Next up in our Dream Home series, we are covering paint. Let’s be really real…paint is hard…especially when it’s for yourself! So many choices, so little time. After hemming and hawing for weeks and having a long, hard talk with myself…it was time to make a decision. I rolled my sleeves up and put up some samples. Then a few more. Then a few more. Let’s walk through it together and see what we ultimately decided on!
*If you’re just joining us, this is the eighth installment of a year long series documenting the building of our personal dream home. So far we’ve tackled:
Inspiration | Floorplan | Location | Breaking Ground | Roofing | Windows | Insulation | Sheetrock & Plaster
Paint Colors Considered
- Natural Choice SW7011 by Sherwin Williams
- Shoji White SW7042 by Sherwin Williams
- Classic Gray OC-23 by Benjamin Moore
- Oyster White SW7637 by Sherwin Williams
- Heron’s Plume SW6070 by Sherwin Williams
- Ivory Lace SW7013 by Sherwin Williams
Let's Make Some Sample Boards
I headed over to my favorite Sherwin Williams store and purchased little sample quarts of the colors. Rather than put them up on the wall only, I like to make poster boards that can easily be moved around. Different rooms obviously show the colors differently, but so do the walls in the same room.
Let’s put the samples up on the walls
More information is always better! I painted the same samples on the wall to see what that looks like.
starting from top left to right, then bottom left to right
• Natural Choice SW7011 by Sherwin Williams
• Shoji White SW7042 by Sherwin Williams
• Classic Gray OC-23 by Benjamin Moore
• Oyster White SW7637 by Sherwin Williams
• Heron’s Plume SW6070 by Sherwin Williams
• Ivory Lace SW7013 by Sherwin Williams
Bigger Samples
So, now I’m starting to see a few favorites. Let’s dive in a little deeper to those. I really like Classic Gray (which in my humble opinion isn’t gray, like at all) so I painted an entire corner out in it and added the flooring selection (which is GORGEOUS) and the cabinet and tile colors. It’s looking good!
My Epiphany – Finish Considerations
I must mention that, at this point, I had an epiphany. Really. I’ve been using this little system of sample boards, wall samples, then bigger wall samples for 20 years and noticed something. Something bad. The little cans only come in a satin finish. Your actual paint for the room can come in several finishes and you likely won’t be using satin for your walls. I almost always use Matte or Flat. The two finishes of the same color look DRASTICALLY different. This photo shows samples of the same color, made on the same day at the same store, but because of their finishes, they look very different. I actually created an entire blog post about it here.
FInal Selection
What did we ultimately decide on? Classic Gray, which I don’t believe to be gray at all. It’s the perfect warm neutral. It’s very light, which will be new to us in our personal home, but is just what I want. The white cabinet door contrasts with it nicely, which is perfect! A little tip is that I typically color match the white cabinet for the trim throughout. This is going to be perfect!
Product
We decided to go with Sherwin Williams Duration paint in the Flat finish. It is perfect!