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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Virtual Painting

It has been at least two years now that I have been debating painting my living room and dining room.  They are connected so they both have to be painted the same color.
The burgundy wall color was beautiful and dramatic and our first bold color on the walls.  But... it's dark and I would really like to lighten and brighten both spaces.  
A few weeks ago we were at a party at a banquet hall and they had the most perfect color in their grand foyer.  I called the hall the next day and found out the name of the color.  It is Benjamin Moore's Soft Fern.  I went and brought home a few paint chips and taped them together to try and get a better idea of how it would look in my space.  It definitely reads very differently than I remember it at the banquet hall (so much so that I feel obligated to make a trip to the banquet hall with paint chips in hand to see if it really is the same color).  It's extremely difficult to pick a paint color from a paint swatch.  Before I start to paint anything on the wall, I thought I would try some virtual painting.  First I tried to use the Benjamin Moore virtual painter, but it kept telling me my photos were too large.  Valspar has a similar website and theirs worked perfectly.  In a few minutes I was able to test out similar colors to Soft Fern to see how I would like it in our living room and dining room.
I tried several different shades of green.  This one seemed closest to Soft Fern.  You can see already how much bigger the room appears.
This one is a little more blue green.
This one a bit too bright.  
While I was at it, I tried a couple of neutral gold colors.
I am going to keep playing and see if I can come up with the perfect color.  Once I find it, watch out...I'll be emptying these rooms and painting them.  
Have you tried virtual painting?

8 comments:

Ange said...

It's so fun isn't it to try out paint virtually? I really should try it more often. I'm sure you probably do this too but I only recently started painting samples on poster board so I could see how they look in different areas of the room and also because putting the sample directly on the wall it's affected by the wall color already there. Can't wait to see what you pick, I thought the green was fantastic looking in there.

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

It's funny how the light and surrounding furniture can change a room color drastically, plus how different things look day and night. Can't wait to see what color you choose. Hugs, Marty

NanaDiana said...

Good luck. That is one of the hardest things for me to do- pick a paint color that I will want to live with long term. It will be fun to see what you pick. xo Diana

At The Picket Fence said...

I have always wanted to use one of the virtual painting tools but never have, I love seeing how you used it! You can really tell how the paint is going to look in a room. Will definitely be using one whenever I paint again. Can't wait to see what color you choose!

Heather

andi filante said...

I like the yellow!!

-andi

Cynthia said...

The light in a room can really change a color. I have learned that over the years. Can't wait to see what you choose.

Cynthia

Unknown said...

I have never used virtal painting before. Sure beats buying half a dozen sample size paint colors and having all those colors on your wall before you paint. Trust me, it's not pretty! ha! Good luck on the paint color! I can't wait to see the end result.

Unknown said...

It's another lovely read and experience to have me into your decent room design world. Already got familiar to your living room from my previous read and excited now reading the details of your painting ideas and thoughts. That's really amazing. The combination of color theme looks really awesome and inviting. I have a doubt that a professional house painter perhaps would not be able to make the room so twinkling.

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