Need help with paint color

12 years ago

I'm painting an accent wall in my living room, and I'm looking for a warm, golden color to compliment the olive green I have in the dining room (it's sort-of open plan). I found a color I loved on pinterest (Benjamin Moore HC-38), but when I painted a sample, it looked nothing like the picture. I got two more paint samples from Lowes (Valspar something), and one of them was too peach-y and one was nearly orange. Both of the Valspar paint swatches looked completely different on the wall than they did on the shelf, and now I don't know where to go from here. I don't want to spend a fortune on paint samples ($9 for the Benjamin Moore one alone!), but I need to find something that works. Anyone have any suggestions?

The photos below are of the original pin (the color I want), and the paint on my walls. The darker color on my wall (the one with the green undertone) is the Benjamin Moore color named in the Pin. Doesn't look anything like the pin, to me. Help!

Featured Answer

decoenthusiaste

12 years ago

What kind of wall are you accenting? I ask because, IMO, accent walls should fall into one of these categories; ones with no windows or doors, one with a fireplace only, interiors or backs of niches, and those with no windows or doors which are opposite a bank of windows that bring in lots of light. Then you can use darker colors without seeming overpowering. You'll have better success finding the right color if you get large poster board or piece foam core for each color sample and paint a 12" square in the center. Put the boards up on the wall in question for 24 hours and see how changing light, day and night, natural and artificial, affects the color. The white border will keep your current wall color from distorting the shades.

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Comments (9)

kksmom8
12 years ago
last modified: 12 years ago
SW Blonde might be a good choice, it looks as if the room in the Pin has a lot of natural light. Blonde would probably look a lot lighter in a room that lit. Home Depot sells tester pots for around $3.00 and they usually have the other paint manufacturers colors in their computer. You might try that?
mcasey4 thanked kksmom8
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felixgrantham
12 years ago
Accent walls are pretty hard to pull off. If you do decide to go that route, I'd try to keep to a color that is less of a contrast to your green unless you have a rug or some other important item that will help tie the two colors together.
mcasey4
Original Author
12 years ago
The wall I'm painting has no windows, it does have a fireplace, and it's opposite a wall with a large picture window and sliding glass door out onto the backyard. It does have a doorway into our kitchen (which you can kind-of see in one of the photos). It's currently standard creamy-white, so we're simply painting over it. My big problem is not wanting to spend a ton of money on sample after sample, because the swatches aren't matching the paint color very well (even when opening the can at the store). I'm hoping that someone might have painted a similar color, and have a suggestion for a color that looks more like the one in the pin. Then I could try a couple more informed paint samples, rather than 5 or 6 more (which is where I feel like I'm heading).
mcasey4
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks kksmom8! I'll get a sample of that and give it a try. And I'll try Home Depot too - $9 a sample is killing me!
kksmom8
12 years ago
I hear you on the samples, hate to waste $$$. On the SW color strip, Blonde looks a lot browner than what you would think, but turns a nice gold on walls. Hopefully!
mcasey4 thanked kksmom8
decoenthusiaste
12 years ago
Why not go back to your olive green paint company and look at what they suggest to compliment it?
mcasey4 thanked decoenthusiaste
mcasey4
Original Author
12 years ago
That's a great idea - thanks! We got the olive green color at Lowes (and LOVE it), but maybe the Valspar website has color palates with the green? Great suggestion!
decoenthusiaste
12 years ago
Let's hear what you find!