paint colors galore

so we've started the painting process - well at least we're trying!  there are too many colors to choose from. i'm sure this is nice when you have something specific in mind, but we just can't seem to find the right color for the living room.

now if you've ever done much painting you may have noticed that paint color names can be very interesting - most of them just make me hungry!  the others make you feel outdoors-y or it seems like someone is trying to put you in a zen-like mood.

one nice thing about home depot and lowes is that they now offer sample paints.  so instead of buying a gallon and hating it once its on the wall, you can buy just a sample, try it out, and if you don't like it, you can try again.

so far we've tried.....................

 coconut shell, basketry, and macchiato

coconut shell cam out a little too dark, although i really like the color.  macchiato looks like dirty wet clay, so that was a definite no.  as for basketry, we like it in the day light, but in lamp light we're not too sure.

then came........................

teatime, spiced cashews, and fortune cookie

teatime is nice, but its a little redder than we were hoping.  josh likes the middle one (spiced cashews_ but i think its too green, and while the fortune cookie is nice, its yellower than we both wanted.

we've talked about going with basketry, but we're on the fence - at this point i'm tired of all the options and just want to pick one!

we're also deciding on kitchen colors.  i started out wanting a teal/turquoise color - our last apartment was a darker teal and i loved it!  so  we found a swatch that was a little lighter than our last place, and josh was on board.  now i tend to like the wacky crazy colors, whether they go or not, and josh likes neutrals - its been interesting!

so we tried out.................

harmonious

but when we got it on the wall, we both thought it was too blue.  josh was thinking it would be greyer and i thought it would be on the greener side.  i had two other paints in this range of colors so i painted them on the wall as well.

the top paint is harmonious, the bottom left is opal silk (the paint i used to refinish an antique dresser last year), and the bottom right is voyage (the color of the kitchen in our last apartment).

well, we didn't like any of them.  with the cabinets and trim being off-white/cream, we thought maybe a green would be better.

so we tried.................

retro avocado

we got it on the wall and we both loved it!  so  i went to go buy it and then i saw the swatch one step greener, and i thought well, maybe i should have a second option.  so i bought a sample.

its called lucky bamboo

so far we really like it, and i think that is what we're going with!  well, that's one room down!

we also picked one sample for one of the spare bathrooms, and we both love it

 saffron

i bought an adorable shower curtain that looks great with this color, so we're now two rooms down!  only like six to go - ha ha!

i'll put up more pictures once we finish painting the kitchen and bathroom.

until then!