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Home Improvement: Picking Paint Colors

You thought I went missing, didn’t you?  Or maybe on a vacation?  Nope……..just working like busy little bees on our new home.  We’ve been tearing things down, building things up, painting (and more painting), and making things our own.  It’s been fun.  And rewarding.  But whew, very exhausting.  I can’t wait to show you a few things though.  I have several things to share that we’ve done on the house, tricks we’ve learned, and a few old to new transformations.  Yay!!  But, most of them are half finished and are still in the works.  But ooooooh, I can’t wait until we get most of the “in progress” tasks done.  They are looking so good.

 

So, I decided to share some of the Home Improvement tricks we’ve been using…….because we’ve been learning a lot along the way.  Some from family/friends, some from professionals, and some from just figuring it out on our own.  And yes, good tips and tricks have to be shared…….so get ready for them.

 

And, just to show you that we really have been working (and not off on a Carribbean Cruise…ha!), let’s get started with the first thing.

 

Something that may give you a little anxiety……

 

 

 

 

Have you ever been to the paint store and you thought you were picking an amazing color?!?!  And then when you painted it on the walls……….yuck. 

 

Yeah, I’ve done that too.  MANY times.  And it’s so frustrating because white comes is 79,000 shades.  And so does every other color of the rainbow.  So here’s what I do.  I search and search for a certain color that I like.  I look of examples of it online, I find it with similar trim color, doors, and other features that I have in my own home.  Then I pick several shades of that color that I think that I may like.  Then I head to the paint store (I’ve been using Sherwin Williams because there are many around here) and I have them whip up some quart samples for me.  (Because, believe me……..the price of a few samples is much cheaper than buying a couple gallons of paint, painting an entire room, hating it, and then buying several more gallons to cover it up.)

 

Then I label each paint color container (and its lid), with a number.

 

 

And then I grab a sponge brush for each color…..and label those as well.

 

 

 

Then I paint each of the colors on the wall, in order.  I also add a strip of the trim color that I’m using, right below the color samples……otherwise, it’s too hard to tell how the colors will look with all that old paint color screaming at me in the face.

 

 

 

But I don’t stop there……I add those same colors to different locations on the walls.  Because shadows vs. direct sun will make your color look so different.

 

 

**Ignore the mess.  We’re working on painting here……not unpacking and cleaning up clutter.  haha!

 

 

After the samples are up………wait.  And watch those colors all day long.  Because you may love sample #3 at 10 a.m. but may HATE it at 5 p.m.  So, it’s good to find that out before covering every wall with it.  Make sense?

 

The pictures above are from our Master Bedroom and I wanted a soft and calm grey/blue color.  The first color that I picked and was SURE I wanted…….ended up being the color I liked the least.  Crazy.

 

Anyway, our bedroom isn’t quite finished.  Otherwise, I’d give you a good ol’ “before/after” shot.  (Ooooh, I love those!!!)  But, you’ll have to wait.

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I have a little sewing project that I’m finishing up for tomorrow or the next day and then another home improvement project (that turned out so rockin’ cool!!) at the end of the week. 

 

Can’t wait!

-Ashley

 

 

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Ashley Johnston

Administrator at Make It & Love It
Ashley Johnston is a professional DIY costume maker, sewist, crafter, and owner of Make It & Love It. She is a mom of 5 and a wife to a very patient (with the craft clutter) husband. In case you’re wondering, she always chooses crafting/sewing/designing over mopping/dusting/wiping base boards……but bathrooms/laundry/full bellies are always attended to. Whew!

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Hi, I'm Ashley

Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!

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