BM's affinity line is designed specifically so that any of the colors will play nicely with any of the other colors...this may fit your needs.

I wonder, too, if anyone has used the Color Stories paints. I remember when our BM store got them in that the manager said something about them being like Donald Kaufmann full spectrum colors. They never seemed to really catch on though, or at least I don't see them mentioned much. Any idea why?

All I know is that they came from some other company that Benjamin Moore bought. That's what the person at my local BM store told me. I really like the affinity line.

Nope, Affinity wont work for me... I happened to get a bunch of samples cheap at local restore so I did give it a good try. Im one of those weird people who can see the black in paint colors (particularly noticeable now Im in a house that doesn't have a huge amt of direct sun). There were a few lighter/brighter like Soleil, but not many.....not much in green either.

SOMEONE must be buying CS bc they've had it for quite a few yrs now.

Kashka_kat, I've never heard of being able to see the black in paint colors, but coincidentally I also find I don't care for the lighter colors or the green selections in the BM Affinity line of paints. I got an Affinity color deck when we were looking for exterior paint colors (in a grayish-green body with creamy white trim) and none of the whites or greens appealed to me when we tried the samples. Our painter was steering us to that collection with the assurance that "all those colors work together," but I don't care how well they supposedly work together if they're not appealing to me.

We wound up selecting a green from the BM historic collection, a white from the Pratt and Lambert collection, and a deep eggplant/brownish-purple (called "Caponata") from the Affinity line for an accent color. The gray porch floor and pale blue porch ceiling colors we picked are from the regular BM paint line... And after all that, we ended up deciding to use a different painter (planning to paint in the spring) who might end up color matching all the colors we've chosen because he uses Sherwin-Williams paints.

This is actually the first time I've heard of the "Color Stories" line... I don't think our local BM stores even carry the chips, and if they do they're not marketing the line.

I've used the Sweet Celadon color stories color, and I'm absolutely sold on it. Light green, not artificial looking, not too yellow or too blue. I'll be using more Color Stories colors in my next project, along with Affinity.

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/for-your-home/color-stories

Now the weird thing is that right now, I get an internal server error when I use Firefox but not when I use Explorer browser.

I've had trouble with the Benjamin Moore site using Chrome (the personal color viewer works on Chrome at home, but not in the office), and I've had to switch to Explorer.

I found a CSP color that I really liked, but when I went to get a sample, the guy told me he couldn't do it. Something about the color having too many pigments and he could only make the sample with Aura paint (their most expensive) and they were out of stock. Also said I could only get it in Aura. Anyway, maybe others have experienced something similar and that could explain why its not so popular. A shame, cause I really liked the color!

^ You need to go to a paint shop that features the Color Stories line, not all of them do. IIRC, this group of colors requires a group of colorants called Gennex, which must be mixed up in the Aura paint. Presumably that is an investment that not all of the shops are willing to make. It is definitely more expensive than some other paints, and so the market is smaller.

IMO full spectrum color is always likely to be a small niche market, as paint is very much a price driven commodity. Remember that a lot of paint is sold to the rental market, institutional, retail, etc., and these buyers typically want the cheapest paint they can get, that will get the job done. I certainly wouldn't put expensive full spectrum paint into a low or mid-range rental, it wouldn't make sense, when you have to repaint so frequently.

So, as a retail buyer, you have to decide if the difference in the color is enough added value, for you, to make the price increase worth it. Some people care, some don't, and that's fine.

Do people doing cheap rentals usually buy B. Moore? I wouldn't have thought so.

I rented this place first, for instance, and it was definitely Behr's cheapest all the way when I moved in. Terrible, terrible paint.

I've also wondered why there are few discussions about Color Stories, but I've also noted not many lately about full spectrum in general-- as if it were a trend five years ago. I painted a room with CS Crumb Cake and absolutely love it. I was looking for a pale yellow that was not *too* yellow, and must have purchased a dozen samples or more of different colors. A decorator at the local BM store suggested it. The color swatch looks nothing like the color on the wall, and it's different on the computer monitor as well. On the wall, the color changes throughout the day as the natural light and sunlight change. Sometimes it looks beige, sometimes pale yellow. I wouldn't have selected it without the recommendation.

On a side note-- especially for those of us of a certain age-- I had cataract surgery yesterday on my left eye (next week, the right) and I can't stop closing each eye to compare the difference in vision. To my surprise, the cataract in my right eye not only makes everything look slightly darker, but it creates a yellow cast whereas my vision with the new lense is bright with a blue-white tone. This morning I told the doctor that I may gave to repaint the whole house, now that my sense of color is changing. The doctor told me he hears this all the time. Who knew?

Color Stories! My passion for painting & re-painting & maybe re-painting again made me sign in after a long absence (had to look up my login). I'm always so appreciative of someone offering details & photos, so I'm trying to pay it forward here. Happy designing! :)

I have a home with very awkward lighting. Plenty of windows, but still my kitchen & living room are "interior" in the structure, and it's hard to take advantage of the nice windows we do have. So we painted Benjamin Moore Color Stories CSP-1030 throughout our open floor plan. It is a nice effect, but given our low light, we should have gone with a richer color. When designers tell you that you neat a certain amount of natural light to "see" a white, they are correct! I thought this was deep enough, but now I'm wishing we'd gone one shade deeper.

What Color Stories does do is illuminate incredible detail in your architecture, your texture, etc. And it plays with light absolutely beautifully. I believe it was $5 more per gallon than the usual Aura Affinity line. I'm attaching photos of my study -- which is about to change to a deeper color. I'm thinking Trench Coat CSP-1020 or Candle Glow CSP-1015. I want a rich embrace of color, and am hoping to achieve the warm, sunlit glow of an autumn field. Also, I have a huge rock fireplace that sits in the living room, opposite of here. It has all manner of rich greys & a bit of golden and rust color. The two rooms should tie in beautifully. I've become more and more sold on appropriate neutrals as a soothing, comforting backdrop & letting art and foo-foos create the magic.

So in my photos: Hidden Cove CSP-1030 on walls, and Benjamin Moore Firenze AF-225 on the ceiling. I've had the zingy ceiling for a few years, and I may change it now. I'm in the midst of rearranging, so I only attached a "tidy" shot. Har!

I've sampled two CSPs on the walls.

The color on the wall is not at all even close to the sample chips.

They are very saturated. And I found the colors hurts my eyes and literally makes my head spin looking at them. Its almost worse than staring at the sun at high noon.

I cannot imagine the horror of what it would be like if a whole room was painted with these colors. The colors might be fine for smaller pieces like nick nacks.

I'm testing colors and just tried First Crush - one of the lighter shades. I am picking up French Macaroon tonight. I seem to be having better luck with the CS and Affinity paint colors but I am looking in the lighter spectrum of colors. And definitely better names than some.

I've had mixed results with Color Stories. I used Sweet Celadon in my bathroom and office. Love it! Tried Sundress in the new kitchen. Yellows are tricky. This one screamed and had a greenish cast. I had the painter re-do the kitchen in Ellen Kennon's Honeysuckle, which is my very favorite yellow for a kitchen.