How To Fix The Wrong Paint Color

At the time of this writing, life has come to a screeching halt. Most of us are stuck at home staring at our walls pondering, “What’s wrong with this picture, er, I mean paint color? And why do I dislike it so much? In fact, I hate it and I’m choosing a new color ASAP!!”

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, WAIT!! 

Paint companies offer approximately 2000 colors for you to choose from. And even though Sherwin-Williams is currently offering curbside paint pick up, let’s take the time to understand your color conundrum first, shall we?

We must go back to why your current color looks wrong. 

In my experience, the number one reason paint looks wrong is that it doesn’t relate to anything!!

Let’s say you love the color turquoise and choose Sherwin-Williams 6471 Hazel. The only way good ol’ Hazel is gonna work for you is if you have other elements such as art, fabric, accessories, etc. - something in your decor that has splashes of Hazel in it. Notice I said splashes and not waves. The good ol’ gal doesn’t have to dominate the room, she just needs to relate to other elements in the room...instead of looking like a dangling participle. 

Let’s check out a few pics, shall we?

Here we have SW 7074 Software on the media wall and SW 7038 Tony Taupe as the flow or main color. See how both colors relate to the stacked stone? They look like they belong. Tony Taupe also coordinates with the flooring, which is another important and overlooked element when choosing colors. 

This is SW 6099 Sand Dollar. It’s a pinky beige which was popular during the Tuscan trend. Can you tell why is this wrong? The counter doesn’t have a smidge of pinky beige in it, but rather yellow and green beige.  There’s also flecks of taupe in there too! Nothing wrong with Sand Dollar, it just has the wrong undertone (pink beige) against this counter. Unfortunately, it’s the main flow color throughout this entire house and doesn’t relate to anything! A better choice would be a neutral color with a green beige or taupe undertone.

I hope you can see how a fundamental value for color concepts and a thoughtful application of them to your specific home environment can make a huge difference in successfully solving your color conundrums.

If you’re still unsure of which color to choose, I’d love to help!