I get foam core in the biggest size they have. Poster board is too light. Whether you use a brush or roller it doesn't matter. What does matter is its large and you put at the minimum 2 coats of paint on it. Three is even better. Keep in mind that if you get sample size of paint, usually that's a pint, the color may be slightly off.

I have a couple 3x3 boards that I've had for years. Whenever i want to try out paints, I buy the smallest amount i can, and a cheap foam brush, and have at it.

I was just using thick paper pieces from the dollar store and painting with a brush or a foam brush.

I kept some largish pieces of drywall left over from a remodel to use for paint sampling. Prime, paint two coats with roller.

I had some leftover poster board and rolled way too much paint onto it with a foam brush. Looked more like plaster, but got the trick done. :)

Poster board and a foam brush.....a couple coats.

Poster board, heavy or thin. I typically will cut a sheet in half and get two samples from one sheet. (I started doing the half sheets when BM still had their tiny, better size!, samples. Painting a whole sheet would be fine with larger samples, but I wouldn't paint something smaller than the half poster board.) I always leave 1" white boarder around the board so it helps break seeing paint color right on top of paint color. I typically use a 2" brush and will do two coats. Tape up with painters tape and move around. Sometimes I will even add whole pieces of white posterboard around the new sample if I'm having a hard time blocking the existing color while viewing. That white space really does make a difference. I also will write the paint brand, name, and number on the sample.

I used a 3 x 5 ft piece of drywall that I primed then rolled two coats of paint. It started with four colors in the end it was about 15 I think.

For trim paint I used 2 ft long scraps of leftover trim. Again primed and painted.

I have a picture of it but can't post for some reason.

Well, I'm going to go with foam board. I worry about the poster board curling. And I want to view it about 5-6 feet up on the wall, so I'll need to hang with painters tape.

Love the ideas - and will definitely write the name/number on the back.

We are Looking at whites - and after searching threads here - I've learned that whites are hard!

Dollar store poster board

When you paint on only one side of foam core it will also slightly curl. This is a 30" X 40" X 1/4" sheet that has two coats. Maybe if you taped it down while it dried that would work. I've never tried it.

My poster board curled badly. Looks like a worn piece of leather. My painter laughed. I have used foam board in the past, but never had it curl. They must be making it thinner these days.

Maybe there are different thicknesses. I just grabbed the first one I saw.

Foam board. It's sturdier and easier to prop up and stay in place.

I used foam board. One curled, two didn't. Go figure.

I'm deciding between:

White Dove

Cloud White

Simply White

Talk about hard!

This is for our kitchen cabinets.

It's dusk now, and I have the kitchen lights on.

Based on advice here, I haven't placed the boards next to each other. I placed them in different areas of the room and I've been moving them around. I marked each on the back and it's hilarious, as I keep going over to turn them around to see which one it is (as the colors change in different light). One minute I like one the best… an hour later, another.

Much harder decision than I thought. I have time, though. A couple weeks, actually. (I don't know whether that's a good thing or bad thing!) ;)

Jpmom, those were also my 3 finalists for cabinet color!

White Dove was the first to go as it looked a little gray/drab.

Cloud White vs Simply White was a very tough call. I had two old doors painted by my painters. I went back and forth. I liked them both. I ended up choosing Cloud White as it just had that extra creamy oomph. After my kitchen was done, for maybe a month, I second guessed my choice. Of course. Then I realized I chose the right one. I adore this color.

I'm impatient with waiting for paint to dry. I like to hold my foam board or scrap wood up to see it against the walls ASAP. I get out my hair dryer to dry the board quickly, set on high. I just have to be careful to check the edges and back of the board to make sure there aren't any sticky drips before holding it against test surfaces.

I had the same three colors in my final decision for kitchen cabinets and whole house trim. Dove white was too greige in our light. Cloud white was beautiful but indeed creamy and a touch more yellow so we went with simply white as that looked better with the other parts of the house for the trim.

Funny how so many people pick these three colors and have so much angst over the decision.

Linelle - I too ruled out White Dove. You're right - sort of gray/yellow and dingy. So glad I did these boards b/c that was the color I was going with.

So now it's between Simply White and Cloud White. Cloud has a creamier cast - I'm calling it a deeper white. Simply is a brighter white. I'll move them around throughout the day and see where we end up.

Missy - we typed at the same time!

We are doing two colors for our cabs. Island will be an "almost" black with a new quartz top (something white-ish). Keeping existing perimeter, which is black granite with silvery fleck. (voga blue).

There is really only one section of uppers (fridge/oven wall) - and a small cabinet to the right of our new hood. The hood wall will be all subway tile in a blue-ish gray (except for that upper cabinet)

It's easier to differentiate the two when I have them propped up on the uppers. But much harder when I have them leaning against the lowers.

jpmom, I liked them both. I looked at them and could see a difference but couldn't say which I preferred. Either would have been good. What helped me was not to pit them against one another, no side-by-side compare, because in the end they won't both be in your kitchen together. So, I would just have one in my kitchen at a time and see how it looked and how it made me feel. I'd purposely not pay attention to it and then let it take me by surprise. Cloud White simply called to me more.

My momentary regret came when I had a kitchen of CW. But I tend to react to everything so it wasn't surprising. What I love about it is its softness and slight vintage feel. It's definitely white.

I ended up painting three foam boards per color, so I could tape them around the room and see the color in different lighting at the same time.

I use white paint boards from Ace Hardware that have a sticker on the back to list the paint brand, color, sheen, room used, etc. I have way too many of these painted boards stacked up right now :)

I was also trying to choose between Simply White and White Dove for trim in remodeled bathrooms and bedrooms. I ended up with White Dove since it was more of an off white color and looked good with the wall colors I chose. Simply White was pretty but a little too bright to work with the Antique White trim in the rest of the rooms. Maybe for our next house.

I have a 2' roll of white paper my kids use for various crafts, maps, etc., and have recently started using that for paint samples. I just cut squares of the paper and give them 2 coats. It does get a little wrinkly, but still works well to get an idea of the color and is lightweight and easy to tape up. I actually like that it wrinkles a bit because it gives me a good idea of what the color looks like from various angles :)