With the way the economy is going, more and more of us are becoming DIY-ers. I found a great site with lots of fun things on it, including this paint and wallpaper estimator. It will even help you figure out how much mulch you need.

Personally, I’m hoping my hip will cooperate and allow me to tackle some projects in my own home. The gimp-factor has slowed me down, so I’m holding back on some professional jobs. This has finally given me some time to spruce up my own home. And I’d like to do it myself (hip willing). So I may very well be using this estimator myself.

I’ll keep you all posted on my plans and of course, write all about it. By the way, we all agreed that the ivy in the family room has to go. Bye bye!

One of the most difficult things for clients to do is visualize what a change in decor will look like. This is especially true with color. Especially when I come up with something outside the norm - which is fairly often. I love color and like to use it in unusual ways. I’m proud to say that I haven’t a had single client reject the end result. In fact, it’s typically quite the opposite.

This is largely due to two reasons. First, I’m a design genius (at least in my imagination, so please don’t burst my bubble or it’s the paddy wagon for me). Second, I know how difficult it is for many people to imagine what something will look like without some visual help. A little paint chip often isn’t enough.

I’m not the only one to understand this. Paint companies figured it out long before I did. And most have come up with paint visualizers to help you out. They all work the same way. You choose a room from one of their samples and paint the walls, trim and ceiling using their colors. You can save the result and print it out.

It’s a nice tool to help you get started. Here is a list of links to several sites that offer this service.

Benjamin Moore

Pratt and Lambert

Sherwin Williams

Behr

Valspar

Be aware that the color on a computer screen will not look the same in real life. You may need to tweak your selection. And I’m a big fan of testing a color first. Regarding the visualizers, I wish they offered a larger choice of rooms to paint. Really, how difficult can that be? Also, don’t waste your ten dollars on Bennie Moore’s program that allows you to upload your own photos. It’s a pain to use and they should be giving it away. But they make a good paint.

Have any of you had experience with these? What’s your opinion of them? I’m also wondering how many of us have weekend DIY projects planned for this weekend. I’m making over the gravel pit.

Mythic Paint was kind enough to send me a fan deck of their No VOC paint. This is a new paint I wrote about earlier, which has no Volatile Organic Compounds. So no bad smell. Their fan decks are now available for sale directly from their site.

I was pleased to find that their colors include beautifully saturated shades. I’m a girl who’s gotta have her red. I’m thinking of taking Mythic for a test drive when I overhaul our bedroom this summer.

Here’s the question I received from a very frustrated couple who are trying to choose a paint color for their hallway. Joan says, “We have put picture frame molding and a chair rail on our stairway. We are about to paint and plan to keep the lower half white. It is the upper half that is a problem. It would be the stairway and upstairs hall which is a bit dark so we don’t want too dark of a color but we want a bit of contrast with the white. We have put samples on the wall and are not happy with any of them. They are Stone House (too dark). Asian Jute (also very dark and maybe too goldish). Bradstreet Beige (looks like flesh).

My husband thought he would like green but we have a lot of green in the house and that seems like it would be too much. I think we are looking for a neutral color that would work. Any suggestions?”

This sounds like a case of “Deer in the Headlights Syndrome.” What do you do when there are so many colors to choose from and you don’t really know what you want? Here are some tips:

Don’t be afraid of going too dark due to lack of light. No matter what color you paint the walls, if there isn’t enough light, it will still look dark. Color and lighting are two separate issues. As long as you’re painting the ceiling, why not add some downlighting? As for the paint, a mid-tone or more saturated color can make a big impact in the hallway, since there usually isn’t a lot of other things going on. Don’t be afraid of color. The color in the photo you sent is very safe, but boring. Find a color you love and go for it.

But which color? The first thing I would do is analyze where you’ve used other colors in the house. And what colors you like, in general. What color are the adjacent rooms? Where is the green that you like? Match your favorite green and the adjacent colors with paint swatches. You can use these to create a palette. If you really like green, you could go with a lighter or darker shade than the one you already have. As long as it isn’t all the same value, I wouldn’t worry about too much green if that’s a color you love.

From the description of the paint colors you’ve tried and don’t like, I’m thinking that you’re trying to choose a color that won’t look like a color. There’s nothing wrong with a neutral, but choose one you like. Try going more gray than gold or beige. A grayer taupe looks great with green. Just be sure you’re matching warm greens to warm taupe, cool greens with cooler grays.

The images, above are from Valspar and Benjamin Moore’s sites. Almost all paint manufacturers have a personal color viewer, wherein you choose a room and virtually paint it. Try it. This way, you can go wild with color risk-free. You may just find that the hue you love the most is red.

One final thought. The entrance to your home is the first thing you see when you come home. It’s the first thing your guests see. First impressions count. Cast your color fears aside. This is the place to really make a statement.

There’s a new paint on the market that seems primed to turn the green world on its ear. Mythic contains no volatile organic compounds (VOCs). That means it has no off-gassing from toxins. It also means it’s an ultra-low odor paint.

Low VOC paints have been around for a while. The difference here is that Mythic isn’t just a low VOC, it’s no VOC. The other thing that impressed me is their extensive color palette. It’s not limited to pastels and contain a wide assortment of mid-tone hues.

The formula was developed in cooperation with the University of Southern Mississippi. It took them six years, but they finally came up with Mythic’s ultra-top-secret paint technology. (I guess that means that any student leaking the secret gets double-secret probation.)

You can order the paint on-line, or check their site for a dealer in your area. It’s a brand new paint, so be prepared to order directly from Mythic. Their pricing is competitive with other quality paints. A quart sells for $16.49 and a gallon for $46.99.

The one glaring omission is that they don’t seem to have a fan deck or a color sample system. I hope they’ll come up with one fast, because I wouldn’t recommend choosing a paint color from a computer screen. I’m waiting to hear from them on the subject and will add an update when I do.

Here’s some news for my fellow interior designers, painters and Paint-it-Yourselfers. Benjamin Moore recently introduced a new line of paint called Aura.

Aura uses a new technology that microscopically locks colorants into resins. Because the pigments are permanently bonded to the paint film, the colors are uniform from one gallon to the next. So, should you need to repair and repaint a wall a year after you first painted it, the color will always match. It also means that surfaces can be scrubbed without taking the paint off the wall. And that includes the matte finish.

Benjamin Moore has also created a new fan deck to work with the Aura color palette. They call it Affinity Colors. Basically, they’ve taken 144 colors from the basic Benjamin Moore line that work together in any arrangement. In my opinion it’s not quite as perfect as they claim. But I love the concept. It will come in handy for the Do-It-Yourselfer who doesn’t feel so confident choosing hues. And it will help others take a creative leap beyond one color for the walls and off-white for the trim.

Pottery Barn and Benjamin Moore have teamed up to create paints in colors that compliment Pottery Barn’s furnishings. It’s a smart idea. Pottery Barn doesn’t have to stock and mix paint, Benjamin Moore sells paints, and our lives are made a little easier. For those who struggle with selecting colors, PB & BM have done the work for you.

They’ve come up with four palettes called: Monticello Peach, Geranium, Northern Air, & No-Nonsense. Here they are, nicely laid out on Benjamin Moore’s site.

Monticello Peach: personally, I don’t like peach. But I do like that red.

Geranium: this is my favorite.

Northern Air: this is my second favorite.

No-Nonsense: personally, I say “no” to this one.

Bright yellow might be great in Florida, or in a different room. But it’s very difficult to sleep in a bright yellow bedroom. The glare burns through your eyelids. However, the palette is very cheery.

Today we’re looking at color. I received a request for color ideas for a newly renovated kitchen in a 1918 Michigan cottage. The kitchen opens into both the dining and living rooms and the owner wanted color that would blend with those rooms. The dining room is a soft, mustard yellow and the living room is a sage green. The new kitchen includes some fantastic architectural elements, which the owner wanted to emphasize. “I want the glass cabinets to have some pop. The kitchen is small, but I want something interesting.”

The granite for the counters and the cabinet

Using the photos (above), and the elevations, I came up with a color palette that will blend with the rest of her house, and give the kitchen the zip she wants. I “painted” the kitchen two different ways using the same palette. Here’s what I came up with.

I chose Kentucky Haze (all paints are Benjamin Moore) for the first color - the jumping off point, if you will. It’s a soft blue with a little gray. This hue will blend nicely with the yellow dining room and green living room because the values are similar. and they’re all warm tones. The blue will enhance the orange tones in the cabinets making them glow because blue and orange are complements. Accentuating warmth is especially important in Michigan where winters are long.

Acadia White is the contrasting hue. This is an off-white with yellow undertones, which is both cozy and light reflective. The contrast with the blue accentuates the architectural elements. Finally, Rhubarb is the zip. This warm, red hue is a great accent, and red stimulates the appetite. More importantly, it makes a beautiful kitchen even more interesting.

Here’s how I used these three colors in two different ways. Each example has two elevations.

The first version is the more obvious. Don’t we usually think of painting the trim white? Here, the beadboard wainscoting and back splash, and the rest of the trim is painted Acadia White and the walls are Kentucky Haze. The Rhubarb is painted inside the glass-paneled cabinets and the shelves. I decided to paint the window mullions and coat pegs red to add some balance. Overall, it looks pretty good.

But let’s compare it to version two. It works much better, doesn’t it?

As I said before, the blue surrounding the cabinets makes them pop. To me, this is a more inviting room to cook in. Having the darker color on the bottom seems to balance the room better than in the first version. Also, it’s more practical to paint the beadboard the darker color as it will hide scuffs and scrapes. Finally, it’s unexpected, and a lot more fun.

Which version do you prefer?

I’m here at La Chum (that’s Chum Bucket in French). I’ve received a question about painting with glazes and thought I’d give it a quick answer before I get to work stripping the bathroom floor. Here’s the question from Darcy in Washington DC:

What is a glaze and when should you use it? In design magazines the designer is often saying that he painted with glaze but I don’t understand what this means. Does it just add shine? And if so, how is it different than just using a semi-gloss or gloss paint? If you have any time, any advice would be helpful. I’m painting my front room a light gold/butter color and I would love to make the walls look like they are actually glowing (if possible).

Basically, a glaze is a paint additive, which slows down the paint’s drying time. This does two things that are especially useful when working with latex paint since latex dries so quickly. First, it enables you to paint creative finishes (faux things). It also gives the paint a glossy finish. There are lots of different glazes around. Some are designed to create a metallic finish, which might give you the glowing look you’re after.

There are lots of online sites with information about how to use glazes. Here is one from Living Home. Darcy, for your project, I recommend going to a paint store with your paint sample. They’ll be able to tell you which of their products will give you the look you’re going for. Then, try it out on a sample board first. This is especially important with a glowing effect. If this is a room you use a lot, you’ll want to make sure it’s not glowing too much. I hope this helps.

I’ve had some comments about paint jobs gone wrong because of a bad color choice. What to do? Can this paint be fixed? The answer is… sometimes.

If you realize, after painting the first coat, that you’ve got a problem, ask yourself if the problem is the original color mixing visually with the new color. Assuming you haven’t sampled the paint first, do it now. Paint it on white (like foam core) and see if it looks better. If it’s still all wrong, try to figure out what’s wrong.

Find a color wheel online and print it out. Look at your paint. Is your blue too green (next on the color wheel)? Is it too violet? It could be too gray. If you can figure this out you can take it back to the paint store and ask them to remix it. Make sure they write down the new formula. The experts at the store can also help you figure out what the problem is. Then, resample! You can then fix all the paint without having to throw it away. Of course, you can always start over. Sample correctly and donate the unused paint to Habitat for Humanity. It all depends on time, budget and your rank on the obsessive compulsive index.

Okay, you’ve got your paint samples and you’re ready to get started. By the way, if they don’t have your color in a sample pot size, invest in the quart. It’s worth it in the end. Also, with the 2 ounce sample pots you should be able to paint 2 coats that are about 1’ x 2’ in size. That’s not a very large sample; so get 2 sample pots per color. Okay? So, now you’re ready to get started. First, don’t start slopping the paint on the wall! Here are the easy steps to paaint sampling success:

• Paint your color sample on a white background. As with the chip, you’ll be able to see what the color actually looks like.
• Use matt board, or foam core and paint 2 coats.
• Don’t forget to write the color name on the back of the sample!
• Allow the paint to dry completely. The color will change slightly when it’s dry.

Put the samples in the room you’re painting and view them throughout the day, in natural and artificial light. If you’ve painted a larger sample, you can cut it into pieces and place them in different areas that get more or less light.

There are lots of other tips to choosing the right color, but an easy and important one is this: warm colors move forward, cool colors recede. So, if you want to make a room appear larger, use a cool value. Likewise, if you want to make a room seem smaller, paint it a warm value. There are warm and cool versions of red, I don’t mean blue v. orange.

Questions? Leave a comment and I’ll comment back.

I’ve got a few free minutes, so I thought I’d wrote a Design Tip that even I could use from time to time. It’s how to choose a paint color. Paint is relatively inexpensive, so repainting isn’t costly. But the time is! And if you’re hiring someone to do the work, the labor is definitely something you don’t want to have to pay for twice. So here’s Part One of my two part series on how to choose a paint color.

First, choose several paint chips that you think will work well in your room. Keep in mind that the color you like in the store won’t look the same at home because the lighting is different. So, take home lots of chips. They’re free!

Start With a Dark Shade
Most people think that the lighter the color the easier it is to pick the right paint. However, sometimes a light color can be tricky because the lighter the tint the more difficult it becomes to discern differences between colors. For example, what looks like a pale brown may end up looking like a dull light lavender on the wall. To overcome this problem, look at the whole color strip. There are usually 4 to 8 shades per strip. Check out the darkest shade. Is this the hue (color) you want? If so, the lighter tint will be okay.

How Will Your Shade Look?
At home you will want to evaluate the paint chips in the room:

• Look at the chips in the rooms you’re painting.
• Look at them in both natural and artificial light, and at different times of the day so you will know how it looks morning, noon, and night.
• View the color sample vertically, against the wall rather than flat on the floor or a table.
• View them one color at a time with the color chip surrounded by white. Put each sample on a sheet of white paper. Make sure each chip is on separate sheets because when you look at colors near each other, your eyes take in all of the colors at once. Your brain “mixes” the colors in your mind. You’ll be seeing colors, but not the one you want.

Remember you’re looking at a small amount of the color and it will be more intense on the entire wall. If you like the color on the chip you may be happier going one step lighter in color when you paint the room. Sampling both can help you decide which you prefer. (More on this tomorrow)

The sheen will also affect the color. Higher gloss finishes appear lighter while flat or textured finishes appear darker. If you prefer a flat or low sheen finish keep in mind that the actual painted wall will seem a bit darker than the chip so again you may want to consider going one step lighter when you purchase the paint to sample.

And that’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll discuss sampling techniques and what to do if you still get it wrong.