Paint Post!

As requested, here are the paint colors we used in our house!  Fan decks have been known to frustrate and overwhelm people.  Looking at the wall of paint chips in paint stores used to send my head spinning, until I worked in the paint section of a home improvement store and was forced to stare at it all day long!  Now I'm always interested to know which paint colors people are using in their homes!  I've had a lot of people ask me how we chose the colors in this house.  Here's what I did:

1.  I borrowed the fan deck from the paint store.  It's so hard decide which paint chips you like in the store-- instead I brought them ALL home with me so that I could see them in the space... not in the store's funky lighting.
2.  Since I was painting the entire main floor I selected 4 colors that all went together... and that I liked!  Instead of picking a color for each room hoping they would all go together-- I did the opposite. Instead I selected colors that worked the best together within the house knowing that they would all make their appearance in a room somewhere along the way.
3.  Then I had 4 gallons of each color mixed up.  I brought them all home and painted a 1x1 foot square of each color in each room.  Over the next few days I observed how the colors looked in each room's different lighting and made my decisions!  (I had time on my hands-- there was so much priming to accomplish first!)

I tend to be drawn to colors with more muted undertones-- I think they have more depth and interest.  Whenever I am selecting a new color I usually try to find the shades that have grey/green undertones since they tend to be a bit more warmer and interesting.

So!  Without further adieu, here are the paint colors found in our house!!

In the living room, dining room, kitchen and hall we used Benjamin Moore's Intense White (OC-51).

We wanted a neutral light grey that wouldn't feel too icy.

In the master bedroom and main floor bathroom I used
Benjamin Moore Horizon (OC-53).

It's a really light blue that has a bit of green in it which
keeps it from feeling too cool.

In Emerson's room we used Benjamin Moore's Woodlawn Blue (HC-147).  This wasn't one of the original four colors I chose-- we picked this color later on when the room was becoming a nursery!
It's a nice soft shade of blue that still has a bit of intensity.  One of my favorite things I love about the color is that it always looks a little bit different throught the day in different lighting.

In Caleb's room, we used French Canvas (OC-41).
It's a light neutral that is a really subtle grey color.  This color was also in Emerson's room initially when it was still an office.  I really loved it because any color scheme works with this shade on the walls.  It also makes rooms feel really warm and bright.

The last of the four colors I originally selected didn't make it into the upstairs.... instead it's been making its appearance in the basement!  The color is November Rain (OC-50)-- it's a bit more greener than the others.

Here's a few pictures of November Rain in action!

More on these rooms later-- when they're finished!

I hope this post wasn't too boring for y'all!  Hopefully all the paint junkies out there found it interesting.  Anyone else have a favorite tried and true color they'd like to share?