I have always loved neutrals and my living room color scheme has been gray and beige long before greige was a word…it is an official word now, isn’t it?

What is interesting to me is the popularity of the Benjamin Moore color Revere Pewter.  I think it has a lot to do with the popularity of Pinterest.  Someone posts a gorgeous room on Pinterest that uses a specific paint color and everyone wants the color used in that gorgeous room!  Or, maybe the paint company posts a couple of great room photos and the mention of the paint color causes it to go ‘viral.’

Granted, I think Revere Pewter is a gorgeous neutral, but I think there are a lot of gorgeous neutrals.  And, even though Benjamin Moore may be the preferred paint of decorators, we don’t all have a decorator’s budget.

If you have respect for Consumer Reports, you know that Benjamin Moore paint is rated higher than Behr (available at Home Depot), but not by much!  The biggest difference is in the price.  Benjamin Moore is a much higher priced paint and if budget is a concern, this is something to think about.  Maybe buying the most expensive paint for one room isn’t a big deal, but it may be a concern when painting an entire house!  If you are a new home buyer and have to repaint an entire home….saving $10 to $20 on each gallon of paint is a huge savings!

I guess my point is, you can easily get the same color you admire in a magazine without paying the price of the most expensive paint.  By taking a little time to compare paint swatches, you can save some money on your paint choice.

I am using Revere Pewter as an example above since I am fascinated with its popularity.  Aged Beige by Behr, though a little lighter in shade, is very close to Revere Pewter and a great color. Glidden’s Fossil Grey is almost identical to the Revere Pewter.  If you need a less expensive paint choice to achieve the same look, this may be the way to go.

So, comparing paint samples would be my first tip when choosing paint – here are all 6 paint shopping tips!

Collect tons of paint samples (in all brands) and bring them home.

Remember you can use color matching to match a color in a less expensive paint.

The smaller the sample, the darker the color will appear.  For a truer color, grab a larger paint swatch.

Look at your samples in the light of the room you are painting and surrounded by the furniture/curtains, etc. you will be using.

If there is more than one color on the swatch, remove the ones you are not using…the way colors look are influenced by the surrounding colors.

Don’t pick the paint first!  Buy the most expensive item first!  This is so important.  There are a lot less color choices in furniture or curtains then there are in paint colors!

Happy painting!

Thanks for stopping by!  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie