I’m joining Melissa over at 320 Sycamore for a paint party today, so I’ll be sharing my favorite paint colors. Since I have many colors in my house, I guess I would have to consider them my favorite, at least for the moment. Like many of you, I’ve been through all sorts of trends with paint colors over the years, but I’ve been really happy with the choices I made in this house. It has not come without trial and error, believe me.
I did a post last year about Choosing the Perfect Paint color, and if you read that, you will notice that I don’t claim to have the perfect paint colors nor is there a sure-fire way to pick the right one, other than that trial and error thing I mentioned above. It sure helps to have blogs out there now so that you can see a paint color in an actual room and know at a glance whether it might be something you could love yourself. So, that has helped me a lot over the years too.
But, one thing I did stress in the above post is this: you must test out a paint color in YOUR home to find out if it will work for you. I have painted over bathrooms 3 times trying to get that “perfect in my head” shade that I was looking for, so just because it looks great on a paint chip OR for that matter, in someone else’s home, doesn’t mean it will work perfectly for you. That’s always my disclaimer with paint when I’m helping someone choose a paint for their space. It can be a tricky process, to say the least. So, if you want more info about choosing paint, read that post from last year for lots more particulars on the subject.
Today, I’m going to share the paint colors in my house and how they’ve worked for me.
Above: on the left is Sherwin Williams Whole Wheat, which is the main color I’ve used throughout my common area. On the right is the newly painted dining room with Sherwin Williams Antique White. I’ve used 4 colors off that Whole Wheat color strip and it’s worked out very well for our home.
Another shot of Whole Wheat. I have really enjoyed this color a lot and it goes with so many fabrics and colors. A nice backdrop for everything.
In the upstairs guestbath, I used the darker shade on that strip, Camelback. It has more depth and is a bit darker for this smaller bathroom.
Another shot of Camelback.
And downstairs in the den, I used Believable Buff, again on that same color strip by Sherwin Williams. I’d highly recommend this strip.
In our master bedroom, I used Sherwin Williams Blonde. Sometimes in certain light, it looks really yellow, other times it just has a nice warm glow. It’s worked well with all my fabrics in that room too.
Blonde looking out to the livingroom with Whole Wheat. This is with no lights on, so it’s taking on a strange tone in this pic.
Kitchen has Laura Ashley Olive 4, which I loved so much in my old kitchen, I brought it over here too. It has quite a bit of yellow and I love this color. If you pick up a chip of this and look at it, you will swear it’s not the same color, since the chip looks so drab.
Downstairs guestbath is Ben Moore, Wedgewood Gray. This is the bath that I painted 3 times til I got the right color. Blues can be SO hard to get right. It’s still hard to really capture this color on camera too, as it is not quite as gray as it looks here.
And the beachy guestroom is painted with Sherwin Williams Rainwashed. It was actually a little more gray than I wanted after I got it finished, since this room gets hardly any natural light, only one window. So I colorwashed over it with an aqua I had around that just gave it a little more brightness. Again, this color is not accurate, it’s more lively than this in real life.
And, the laundry room is done in Behr Grasscloth (at Home Depot). I’ve really enjoyed this color and added it on one wall of my office nook as well.
Trim colors:
Several have asked me before about my white trim paint. It was here when we moved in and I was not about to change it. I took a small little piece and matched it to Lowes Anthem White and it matches my existing color perfectly. I might have picked a little more creamy white if I was choosing from scratch, but the good thing about a brighter white is, it looks great with any color on the wall and makes color pop out.
Other great trim colors that I’ve heard about: Sherwin Williams: Dove White
Benjamin Moore: Decorators White, White Dove, Linen White
So, that’s a wrap up of my favorite paint colors. I left out a couple of my rooms, but these are the main ones. So hop on over the party if you are looking to make some paint changes. You may be inspired by a pic to choose a whole new color for your home! I know I sure love to see what a paint color looks like before I even buy a sample. It helps to see the pic and then I always, always recommend buying a sample quart to test it out in YOUR home before you buy a gallon.
Happy painting!
Hi!
What color would you paint your ceiling when the walls are in the Believable Buff shade, and also Camelback?
Thanks!
HI Sarah, I’d probably stick with a white shade for the ceiling, unless you are really trying for a high impact. Then you could do a soft blue. Blues and golds look good together.
Hello, I so appreciate your site, particularly the fashions for women in their fifties (I’m in my sixties, but these still work for me!). I’m new to your favorite paint colors article – I see you have since moved and have a different palette in your new home, but I really like the golds and I’m also using Sherwin Williams – probably blonde and maybe Ivoire – I’m still undecided. Its been awhile, but can you remember the Sherwin Williams white that you used on those ceilings? There are so many to chose from- I’m suffering from decision overload. All the best, Mary Bell, Houston Tx.
Hi, Mary, I didn’t paint my ceilings in the Birmingham house at all. The ceilings in my new house were just painted a bright white ceiling paint, don’t have the color.
Beautiful colors! Yes I also use the Blonde color palette. I am currently painting every room in our house. I used Sherwin Williams baquette, Camelback and Blonde but thought I would use an off white maybe for the trim. I think it would look good with the warm colors. I was searching for the right color to paint upper top of bathroom wall that crowne separates it from the bottom half so I am thinking Honey Wheat may be that color. I hope it will be enough of a contrast to Baquette.
Thank you for sharing.
Your home looks lovely! And some of your colors I am considering accenting with. My walls are SW antique white and my floors are a very light laminate wood (gulf sand). So I’m leaning towards the darker Camelback over Whole wheat. What I want to do is accent the wall that runs from the living room to the entry hallway. But I’m new to painting walls so I don’t know if that is breaking a ‘rule’ or something. Is that a good idea?. My ceiling is vaulted so it would highlight the ceiling. I also want to do my dining room in a nice green color. Something along the lines of SW recycled glass (maybe a bit darker). Hope I don’t mess this up.
HI, Clea, this is a very old post from 2009 so things have changed drastically since those days of color. My current house has none of these colors and paint colors have definitely evolved since those days. I’m not using any of these colors anymore.