint. Especially if you have hired a painter! If you still are overwhelmed…well, you know how to reach me!