Paint sample/chip question

Whether you used a painter or did your painting yourself....

How many of you relied on paint chips versus getting actual samples of the paints before you painted your homes?

We hired a painter. I thought I had my colors all picked out until I got home and looked them up on the net to see that they look NOTHING like they do on the cards. I literally sat in the empty house for three days at different times of the day to choose colors for the entire house. I was so excited that this was done and I was ready to email my choices to the painter. We don't have a whole heck of a lot of time to wait - he starts on Friday and we move in the following Friday. We also dont have money to blow on multiple paint samples for every room.

I don't want to make mistakes on this, but time is of the essence. I cant keep going back and forth between the two homes with paint issues when we really need to focus on packing to vacate.

Any suggestions would be VERY helpful. Thanks.

Re: Paint sample/chip question

It's hard but i did my house without samples when we first bought and i really didn't like any of the colors. When we redid the house I either got samples or with my main floor which is an open floor plan, I found the color i loved bc my friend had it on the walls in one of her rooms. That was after buying 3 or 4 different samples that were not quite right. It was the best way to really know how it looked on an actual wall. I would not go by the chips ever again. Do you have any particular colors you are looking at? Maybe some people here have samples or can give you a sample from their gallon can.... I have quite a few BM colors myself

Re: Paint sample/chip question

We got the samples.....

Its unbeliveable how the actual lighting and flooring in the room can change the color once it is on the walls...

We have the same color in our foyer and den and because the lighting is completely different in the 2 rooms
( and wood floors in one/tile in the other), you would never know its the same color !

IMO, its worth it to slap a sample on the wall...Certain BM paints sell little paint samples , and some we had to buy a smalll can of because they don't come in sample sizes..

Re: Paint sample/chip question

I learned my lesson the hard way about painting straight from a chip and not getting the sample. I have 3 gallons of a horrible yellow color sitting in my closet unopened because I didn't spring for the $3 sample! What a waste of $90. I learned my lesson though...

I just went through this....

Home Depot has Behr paint, which is awesome. They do great color matching and have the competitive recipes in their computers for Sherwin Williams, etc.. so it's not a big deal at all to bring them your swatches and have them make you samples. The sample are $2.94 for a little container that they mix for you in about 2 minutes total. The little jar is enough to paint a BIG section of a wall so you can get a good idea.

I'd say get all your colors made up in the little samples, buy a little roller, and have fun sampling on the walls. You don't want to regret your color choices and you'll be mad if you pay someone good $ to paint and come home and hate it...

Re: Paint sample/chip question

In our current house, the paint chips look very accurate to what is actually on the walls.
Did you do searches for your paint colors in people rooms or just look at the paint chips online? I found that the paint chips online can really vary based on your monitor and settings.

Re: Paint sample/chip question

We got samples for the LR, DR and hallways. I didn't get them for our bedrrom or the kids room.....i figured if they weren't exactly what I wanted it wasn't the end of the world.

The LR and halls were perfect....the color we picked for the dining room looked NOTHING like the sample!

Re: Paint sample/chip question

I got samples - a ton of them. It's so hard to tell from a chip what the color will look like especially in different lighting.

Re: Paint sample/chip question

Most of the colors we chose are relatively light. The ONE color in question we need to match an existing carpet that is in very good shape. I hadn't planned on keeping it, but it would truly be a shame to tear it up when it goes with what furniture we have. That room has chair rails and the bottom color should coordinate with the carpet and the couch. Its a taupey-greenish cast on the chip, but online, it is grey. Im going to get a few samples of different taupes this afternoon.

Im pizzed at myself for not doing this thre days ago. We are too pressed for time at this point. Its like I know the colors I want according to the chips but the REAL color will not play out that way. UCH!!!!

Re: Paint sample/chip question

BM did not have the sample of our paint. They had a larger version of the paint chip that I was able to hold up in the light and test out around the LR/DR. BTW the ones on the net look completely different.

Oh and when they first painted I HATED the color. It looked too dark. Once we out the furniture back in the rooms I liked it again.

Re: Paint sample/chip question

I have only ever used chips and its always come out the same as the paint chip

I would not go by how it looks on the computer b/c different monitors can vary in the color depending on settings etc...

Re: Paint sample/chip question

We went with the chips, not the samples and I LOVE every single color we picked out. They're identical on the wall to the chips.

The only color I found that varied a little bit - were yellows.

Other than that - we have spiced orange, tan, blue, green, brown and mauve - they all look exactly as they did on the chip.

eta: I used Sherwin Williams and we still have leftover paint so ditto to what a previous poster said - if you would like to sample any of my colors you're welcome to. My master bath is a green/gray - but more green, you're welcome to try it if you want.

Message edited 7/6/2010 12:22:28 PM.