Brightening up a dull room with paint

Discussion in 'Choosing Colors' started by macc, Apr 11, 2009.

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Which color do you like better?

  1. The original color

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  2. The new color

    0 vote(s)
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  1. macc

    macc New Seed

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    Hi everyone,

    I just bought a house, but hate the colors on most of the walls. The family room bothers me the most, so I did a little work in Photoshop and found a color I really like.

    My questions:
    1. The color I chose has kind of a Spanish look (being Spanish, this may explain why I like it :D ). Do you think the textured "stucco" look would work well in this room? How do I achieve that effect?

    2. The color will probably look different on your screen than it does on mine. How do I find a color that matches what I see on my screen (especially considering changes due to lighting, etc.)?

    Thanks for your help!

    [​IMG]
    My Photoshop job ( photo / image / picture from macc's Garden )





    [​IMG]
    The original color ( photo / image / picture from macc's Garden )
     
  2. Frank

    Frank GardenStew Founder Staff Member Administrator

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    Hi macc welcome to GardenStew. Let me first say what an impressive living room that is, very grand :) Secondly I voted for the new colour, it looks a lot warmer and more inviting than the original colour.
     
  3. bsewnsew

    bsewnsew Hardy Maple

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    macc

    I love that room......I also thing the 2nd color is nicer..

    The center could be that color and the sides a different , like white.

    I am a white wall lover..
    great choice of a home..
     
  4. TheBip

    TheBip Young Pine

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    I love the color too. What you can do is go to the paint store, grab some paint chips that you think match that and take em home, put wem up on th ewalls and see waht you like. Associates at paint stores can also tell you how to achieve a stucco effect. Its a type of base paint plus special rollers or sponges or whatever. I work at Home Depot, but not in the paint dept so I only know a very little bit about paint :)
     



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  5. daisybeans

    daisybeans Hardy Maple

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    Beautiful room and the new color is gorgeous. I think it perfectly suits the architecture of the room and looks nice with the color in the room next to it. I think it would be pretty even if you opt for plain paint rather than the textured. I like an eggshell finish, personally. If you figure out a good match, I'd love to know the name and brand of paint. You know, paint stores and Home Depot paint dept have these scanning machines that can match up a color if you have anything the color yor've chosen (a pillow or picture). Good luck. And welcome to Garden Stew, too, by the way.
     
  6. glendann

    glendann Official Garden Angel

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    Welcome to our Stew.I do love the new color.I think you will love it when its all done.I do love your living room and have always love Spanish style homes.When its finished I would love to see a picture.
     
  7. macc

    macc New Seed

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    By popular (ok, 1 person...) demand, I've added the pics of the final paint job. It's not exactly what I was looking for, but it's close enough and 50x better than what was there before :)

    What I've learned:

    - No painter will tell you what color a wall is in Photoshop beyond "green", "orange", or some other general hue indicator.

    - Not even a relatively large (2' x 2') patch of paint will show you what an entire wall will look like in a given color, especially a complex color like orange.

    - Putting many samples of paint on the wall, close to each other, may end up confusing you more than helping you.

    There are two ways I've thought of to get the exact color you want:

    1. Buy large chunks of drywall and paint them in the colors that closely match what you have in mind. Then hold each up close to your face so that it almost covers the wall in your field of vision. Pros: you get a good idea of the color without getting paint on the wall prematurely or having your perception skewed by many samples on the wall. Cons: you may need to go through a lot of drywall or a lot of sample cans.

    2. Put a single coat of paint on the entire wall. Observe the color at different times of the day to get a feel for the effects of lighting, etc. From there, you'll be able to see whether you want something lighter, darker, more reddish, etc. Pros: You really get a feel for what a given color will look like, and will likely go through fewer colors than if you tried a bunch of samples. Cons: Painting the entire wall takes longer and costs more than trying a single sample. However, the time saved in trips to the paint store and the cost saved in buying many samples may be well worth getting a real feel for the final effect.

    Thanks all for your very helpful comments. I hope my lessons learned can help someone who's looking to paint.
     
  8. bsewnsew

    bsewnsew Hardy Maple

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    How nice of you to share the pointers.

    Yep when paint drys it is also not the same as in the can..

    Your doing well..
     
  9. blackswan

    blackswan Seedling

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    what a lovely home, I like both colours although it is true that the brighter colour is warmer than the beige. The one thing i do think is needed is a large picture or something , as the walls size is so vast it would carry one off to perfection.
     

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