I have bought so many different colors on my open concept kitchen/dinette/living room that I am ready to throw in the towel. We have tried BM HCS -111,86,87, SW Mexican Sand, Beach House. I have also tried HC-28 in the hallway and it looks wonderful as well as HC98. But when I take those colors to the kitchen/dinette/living room they appear with a much different tone which does not look so good. What direction do I go

Okay, some things we need to know -- what exposure does the kitchen face? North/South/East/orWest? How much lighting do you have? Windows? Spot cans? What's outside the windows? Trees? hee, I was going to ask "desert?" but WI...I guess NOT! Urban?

Are the colors going mustardy? dull? too bright? (actually don't think that's the problem because they're all such neutrals with a lot of either gray or brown in them...I'm suspecting they're looking drab to you?)

That's why we can only give you some ideas of how colors look in other people's houses and then say sample first! Which, mercifully, you are. Cuz think how bad it would be if you were committing to the colors and then were disappointed?

Anyway, funcolors is the master of light and exposure so hopefully she'll be along soon to add her thoughts...

But it all just goes to show that "All light is different!"

The area is a straight shot all the way to the living room. Faces North!Kitchen has one double hung window. About 10' from that we have a sliding patio door then another 10' then we have 3 double hung windows in the living room (All next to each other). The house is 2 years old and we have zero trees. It is a two story house with a walk out basement. We have no trees so we get quite a bit of light. We currently had painted the room BM Creamy Custard but my wife is not in love with it.


The colors that we are trying tend to be drab as you stated . HC -98 looks like the swatch but when introduced in the light infested room, it comes across much lighter and not that wow factor.


Jon

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jonrobert,

quote:

But when I take those colors to the kitchen/dinette/living room they appear with a much different tone which does not look so good. What direction do I go

One option is to call Ellen Kennon and have the color(s) that you like best - for the most part all over - custom mixed full spectrum. It'll cost ya $25 per color but you can then have her send you a sample before you commit to gallons. She MAY have those colors already coverted to FS and you MAY be able to get samples for a lot less. I'd call and ask about them.

Full spectrum could very well be the solution you need considering the light issues and like, but not love color issues you seem to be having.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: funcolors,

I also think that you need to go with softer, less neutral colors. Even if it's against your grain. You need luminosity, I think. Clear colors.

Unfortunately, I'm used to such strong light. I have a hard time with northern latitudes. But you might go browsing through Candice Olsen and Sarah Richardson's tv sites. They both work in Canada and are known for their sense of color. (and Jane Lockhart of Get Color!) Anyway, I think Wisconsin's light would be very similar. Candice uses a lot of neutrals...somewhere around here I have a notebook with her colors all written down...I'll look through it tomorrow.

oh, yeah.

www.divinedesign.tv

www.roomservice.ca

www.designinc.ca

www.ellenkennon.com

This message has been edited. Last edited by: casey31652,

Hi Casey,

Are there any designer websites where they have used BM paints in different rooms?

Thanks,

Domino magazine has a great color section on their website.

So does House Beautiful. They both usually give the paint name used. Just browse their color section.

House Beautiful

Domino

oh, yes and Architectural Digest:

AD


And then there are the design blogs -- and google. Sometimes just googling a color name will take you somewhere that somebody used the color. And sometimes it takes you here.