Having a hard time picking out paint colors

[dana2006]

The house we just moved into is painted entirely in glossy paint, with dark brown, salmon pink, and pistaccio green colors. We haven't really unpacked b/c we wanted to get it painted asap. So we have a painter lined up who can start early next week. The problem is I'm basically paralized from deciding on a color. It'll be flat neutral gray for most rooms, that much I know. I've gotten samples and painted them on the wall, but I'm still having a hard time picking one. Martha Stewart's heavy goose was an early front runner, until I read online that many people have found it to turn icy blue when painted on large spans of walls. We're running out of time.
 
How did you choose paint colors?

[hopecounts]

I decided what kind of color scheme I wanted (cool neutral) then what colors within that (beigey, blue, green) and picked.
my trick was not to over think it.
looked at the paint samples picked what I liked slept on it looked one more time then went with it.

[VeryViolet]

I just picked off a swatch and it luckily turned out great. Honestly, with those colors in a glossy paint no sample is going to read as well as it will when painted anyways. Go with your gut and when in doubt pick a shade lighter than what you are thinking.

ETA I went with SW Silverpointe for most of my house and love it. 

[Alyssa]

I once went through an Open House and the owner had used chartreuse and raspberry colored paint on the walls. The kitchen was turquoise.

I'm into beige, robin egg blue and off-white. I think it looks nice with dark wood furniture.

[eddy]

Always go lighter than you even think you want to go. That was my lesson.

I am obsessed with Sherwin Williams Sea Salt. We are going to paint our living room in it.

[fivechickens]

SW Alpaca is a good grey color. I have it in my foyer, stairs, and upstairs hall.

SW has a program, at least here in Michigan probably other places as well, where you can meet with a color specialist and they will help pick out colors. It costs $90 but you get a $50 gift card to use at Sherwin Williams so at the end it only cost $40. So worth it. The girl did a great job choosing colors for what we were trying to do but couldn't on our own.

[fivechickens]

Dup

[Deleted]

I just painted my entire downstairs in SW Perfect Greige.

[eddy]

Sept 11, 2013 11:56:18 GMT -5 fivechickens said:

SW Alpaca is a good grey color. I have it in my foyer, stairs, and upstairs hall.

SW has a program, at least here in Michigan probably other places as well, where you can meet with a color specialist and they will help pick out colors. It costs $90 but you get a $50 gift card to use at Sherwin Williams so at the end it only cost $40. So worth it. The girl did a great job choosing colors for what we were trying to do but couldn't on our own.

What does the specialist do? Like look at pictures of your house and your pinspirations?

I might be interested in this......

[fivechickens]

Sept 11, 2013 11:57:58 GMT -5 eddy said:

Sept 11, 2013 11:56:18 GMT -5 fivechickens said:

SW Alpaca is a good grey color. I have it in my foyer, stairs, and upstairs hall.

SW has a program, at least here in Michigan probably other places as well, where you can meet with a color specialist and they will help pick out colors. It costs $90 but you get a $50 gift card to use at Sherwin Williams so at the end it only cost $40. So worth it. The girl did a great job choosing colors for what we were trying to do but couldn't on our own.

What does the specialist do? Like look at pictures of your house and your pinspirations?

I might be interested in this......

They come to your house and you just tell them what you want and see what colors they suggest. The appt takes about 2 hours.

We were going to our livingroom/kitchen area in Sea Salt (which I also love) but she suggested Comfort Grey instead. Its the same tone as Sea Salt but slightly darker. We will probably do Sea Salt in our master bath.

[blanca]

I just had my whole house repainted. I spent forever researching colors. I also wanted neutral grey colors. I ended up going with BM revere pewter in my living room and den. Grey owl in my two bedrooms. Intense white in my hallway and dining room (does not get much natural sunlight)- the intense white is actually a very, very subtle grey. I am very pleased with how the colors look.

[dana2006]

I really like revere pewter. Thanks for the suggestion.

Booby I sent you a pm. Yes I'd love to see your pinterest board.

And I agree with the advice about going lighter. We learned that lesson with our half bath in our previous house.

[VeryViolet]

Sept 11, 2013 12:04:54 GMT -5 fivechickens said:

Sept 11, 2013 11:57:58 GMT -5 eddy said:

What does the specialist do? Like look at pictures of your house and your pinspirations?

I might be interested in this......

They come to your house and you just tell them what you want and see what colors they suggest. The appt takes about 2 hours.

We were going to our livingroom/kitchen area in Sea Salt (which I also love) but she suggested Comfort Grey instead. Its the same tone as Sea Salt but slightly darker. We will probably do Sea Salt in our master bath.

Do you like the comfort grey? I want to paint my bedroom this color. I am worried it will be too dark because the room doesn't get a ton of light. I do like a dark bedroom though so I have been waffling on making a decision.

[fivechickens]

Sept 11, 2013 12:33:02 GMT -5 VeryViolet said:

Sept 11, 2013 12:04:54 GMT -5 fivechickens said:

They come to your house and you just tell them what you want and see what colors they suggest. The appt takes about 2 hours.

We were going to our livingroom/kitchen area in Sea Salt (which I also love) but she suggested Comfort Grey instead. Its the same tone as Sea Salt but slightly darker. We will probably do Sea Salt in our master bath.

Do you like the comfort grey? I want to paint my bedroom this color. I am worried it will be too dark because the room doesn't get a ton of light. I do like a dark bedroom though so I have been waffling on making a decision.

I love Comfort Grey. Its more green than I expected but it looks great in the living room and goes well with our dark kitchen cabinets. My husband was worried about it being too dark but he really likes how it turned out too. Our house is North/South facing and while we do have big windows in the back of house (where we painted) its not a lot of direct sunlight.

[DotAndBuzz]

I hired a color consultant. I went to a Benjamin Moore store, had their lady come out, and for $75 in one hour we figured out colors for the whole house. That amount was credited towards the purchase of our paint from them. Win-win, and I wasn't really out any money for someone to help me find the right shade of everything I had in mind.

[milosh]

We did our living room in Coventry grey, and it was too blue. We just painted our bedroom in Benjamin Moor's cement grey. It is perfect, not too blue. Also go with an eggshell finish, we did flat in the living room and it is seriously awful.