paint palette that is. Wednesday night I attended a Color Class hosted by Benjamin Moore at West Elm Chelsea. What got me in the door was a coupon for a free gallon of paint but I also took home these great tricks of the trade.
1. Always view paint swatches in the way the paint will be seen once applied, as to reflect the right angle of light; for example if you are painting a wall hold the swatch out in front of you upright, the floor out in front of you flat, or the ceiling above your head.
2. Cover any colors around the swatch as color reflects off of color.
3. Benjamin Moore representatives recommend painting a foam core test swatch (they sell common colors in 18×18 panels already made and also 1 pint cans for sampling) so that you can carry it around a space to see how the color plays off the furniture and other pieces in a room. Also then this swatch can be a helpful tool when carried on future shopping trips for picking out accessories and such.
4. Never cover glaze or a gloss paint without properly prepping it, aka sanding or using the right primer first (if you are not sure ask one of the BM specialists.)
Paint can be a great way liven a space and add the personality you might be looking for. It is especially great for rental spaces because although wallpaper can look fabulous, painting is much less of a hassle to put up and change after. Take a look at some of these painted lovelies for inspiration…
1. Descending decoration, Jeff Hester decorative painter spotted in Benjamin Moore Envision Color catalog 2011, 2. Stripe Splendor, weedecor.com, 3. Glaze Goodniess, evolvingimage.com
Benjamin Moore also has a fabulous App for Smart phones or IPhones, you can point to anything take a picture and the App will select which paint color best matches it and it will give you a range of hues that correspond with your chosen color. How awesome is that!
Get the app here
