How to Test Paint Colors: SureSwatch Paint Samples
Foggy Day, the middle color, which looks striking in Petra's light-drenched dining room, looks like the same color as a smelly locker room in my windowless powder room. I couldn't hate it more. Lesson learned.
I think we're going the color on the right, Martha Stewart's Blue Suede, which is much lighter in person. Here's the online swatch, which is more true to life:
#MSL164 Martha Stewart Living Blue Suede Interior Paint Sample, $2.94.
Even more exciting that finding a paint color was finding the SureSwatch, also from Home Depot:
SureSwatch 9 in. x 12 in. Paintable Clear Film, $0.94.
Instead of painting directly on the wall, you paint onto these giant stickers, which have low-tack adhesive on the back. They're awesome for two reasons:
Your walls don't get messed up. So if you're going to test your samples one day but you're not going to go back to buy paint for a few days (or a few weeks, in my case) you don't have to stare at the random swatches on your wall indefinitely.
You can move the swatches around to see if you like them in different lights. Not really an issue in my 10-square-foot bathroom, but if you're painting, say, a huge living room, you'll want to check how it the color looks on all four walls at different times of day.
Do you have any big painting projects coming up?
I'd like to do the baby's room a very, very, very (very, very, very) pale pink. There will be lots of paint samples and SureSwatches going on if that ever happens.
