Decorate Like a Pro - 10 Foolproof Paint Colors - Details Interiors - Interior Design in MA

When the Perfect Teal Turns Out to be Toothpaste Teal

You were going for a soft, beachy teal and now you have walls that look like toothpaste!

Now what?

I say it all the time, it’s only paint. But, it’s labor too. Either you’ve spent hours painting or you’ve paid someone else to paint.

So here’s what you should have done.

Before you paint, choose an inspiration piece, something like a pillow or bedding or a piece of artwork that has a color that you love in it.

Narrow down the 234085734857349857 choices of paint color to under 5, based off of that inspiration piece.

Go to the store and get samples of those.
Grab 5 pieces of LARGE poster board and paint each one one of the colors.
Hang them a wall in the room you’re going to paint. Look at them when it’s sunny. Look at them when it’s cloudy. Look at them during the day. Look at them at night. Then move them to another wall in the room and do the same. As you look at them in these different scenarios start removing the ones you don’t like.
Eventually, you’ll end up with the one you like.

Now, if you’re not up repainting there are a few things you can do to help the situation.

First of all, don’t panic.

Once you add furniture and accessories to the space, the color will be less offensive. You can add some white to offset the teal. You can also add some warmer colors, like yellow, to warm up the teal. Adding some wood tones will help as well.

So, before you start the process all over or hire someone to repaint it, try adding in the other items first. Even though it’ll be more work you may just end up loving the color once everything else is in place.

Another option is to leave one wall of the color and paint the other walls a neutral tone.

I’ve actually written not one, but two books on paint colors that look great in almost every space!
25 Foolproof Paint Colors – So You Can Avoid the Do-Over AND
15 MORE Foolproof Paint Colors – So You Can Avoid the Do-Over are available right now!
In 25 Foolproof you get 25 paint colors. Every color has a switch, a description of the color and a picture of it in a room. You also get tips on how to choose the right color.
In 15 MORE you get 15 more paint colors, with a swatch, a description and a picture of the color in a room. In those 15 colors are 5 colors that are perfect for trim. PLUS you get 6 BONUS colors that look great on accent furniture. You also get painting tips AND a sheen chart, so you know exactly where to use flat, where to use semi-gloss and so on!