Vol. XV: Paint Colors

Vol. XV: Trade Secrets | Paint

I receive so many messages about paint colors that I thought I’d dedicate an entire newsletter to some of my favorite tricks and most requested colors. A big thanks to everyone who provided great paint-related questions to curate this discussion!

Getting Organized

First, I thought about how my office puts together paint schedules (a guide with paint colors, placement and finish for the painters) for our projects. Here are a few rules of thumb we tend to follow: Wall Finish Recently, I've tended to like a matte finish for walls, unless we are painting a room that will get lots of hands on walls like a narrow stair or a bathroom that doesn’t have great/new ventilation. In either of those cases, I prefer an eggshell finish. Test It First The paint color nearly always looks darker on the walls than it does on the paint deck. For this reason, we order larger card samples before selecting a color from the deck and we ask the painter to test larger samples on the wall before proceeding with a color. I’ll also often ask the painter to cut my originally-selected paint color with white, most often either 50% or 75%, so we can see if we prefer a different tone of the color in the space.

Blue entryway

above:

especially in an apartment, a great way to delineate space is by painting the trim, walls and door the same color. | walls, trim & doors: Benjamin Moore Silken Blue CSP-670

•   •   •Trim Not always, but most of the time, we use a satin finish for trim. It contrasts very nicely with matte walls. Ceiling We typically use a flat finish on the ceiling. If the trim in the room is white, we’ll often specify the trim color be cut with 50% white for the ceiling. Sometimes, we’ll paint the ceiling blue to give the room the illusion of more height, or to add a layer of interest to the space. Paint Brands Paint stores that sell Benjamin Moore can mix Farrow and Ball colors. Always test this, though, because sometimes the colors come out slightly off from an F&B sample. Farrow and Ball will not cut colors with white, so we sometimes have to go with Benjamin Moore just to get the right tone of the color. Painters also tell me that Benjamin Moore satin finishes are smoother to paint than Farrow and Ball’s satins.

Paint Q&ALiving room with skirted bar area and white walls, navy trim

above:

two different trim colors in one room–it totally can work! | walls: F&B Schoolhouse White No. 291 | moulding: Benjamin Moore Simply White OC-117 | door frame trim: Benjamin Moore Regent Green 2136-20

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Entryway with floral wallpaper, navy door

above:

coordinating trim with wallpaper–a great way to punctuate a space! | trim & door: benjamin moore washington blue cw-630

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Kitchen with two barstools, white island, green cabinetry

above:

an eye-catching color for the cabinetry anchors the space. | cabinetry: benjamin moore antiqued aqua csp-705
note: you do not have to make the island the same color!

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Living room with green velvet sofa, blue and white art, white walls and trim, jute rug

above:

every now and then, an all-white room is right. one of my favorite whites is shown here in this manhattan apartment and it’s benjamin moore cloud white 967

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Blue and white wallpapered entryway with console and mirror
look on the right here and you see an example of a space without any cased openings