Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Colour Theory

Did anyone go to the Benjamin Moore site the other day and check out my paint choices? I've looked at them a lot on the website. The colours are definitely different on my screen than on the paint chips. I figured it was a colour conversion/monitor specific kind of thing. That colour theory seems to be only about 50% true. The green is on the wall just like I imagined it would look (which is more olive than it appears on my screen). Sadly, the trim colour is horridly yellow-ish, just like on my monitor.

The colour crisis started yesterday evening when Rob started painting the trim. I could tell it was more yellow than I wanted. I hoped that this was a result of a) the bad lighting we currently have in the room, b) it being only the first coat, c) the paint still being wet, or d) some combination of the above. I looked at it today dry and in the daylight and knew that no second coat could cure it. And I, of course, would always know that it was far too yellow a shade of beige. I had to change it.

Unfortunately, yet again, I made this firm decision soundly after eating dinner. This was after I'd already been to Home Depot to get more paint trays and had returned home. So - back out we went. I stood at the wall of chips for quite some time trying to make a decision. I begged the man at the paint counter to help me choose between "Swiss Coffee" and "Parchment". I knew I needed something with a lot more brown in it than I'd already chosen and I knew I didn't want white. I even brought the couch cushion that I'm trying to coordinate with.

His answer to the problem - interestingly - was to add about 1 tsp of my wall colour to a pint of pure white paint to achieve the shade of "non-white" I was looking for. Have you heard of this? He claimed that decorators and designers do this all the time but I've never seen that on Trading Spaces. I've decided to call the technique 'the hair of the dog that bit ya'. I went home, trying to trust the expertise of the Home Depot paint dude. I followed his instructions, adding 1 tsp at a time until I'd achieved "not-white" enough. I added the first spoonful but could barely see an effect. I added the 2nd. Rob thought it was good, so - I added another 1/2 tsp. Rob and I decided it looked pretty good. I stared at it a bit more and then added another 1/2 tsp while Rob's back was turned. Shazam! PERFECTION! In total - 3 tsps of "Georgian Green" to my pint of pure white trim paint. We finished painting all of the trim tonight and we're both much happier with it. All this for the perfect shade of "non-white" that everyone will look at and think is white anyway. Ah, that is the insanity that's me. I'm just glad that it won't look yellow.

And for safety sake, I painted a large patch of green on the wall so that I could be sure I still liked it. I do. It's great. Dark and great!

Talk to you soon,

B.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Becky I found this post really interesting! Not that I'm planning on painting anything, but I like the idea that one paint will blend well with another if it contains a little bit of the other.