After I have narrowed my decision down to 2-3 I go down to my local Home Depot and purchase my possible paint colors in 8oz sample jars.
This has seriously made all the difference.
I think they run about $2.50-$3.50 per jar. So really the cost is not that much. Especially if you consider having to repaint a wall because you originally painted it a color you hate.
After you pick up your paint samples come back to your room and either paint them on the wall, a white pieces of paper, like I did above, or a poster board. You can even do what I did in the picture below, sheet rock. We were doing some remodeling in our home and I found this extra piece and it worked great.
I highly recommend purchasing sample paint jars and painting a larger area of sample paint if you can. Sample paint is better because it’s the real deal. The cards get close, but just not the same as the real paint. For me, I was painting the entire interior of my house. I really really wanted to choose a color that I LOVED. I was not going to take any chances. The real deal is the way to go.
My walls are painted and I am glad that I took the time to really choose a color that I liked and that looked good with the lighting. I even added stripes to a wall using this same technique. My next project is our small bathroom!
Let me sum it all up for you!
What tips do you have on choosing the perfect paint color?
Here are some more painted projects you might want to check out!
Hawthorne & Main is all about finding your style for your space! It should be a reflection of you! 
Really great tips! Hopefully we can get into a house this year and I will be able live in a place that doesn’t have eggshell walls. This will be helpful 🙂
what color is that in the wall makeover? i want to paint my dining room these exacr colors?
They paint color I ended up going with is called Creamy Mushroom by BEHR. Happy painting!
That would be awesome for you guys to get your place! Hopeful this can help you.
We're paining the whole basement/playroom in a month or two. I'm going to do as you suggest and tape swatches to the walls. I wasn't even thinking of the different lighting during the different times of day.. until now.
It really did help me out a ton to use those color cards. I would also really recommend using the paint samples. It made a difference for me. Thanks for your comment!
Can you share the names of the three color swatches pictured above? The color on the bottom looks exactly like what I'm looking for. Thanks!! 🙂
Sarah great question!! All of these paint samples are from the Behr paint line. I got them from Home depot. The colors are ( starting from top left going clockwise) Mesa Taupe, Studio Taupe, and Creamy Mushroom. I ended up painting the entire interior of my house Creamy Mushroom and I love it!! It is definitely a good gre-beige.
Good suggestions. I agree that getting the Behr paint sample jars is a must do. I had in my mind a certain color of green I wanted my kitchen. I ended up with 7 different colors of paint & still none of them was “the” color I desired. I took the two colors I liked the best & blended the three colors in different ways until I created “the” color. Love my walls. Did the same thing in my dinning room with 5 paint samples.
Way to go Pam! I totally agree that paint samples make all the difference. I love that you came up with your own color too. Sometimes you have in your head what you want and if the store doesn’t have it you have to make it yourself. I love that!
This is how we should do it, I learned a lot from your blog will paint my wall on up coming Summer 🙂
This was our story just yesterday. I picked the color & hubby started to do the cutting in around the trim. I walked in & saw the paint color… it was HORRIBLE!! I was literally ready to cry because the color was SO LIGHT it would have looked all mucked up from our big family in a matter of a few days since it was in a stairwell to the bedrooms.
The paint swatch did match the can, but NOT the walls… the shade it dried to was near white, & the color I chose was far from white. My best suggestion is to actually paint the WALL with the sample colors you are going to paint because you never know how much the previous wall color & type of paint previously used will impact what the new color looks like.
I found the old paint in our basement from the previous owner & I think the issue came up because they used paint WITH primer all together. We have NEVER had a paint swatch look so dramatically different on the walls as we have in our new house… & we have owned a lot of houses over the years…. that is the first time we have ever painted over ALL IN ONE paint before too, so I think that had at least something to do with the dramatic color difference. I would never have guessed it would EVER look 3 shades lighter when it dried… especially when it was going over a color that was fairly dark to begin with… our minds were blown!
Hubby went & got a new color & I went 2 shades darker to make sure some pigment showed up… and it worked this time, though I will say that the replacement paint color still looks different on the wall than on the can….even though it absolutely matches the paint color card. At least the walls won’t look filthy in 2 days now though.
The ironic thing about this is that the same thing happened with our family room… we chose a color that was kind of grayish-greenish. The walls look GRAY… just GRAY… no green at all. Now we know why that happened… we were painting over the AIO paint with the primer in it, so it must have made the color look different like it did in the hallway.
Lesson learned for sure! No holding up paint cards… we will paint actual paint samples ON THE WALL itself because using white paper, cardboard, drywall, etc. still won’t look the same unless the wall was never oainted before… & even then… we have painted brand new drywall before & the color is always darker on it being the first time it was painted. The best bet is to paint the ACTUAL wall you will be painting unless you don’t mind a possible huge SURPRISE & color that you hate…lesson learned!
We have painted our guest room and office with the same mushroom color paint. Please let me know the name/brand of the white you have used. We would like to paint our adjoining hallway, but in a complimentary color…avoiding any pink (previous mistake). Thanks.
Best suggestion ever and can’t believe I didn’t think of it put color swatches on a white plasterboard! BAM it took about 60 seconds to see what I didn’t want. I’ve been looking at these swatches for a month. Thank you so much!! However I’m back to get more swatches….no big deal.
Grateful
Hello I want to thank and first congratulate I loved your information and brought us news we are always following the news thank you and even more successes.
parabéns pessoal pela postagem. 🙂
parabéns pessoal pela postagem, sensacional. 🙂
Little Ways NYC shapes distinctive service excellence, where meticulous attention to detail and a personalized touch redefine standards. The user-friendly interface, prompt communication, and overall professionalism make Little Ways NYC a top-tier choice. I confidently recommend their outstanding services. https://www.littlewaysnyc.com/