Choosing trim color

[spotty_dog]

Painters are here! A team of three guys is doing such a great job on the prep work for the trim. I would never ever finish if I had to squeeze it into my usual noon-to-3:30 time frame for being able to get projects done. I am so thrilled! Kind of awkward having people in the house, but eh. Worth it.

[spotty_dog]

Finally, there's color on the walls! And...I think it's going to be really good. I'll get some photos when the sun comes up. It's only half-done but I think it's coming right along. And I'm SO excited to continue the process into the other rooms, but...baby steps. The trim is about 90% done, there's a short hallway that still needs done, and a few spots need another coat because for whatever reason they used a dark gray primer in spots that's showing through. But it's crisp and shiny and beautiful...whee!

[ides]

Yeah! Can't wait to see pics!

[spotty_dog]

The mantel is SO SHINY.



The color is light and un-gloomy, but a big change from the vanilla-yellow. (I think I'm going to look into changing the door hardware!)



The light upstairs can be terrible and I didn't want it to be too dark.



It is purported to have lavender undertones, and does get a little pinky-purple in some lights, but I still think it will be a good backdrop for wall art and, if I take it to the living room, for the furnishings I've got in there. Anyway, I'm hopeful!

[SoonerTexan]

Pretty!


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[ides]

Looks really great!

[memyselfandI]

It looks nice!

[spotty_dog]

Thanks! I never updated with final photos though...I have to say, every time I come down the stairs to see this view, I smile.



Here's the before:



I think the color really really works for me and I look forward to painting more!

[spotty_dog]

Oops, we did it again...a little bit of repair work, is turning into a whole paint job. We need to fix a patch of drywall, but without having any of the matching paint, it looks like it's time to get another room painted -- and since hubby's painter friend is doing the drywall, we're having him do the paint too. Now I have to pick colors again, but this time, I have to work with painted trim. Previous owners painted it a deep gray-brown, and I think I want to go with kind of a tonal effect by just picking a lighter shade of the same color. Can't do anything as simple as picking from related color chips, because the color was a custom tint! Oh joy. So I went to the paint store that did the custom job, they had a swatch on file, and I took the swatch to the wall-o-chips. I now have eight shades of gray and beige to work from. O_o The plan is that while the guy is working on the drywall, I leave him with a couple of colors and he'll swatch them for me. Then by the time he's done with the drywall, I make a final decision, and he puts it up for me!

Is there anything I'm failing to consider? The carpet is kind of cream-colored, but it's extremely crappy and will be replaced within the year anyway. The furniture is a hodge-podge of colors but the pieces we like best are dark wood. We also have a hodge-podge of wall art, but my favorite piece is a linoleum print of a hummingbird with a cherry blossom -- it has pink blossoms, and is matted with sage-green, and framed with gold. So I was thinking of aiming for greenish undertones...but those are coming out too cool and clashy with the trim, I think.

Okay, here. I know chips are a terrible way to pick colors, but I need to narrow it down somehow...

Natural light



Incandescent light (shadowy hallway)



Natural light on a dark wall next to my hummingbird print

[MsSassyBaskets]

Shitake and balanced beige are the closest to the same color family. The others look too pinky or grey for the trim, which has a bit of a yellow undertone.

My question for you - do you like the trim color enough to want to coordinate with it? Or do you want to start from scratch and choose all your own colors?

[ides]

I like the balanced beige.


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[spotty_dog]

Shitake and balanced beige are the closest to the same color family. The others look too pinky or grey for the trim, which has a bit of a yellow undertone.

My question for you - do you like the trim color enough to want to coordinate with it? Or do you want to start from scratch and choose all your own colors?

Well, after seeing the prep that went into painting the trim in the rest of the house...let's say I don't dislike the trim enough to want to change it. Even if I did change it I have no idea what I'd choose -- white doesn't seem right in this room, nor black. Gray-brown is as good as anything?

I agree that those two colors are the best matches. I'm also still looking at Anew Gray and Versatile Gray, because they seem to contrast pleasantly and not clash. Bungalow Beige and Dhurrie Beige do seem to pull toward pink, and the Useful Gray and Sedate Gray are too green-cool. So that narrows it to four! For now!

[poky]

Bungalow and Dhurrie are definitely pink. Avoid those.

[spotty_dog]

I just took the chips into the dark, incandescent-lit room. Balanced beige is a little *too* similar to the trim color. I put Useful Gray back in the mix and I kind of like the contrast. The grays are almost identical to each other, both a little dark and a little contrasty with the trim. If I want the tonal effect though, I think Shiitake is my pick. Which is kind of annoying because it's very BEIGE and because it's a brand new color for January 2016 so there aren't a lot of examples or opinions on the internets.

[MsSassyBaskets]

Useful gray is better than sedate. Warmer somehow? I can see that working.