Hi Dana,

Paint color is my biggest home DIY nemesis. I’m inspired by your choices. I’ve noticed that the colors you used in your previous house were gray with green hues. Was there a design reason for having a green base in the paint colors? Even the dark accent wall that was in your master had green undertones.

I’ve also noticed that your new house doesn’t have the infamous green-based hues. It seems you’ve chosen warmer hues with subtle, lighter creams. I’m just curious, why? Is it the latest trend? What’s your strategy? – Angelina

Well, Angelina, I have to say that choosing paint colors for our previous house was a quicker and easier process. It was a large home with tons of tall windows, plenty of natural light and high ceilings. Those attributes alone set the stage for nearly any paint color to work well. I chose Valspar {Lowe’s} bonsai for 95% of the house. Three walls in the formal living room were Valspar {Lowe’s} dry riverbed which is a muddy gray. The mini mudroom and laundry room were a soft blue-green. I had a dark accent wall behind my bed. My craft closet was a light lavender-pink. Quite the mix!

Looking back, other than most of the walls being a gray-green, I had no real strategy in regards to paint. And it totally showed. I chose colors that I liked without paying much attention to how they worked as a whole. It wasn’t as noticeable in the house because the different colors were somewhat far apart from one another but if I had laid out all those color swatches next to each other, I think I would have realized it was a strange color palette.

I was intimidated to repaint anything on a large scale. {That’s why the few other colors in the paint palette were painted in small rooms or only as accent walls.} The rooms were huge and pretty much all open to each other and there was a two-story foyer. We paid a professional to paint the entire house the gray-green color before we moved in. I wouldn’t have wanted to redo the work we had already paid for and, for the most part, I really liked the gray-green. I chose it because the house’s numerous windows had views to the outdoors which was mostly green trees and grass. The green undertones worked really well.

Our current house is very different from our previous house. It’s older, smaller, squattier {technical term}. There aren’t as many windows and the ones we do have are smaller than what was in our previous house. We also have a deep overhang blocking some direct sunlight. And the house feels different to me too. From day one, it’s felt very masculine.

Many of the paint colors I originally chose for this house aren’t jiving with the masculine feel I get from it. It’s taken me several months to realize that. Also, paint colors look totally different in this house than in a house that is blessed with natural light aplenty. Thankfully, paint is an easy fix here because the rooms are smaller. So far, I’ve repainted Mabrey’s room, the boys’ shared bedroom and the mudroom {several times!}. I’ll be repainting the master bedroom and bathroom soon. Gradually, I’m building a paint palette that feels masculine and cozy just like the house itself.

What I’m getting at is my previous and current homes have different palettes because they are two completely different houses. It’s not my intention to follow any trends – although I’m seeing moody colors everywhere right now! I’m trying to choose colors I’m drawn to that also happen to work well in this house. I’m more conscious of the overall palette too. It’s been complete trial and error but a great color palette is evolving. Take a look…

Laying out all the colors together like this helps me to see the bigger picture and to see how the colors in different rooms relate to one another. I even went as far as to lay them out in the order that I normally see them upon entering the house. Nerd. {By the way, I stole the paint-dipped clothespin idea from Emma. She’s a genius.} Whites, grays, blacks and deep blues are giving my house a very cozy masculine look. I’m loving the way they all look together too.

Here, I’ve labeled them for you. As you can see, there are a range of light and dark colors. In rooms where the walls are dark, I use a lot of white to lighten them up. In rooms where the walls are light, I use dark items to ground them. I love contrast. FYI – The gravel gray will be going on the outside of the clawfoot tub in the kid/guest bath.

The palette isn’t complete. I’ll be painting our bedroom Benjamin Moore’s anchor gray but I don’t have it on hand. Maybe a paint palette update is in order when I do get it?

I hope that gives you a better insight into why you see a different color palette evolving in my current house. In my opinion, choosing a paint color palette for a home is just like anything else house-related. It takes time and a little trial and error. What looks good in someone else’s house may not be the best choice for yours. For example, I adore all white California rooms but, come to find out, they don’t work well in my midwestern house. Try looking to your wardrobe for inspiration. My current palette is very indicative of my wardrobe. Mostly neutral basics with pops of color and pattern in accessories. Thanks for the question Angelina!

What about you? How do choose color palettes for your house? What palettes are you drawn to? Do you have a great method {like Emma’s paint-dipped clothespins} for seeing the bigger picture?

images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking

I’ve had numerous requests for paint colors that are similar to our kitchen cabinets.

I finally grabbed a bunch of swatches the last time I was at Home Depot. I held up the swatches against the lower black and upper white cabinets to find swatches that ‘disappeared’ into the cabinetry for a match.