painting if you're inside maybe you're
looking at the walls they need an update
well if you want to paint painting is an
easy and affordable way to update any
space but the challenge is finding the
right paint although it certainly is
especially when you see displays like
this oh this puts me in a tailspin
overwhelming who knew there were so many
different shades of gray the options are
truly endless well have no fear Courtney
Paul Brockman is here interior designer
he shares some easy tips to remember
when choosing your paint colors Paul
good to see you welcome back
let's talk paint colors 101 because we
all know that when you change up the
paint color in your house it can make a
dramatic difference but a lot of people
are overwhelmed by how many options
there are absolutely and I found working
with clients that this is probably one
of the number one things that causes
stress everyone has a horror story of
you know thinking that they've picked a
paint color at the you know the at the
at the big-box store or at a paint store
and then taking it home and you know
painting a room and it's just not what
they expected and this could be the
simple change that really judges a room
just doing the paint color correct oh
yeah I mean I always tell my clients
like this is the number one thing that
you can do that will that will have its
dramatic you know difference here's a
you know dining room that I did and the
only thing we changed in this room is
the paint color you got rid of that gold
wall and painted it gray dramatic and we
didn't even change the trim color and
then this is another client where they
had all these white walls but they had
some really nice architectural details
that weren't showing up the you know so
the gray makes that posture would work
definitely pops out in the after photo
as long as we're seeing photos of rooms
that you've converted to gray walls
let's talk about something that Kourtney
and I were just discussing before the
segment let's say you want to paint a
room grey well is it what kind of grey
is it blue gray or green gray or you get
it home and it looks purple well this
has set me for a tailspin absolutely
guys because I just wanted someone to
tell me gray and as we're seeing here on
the side or even these paint samples is
that there are so many different shades
of grey well and you know I brought this
in just to show you this is usually what
you're confronted with you go to the
store
you see all of these different shades of
some kind of a neutral right and you're
supposed to take from this two-inch you
know piece you know and maybe bring it
home and hold it up next to your trim
which we always do and then try to make
a decision from here and what what I
want to try to help people explain is
that you if you can find the history of
a color or find out where it came from
or where it's going from from the from
looking at all of the colors in the fan
deck you can make a decision and for
people who don't know what a fan deck is
this is what you get at the paint store
it's like the page yeah it's the paint
Bible this is the paint Bible and I'm
not recommending that everyone go out
and invest one of these or you know or
you know even having to to own one but
the paint stores will let you use theirs
and you can go in and borrow it and take
it home and I think this is probably the
one thing it's kind of like getting the
dictionary of paint so you can you can
decipher what is happening and when you
said where the color is going and where
it came from I mean that's basically
what we're seeing here so like the
darker side you see that it's court kind
of the black tones and kind of rolling
over to the blues right yeah and I don't
you know this is the one thing I wanted
to show you like that you just take this
card here I don't know if we can you
know zoom in on it or see the but
everyone sort of looks up here for these
colors if you're if you don't want to
paint your room a dark color you sort of
stay up here at the top yeah and you
don't really know if you want to know
the history of a color go all the way to
the bottom so you can see that that has
a more blue base exactly so that will
tell you the history of the color it's
sort of the makeup of it so then when
you go back up here you say you know
this it may not look like it but this
actually has a lot of blue in it and
that will save you from when you paint
the whole room later and then you
thought you were doing grey and now it
looks blue that is a great point though
Paul because a lot of folks as you
mentioned if you're going for a lighter
color you may think it looks like a gray
but then if you trace it down you see
that it's a green or a purple bass yeah
so in reference to the other colors you
can get more of a sense of what you're
going right and the other thing that a
fan deck can help you with if you Fant
literally saying it out you can see
where they will sort of
they'll take a story from green to blue
to brown and you can kind of get where a
color is going so like if you don't
particularly want a green gray or a blue
gray you can head more over into the
topes or the Browns and at least you're
in this you're at least you're in the
right strip now right
so that I think that that to me is
probably the one the one tip I would say
is just sort of use the fan deck to kind
of get a history of where the color is
coming from tree I was so confused I
know that sounds like a lot of work not
that history great information now oK
we've selected our color the other thing
that stops me in the track is when
somebody at the paint store says well
what finish would you like and I'm like
well I mean you're not prepared to
answer these questions you're like I
just spent all my energy trying to pick
the color right you tell me is what I
say and really just to make it I mean
the simple answer to that is they all
represent a different level of Sheen so
think shiny and think matte right so you
know your flat finishes or your matte
finishes that don't have any reflective
quality to them and then they sort of go
up the rung to eggshell semi-gloss all
the way up to gloss which is going to be
super shiny
what's more forgiving for children
because I always sort of default to
eggshell because it's right in the
middle but in the house we built here it
was flat paint when we moved in and that
those walls get marked up like crazy
right
oh you bump into that wall and suddenly
there's a blue streak from your gene so
if you have children or pets are there
are their finishes you should steer away
from yeah well fat flat paint is the
most forgiving in terms of like if your
wall isn't perfectly smooth because it's
not reflective so it's gonna sort of
hide all the imperfection or texture
imperfect yeah exactly
but no that's a good that's a good point
because for kids rooms and maybe you've
got crayons or something like that an
eggshell has got just enough of a
reflective finish in it and it's it's
built into the paint so it's going to be
a little bit easier to clean and
quick tip those magic erasers you know
you get at the store yeah they are magic
for a reason I don't know how it works
but if you have especially it's really
good on kitchen cabinets but it also
even with a flat paint if you go real
lightly with it it just blends the paint
in around it so that can that can save
you for scuffs on your stairs and
beehive and four bathrooms you say
eggshell is the best right yeah just
because of the humidity and the dampness
in there it's got just a little bit more
of that reflective quality that's gonna
seal it in a little bit better so we
usually recommend eggshell for bathrooms
I like doing flat in majority of the
rooms of the house unless you've got a
kids bedroom that may be what you want
you know you wanna be able to clean it a
little bit easier and then you know for
cabinets and trim we usually do
semi-gloss that's gonna be the most
durable and the easy clean so that's a
good finish people use a high gloss
anymore because I feel like way back in
the 90s and I do you do well you know if
you really want to have some high impact
I love using and dining rooms I do
ceilings in them like you can do like
high gloss ceiling that one photo that
we showed earlier we did the same wall
color but we tapped it up to a high
gloss that's inch and it kind of gives
you it's sort of a fancy reflective and
the chandelier kind of bounces off of it
so I you know I like to use them for you
know kind of a specialty kind of
application I did have a client that
wanted to paint the whole house white
you know high gloss just because it was
super contemporary and and you know it
looked great right but sitting on this
architecture of the home yeah I mean
it's not for everyone but but no I like
using it for ceilings sometimes and just
a final thought is what's the color
choice I know gray has been hot is it
still hot are we looking at something
else
I mean for neutrals I think gray has
been around it's gonna continue to be
around I mean I think it just it's such
a great neutral we're doing a lot more
of the warmer Gray's which may trend
into the little taupe a little bit more
yeah got a little bit of a brown in it
they're warm and you know that just also
brings up you know like some colors are
cooler and some are warmer and so that's
sort of the thing to to think about when
you're mixing it in with the rest of
your decor just like people yes summer
coolers
or warmer do appreciate queue it's good
to see you and as always the design tips
are online at Paul Brockman comm that's
where you need to follow them as well
thanks so much and we'll be right back