My five-step guide to testing paint samples in your home and making the right choice.
As an interior designer who works with numerous paint brands, and as a former colour consultant for Farrow & Ball, I know how hard it can be to choose between hundreds of different colours especially when they don’t seem very different from one another. These five simple steps will bring you clarity and confidence in your decisions.
So, let’s begin.
Image: Anne Lemaître
1
START WITH A CLEAR IDEA
If you’ve already started looking at paint colours and you don’t know which colour to choose, let alone which shade, then the first question I’m going to ask you is this:
Do you have a clear vision of what you want your finished interior to look like?
A good place to start is by looking online, on Pinterest and in home magazines to get a clear idea of what you like. If you do all those things and you’re still unsure, then open your wardrobe to see what colours you are most comfortable with. Try not to let passing interior design trends influence you and be true to what you like.
Image: Anne Lemaître
2
COLOUR CARDS
We now need a point of reference. Do you like any particular paint brands? If none come to mind, have a look at photos of interior design projects you like on social media and in home magazines as they’ll often reference paint colours along with their brands.
Order a colour card online from your chosen brand (they’re usually free) or pick one up at your local DIY shop.
I recommend starting with a single brand that has a reasonably limited choice (less than 150 colours) rather than ones that have hundreds of shades to choose from. Use this as a starting point, and once you know what colours you’re looking for, you could then broaden your search to other brands and find more nuanced versions of certain shades.
Choose 2 - 4 colours that you would like to try and order samples.
Image: Anne Lemaître
3
SAMPLING
Once you receive your samples, it’s time to get painting!
You will need:
• Sheets of thick, white A3 paper (at least 120gsm)
• A paintbrush (ideally 1 inch/25mm wide)
• Something to stir the paint with (I use the handle of a teaspoon)
• Masking tape or blu-tack
• A pencil
Now one by one, paint an entire A3 sheet for each sample, noting the colour reference, brand and number of coats in pencil at the bottom of each page. The number of recommended coats can vary between brands so double-check, but it’s generally two coats. For really dark, rich colours that would
normally have a coloured undercoat (such as dark blue or red), add an
extra coat.
Painting samples on paper rather than directly onto the walls may seem like additional work, but I promise, it’s much better in the long run. You’ll be able to move them around, testing them on different walls or even in different rooms, plus you can keep your chosen wall colour for future reference (very useful when you go to shops to choose curtain fabrics or a sofa, for example). It also means that when you’re ready to paint the walls, you don’t have to start off with applying layers of undercoat to hide the patches of colour, which may otherwise remain visible through the new paint.
Image: Anne Lemaître
4
THE WALL TEST
Attach these samples to the wall you would like to paint with masking tape or blue-tak. Space them out as much as possible! This is really important, because putting colours side-by-side significantly influences our perception of them.
I recommend that you leave them in place for a day or two, ideally over the weekend or when you’ll be at home, so that you can judge the colours in different kinds of light. The time of day and the exposure of your rooms (whether they are north, south, east or west-facing), the time of year, and even the colour of your lightbulbs can change how we perceive colour. So it’s useful to consider what time of day you’ll be using the room and taking a look at the samples around these times. If you’re looking to paint the entire room, play around and move the samples to different walls to see how they look elsewhere.
Image: Anne Lemaître
5
MAKE A DECISION
This step can easily become over-complicated and so I’ll keep it simple: there are lots of different shades that would work, you just need to narrow it down to one. The perfect colour is one that you feel comfortable with, that you enjoy looking at, and that fits in with the image of your finished interior from Step One.
Have fun choosing colours for your home and remember that paint isn’t permanent.
Be brave - I’m sure you’ll make the right decision!
If you would like help choosing colours for your home, you can book a colour consultation with me here: contact@loisgatelier.com.
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