Choosing a Paint Color
We knew we wanted to paint the interior of our home white, but we had no idea where to start. Can you say first-time homeowners? So I’m going to share all the tips I received on picking a paint color!
In case you missed it, we bought a house last week! We are so excited about updating and making this place our home. There are so many fun projects we want to tackle but we knew the first place we wanted to start was with painting. Here are some of the helpful tips I received for choosing a paint color.
First we researched the closest stores to us that sold paint. Our options were either Sherwin Williams or Lowes. Sherwin Williams carries, well, Sherwin Willams and Lowes carries Valspar and HGTV Home Sherwin Williams. From talking to people and the research I did, it seems like Sherwin Williams has better quality paint. So that’s what we went with.
The next step is to look at the different color swatches on paper in the store. So we went into Sherwin Williams and grabbed about six different paper color samples and brought them home. Now another option is to pay $3.95 for an 8X8 color swatch that you can peel and stick on the wall you are painting. We didn’t learn about this until we were already back home but I will definitely be doing this next time!
Next, you’re going to want to actually sample some of the paint colors you are deciding between. The hard part about this is that Sherwin Williams no longer sells paint samples. So, you need to take the color cards you are deciding between to Lowes or Home Depot and they will color match them for you. This won’t be 100% accurate because it’s not the actual paint you will be using, but it will be pretty close. The color samples at Lowes were about $5 each and we got five of them to try.
While you’re at the store you’re going to want to pick up a bunch of those disposable foam paint brushes (one per color). This makes it super easy to test the colors and then just toss the brushes.
When we got home we painted a large swatch of each color on a wall in our kitchen that has a lot of natural light. We waited for the first coat to dry and then added another. If we had to do this over again we would test all of the colors on another one or two walls, just to see how it shows up in different spots.
We kept an eye on how the swatches looked in the morning, afternoon, and night and then finally chose - Pure White! We went with Pure White because it is truly the purest white. See what I did there? No undertone, just a true classic white. Which is what I was wanting.
Here are some of the comments I received about the final four Sherwin Williams white colors I was choosing between:
Alabaster - Warm, inviting, not stark at all. Beautiful on its own but if it’s next to another color (like on a baseboard, trim, or accent wall) it can really pull out those undertones
Creamy - Just as it sounds…more creamy than a true white.
Pure White - Purely white, classic, no undertone. Can help neutralize warmer colors
Snowbound - Pinky undertones that can show up
