Making Sure the Paint Tint is Right for a Room

By:  ASHLEY WOMBLE

Worried about buying the wrong color? According to the University of Massachusetts's Product Stewardship Institute, consumers waste almost $1 billion a year on paint they can't live with, either tossing it or painting over it.

Since colors tend to be about twice as light and bright as what's represented on a paint chip, the pros agree that the surest way to see how a color's going to look is to paint a few swatches on the walls (the bigger, the better).

"The reality is that color will change in different places and under different light conditions," says Josette Buisson, artistic director for Pittsburgh Paints.

To make testing easier, most companies (including Pittsburgh Paints, Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Behr, and Ralph Lauren Paints) now offer sample paints—in 2-ounce to 29.5-ounce sizes—so you can preview the color before you commit.

Buisson suggests painting swatches in a few different spots in the room (preferably over a white wall) and living with it for a day or two to see how the hue wears on you. Then you can more comfortably commit to a can.  Don't expect a thumbnail-size color chip from the paint store to give you a sense of how a color will look on the walls. Colors are relative to one another and the objects around them—like, say, that new leather sofa. Instead, make your own megaswatch. Get a sample quantity of paint, brush two coats on a slab of foam core (its white surface acts like primer) at least three feet square, then put it up against the wall. You'll get a much better sense of how your tint plays off your furniture and flooring. Eyeball the color at various times of the day and move it around the room to see how it looks in different light conditions.

Invest in a premium paint. Why? Because cheap paint covers very well when it's wet—the first, and in many cases last, time many people scrutinize their work—but not so well once it's dry. "There is only room for a gallon's worth of stuff in the can," says Seattle-based painter Doug Wold, owner of Queen Anne Painting. "If you add more cheap pigment, you take out more expensive resin—and that's what holds it together." Always apply two coats, and allow 2 to 3 hours between them.