Picking Paint Colors

Now that the drywall guys are gone and the flooring is finished, my full time job is now painting every square inch of this house--from the ceilings to the trim.  It's hard work, and sometimes it seems like it might never end, but maybe the most intimidating part of it all is at the very beginning:  choosing your paint colors.  We had to do it, and we had to make it fast, since we want to paint the whole house before we move anything else in from the storage unit.  But how to choose from the millions of samples at the store?? 

Since we were picking under duress (that dazed, overwhelmed state when you've taken on too many DIY projects), we knew we had better stick to more subtle colors rather than risk a bold choice that we might regret once "real life" begins again.  

Part of me wishes we could have poured over magazines and read designers' suggestions, but in a way it was liberating to walk into Home Depot, pick some colors and get to work.  And I always remind myself, the great thing about painting is, if you REALLY don't like what you chose, you can always try again!

We did know that we both like whites, blues and greens like gray-blues, sage, robins egg and mint.  Rooms like these always draw me in and were somewhere in the back of my mind when we were at the hardware store:

I suppose we have both loved this color scheme for a while, since our living room in Berlin was painted a pale blue-green, too.  And a black chandelier!  You like what you like, I guess:)   

Our approach was to choose a trim color that's white but not too sterile or gray and then be sure to check wall color options against it.  Thankfully, to make choosing paint colors easier for those of us who get easily overwhelmed, Baer (and many other paint companies) provides lots of examples and suggestions for combinations of colors.  We spotted a display of their "White & Light Collection" and loved so many of the colors that we picked mostly from this card.  I'm not about to refuse help when I need it:)  

Stay tuned for the results... if I ever finish!

xo

Liza