Thank goodness for the Personal Colour Viewer from Benjamin Moore. We used this program once before when looking at colours for the outside of our house but now we put it to the test on the inside.
First we took a picture of the room after all the sanding had been completed.
Then we started to play. We tried out various reds for the floor and tried to get a sense of what direction to go with the walls. We started off with cool shades at first but that didn't feel right.
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| We tried a number of grays but they fell flat with us |
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| Although this was very interesting it just wasn't right for me |
The colour was Shelburne Buff and it was the clear winner. A light colour, still bright so the room wouldn't be too dark and was the right tone to compliment both the red floor and the cream trim. We decided to go straight to Benjamin Moore and purchase it so we would get this exact shade.
Here's the interesting thing we've found out about the Personal Colour Viewer
As we began painting the edges of the room the colour seemed awfully dark. Much darker than the computer program had depicted it. With more of a yellow undertone.
The final result was much darker than anticipated.
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| The wall that started everything. This is where the original shelves were located that I wanted vacated for the piano. |
35 comments:
That's Shelburne Buff! I love it, and it totally is perfect with your floor.
Dear Marguerite, I didn't know about Benjamin Moore's viewer, how marvelous! P. x
Gorgeous!!! Did you paint the wood floor? LOVE IT!!!
This is beautiful! The colors are rich and comfortable. With technology these days, there is a lot of help in so many areas like decorating our homes. I have often found that even the swatches don't exactly match the depth of the color once it is on the walls...perhaps they have not perfected that quite yet...
it looks beautiful Marguerite, again I would think grey would be too cool, this is nice and warm feeling, it also looks like the colour is echoed in some of the motifs in the rug,
I find that the light behind the computer screen make everything look brighter than it is, I often find photos print out darker than on screen, can/did you print the final choice or just view it on screen, also though it is darker when all over it wouldn't appear as dark as when you had just painted the edges and the wall was still white, the white makes it look darker so as you cover a larger area with less white showing the intensity decreases,
the room has a lovely richness, Frances
Marguerite you have been making such wonderful choices .. I love this cream colour and it does look better in this darker tone because it has a lot to live up to with the red floor .. any lighter and the floor would have taken over the room .. but that is a great hint about it looking darker than with the program ..
I hope to get some painting done this coming Autumn/winter. I might just remember to take before and after pictures too ! LOL
These posts have been great girl !
Joy
Nice rich combination in the final photo. Good thing you tried out different shades "virtually" before deciding. The end result, even though darker, is just right.
What a journey but a happy ending! I think that colour is perfect, nice, soft, mellow, rich and a gentle contrast instead of stark. Great choice. what a handy tood that viewer is but I'll remember your disclaimer if I use it.
You have certainly given us a inside view of how difficult it can be choosing the right colours and the extra work when it doesn't work out just right. The floors turned out beautiful and the wall colour I think is just perfect.
Can't wait to see your piano in this great room.
Marguerite -- gorgeous selection.
Also, I know blog awards require a lot of thought, but I did nominate you for The Sunshine Award. http://nittygrittydirtman.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/the-sunshine-award-goes-to/
Best,
Kevin
When you were talking about wall color to go along with the red floor, I thought khaki color...which is close to what you got! I like how it came out!
It's a perfect choice, I love the warmth, and tones of it.
And it harmonizes with all the other colors so well, almost like the combo was made to go with each other.
I love Benjamin Moore paint, it's expensive as all get go around here, but worth every penny. In fact after the last gallon that I bought somewhere else that was a complete failure, I will only buy Benny Moore from now on.
And thank goodness for testers, because I have found so many times that the paint chip has little bearing on the final color of your walls.
Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams
It is that disconcerting thing that a WHOLE wall of the colour is so much more so, than the sample was. We had to repaint the terracotta and golden yellow walls a tone down. Poor carpenter came to fit the built in cupboards and looked at our newly painted wall in open-mouthed horror ;~))
Absolutely beautiful!!!! I love it.
Love the colour! It has enough strength to stand up to the floor and still complement it. Well done! :)
Both colour choices for this room have been stunningly beautiful. Thank you for giving us this peek into your wonderful home and life there.
Hi Marguerite, I think you picked a great color. You needed something with a fair bit of depth to balance out the red.
We were surprised and delighted with this colour. Thank goodness it all worked out.
Pam, there are several different programs out there that do the same thing. I think most paint companies have their own. This one was free and easy to install on our computer so we used it and it's been a lot of fun.
Thanks Tammy. If you go back a post or two it shows how the floor got to be painted.
I've heard the same about swatches. One thing I was also told was that light will affect how the colour looks. So depending on where light is coming from in the room and time of day the colour will look different. This is very true of our walls. In daytime the colour is much more neutral while at night it's very golden.
I hadn't even thought of that but you're right!! the rug absolutely has that colour in it. Why didn't I notice that before?!
Good eye, I think you have a great point that the red could have easily overwhelmed a lighter coloured wall. These posts have been fun while I have been waiting for my garden to thaw out!
Laurrie, I don't think I would have had the guts to do all this painting if I couldn't have 'viewed' it first. Technology is a godsend some days.
I'm glad we found out how the colour changes in real life before we decided to paint the outside of the house! That will be really nerve wracking picking a final colour for that.
me too!! The piano is still sitting in another room. Hopefully in the coming weeks it will finally migrate to its final destination.
Hi Kevin, thanks for the nomination! I'm a bit short on time at this moment but will definitely look at this in the coming days. Sunshine Award sounds very warm and happy, I like the sounds of that.
Where were you when we were trying to find a colour? You knew instantly! It took a number of tries for us to finally come around to this one.
Jen, we discovered much the same thing. The Ben Moore paint was more money but it went on much easier, thicker, required less coats and the help at their store was wonderful compared to what we had found at hardware stores. I don't doubt we'll be using them again.
Diana, this is something we've struggled with when contemplating painting the outside of our house. A small swatch just can't show you the impact a whole wall of colour will have.
Thanks Johanna, I'm glad other people like it too. I'm pretty biased so I wasn't sure what others reaction would be to such strong colours.
We're lucky it turned out darker I suspect. As you point out, any lighter and it wouldn't have worked with that red.
Thanks Bex, it's been fun showing off the house. Usually I avoid it because I feel like I live in renovation central most days.
It wasn't obvious to me that we needed a dark tone but I'm glad we lucked out in that regard as many readers, including you, have picked up on how it had to be a strong colour to correspond with the floor.
Wow, I love it. I'm glad you chose such bold colours. It's the only way to go if you are not sticking with safe white paint.
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