Show Your Colors – Before and After with My Colortopia
Today we’re talking paint colors. What are your thoughts? Are you one of those people who walks into a store, flies by the seat of their pants, picks up the first paint swatch that catches your eye, and then ends up loving it just as much once it’s on the wall?
or
Are you the type that goes driving across town, hitting up all the paint stores, collecting a billion swatches, paying for multiple small samples of paint, stressing out and dreaming about if you should go one shade lighter or one shade darker?
Well… we’re somewhere in the middle.
Sometimes we feel like taking a complete risk by picking out a color based on how pretty we think that tiny little swatch in the store is, and other times, we do so much research about a color that we feel like our heads are going to explode.
That being said… we LOVE to paint!
Don’t get me wrong, the clean up is a major pain, but the actual smell (as weird as it sounds) and process of painting a wall/room/space a brand new happy color, just makes my heart go pitter-patter
๐
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (for the hundredth time)… paint is THE BEST way to change and freshen up your space. For usually under $30 a gallon, you can take a dark room to a bright happy oasis in no time flat.
Because I’m so passionate about always finding the RIGHT paint color for our space, without having to do a ton of guessing as to what the finished product will look like, I’ve decided to share another great painting tool from Glidden called Show Your Colors, by My Colortopia.com
The new Show Your Colors feature lets homeowners submit their before and after photos from spaces they’ve redone in their own home, to share with others! I love this idea, because first, who doesn’t LOVE before and afters?… and second, I kind of have an issue with taking a peek into the lives/homes of other people, to see how they live/decorate.
(admit it, you love to do the same. ha!)
It simple, all you have to do is head over to the Show Your Colors page at My Colortopia.com, fill out a quick form about your before and after entry, upload a couple of pictures… and you’re done!
You can put your mouse over an area of any uploaded pictures and snag paint color ideas, or just simply brows the awesome before and afters for ideas to implement in your next room makeover. Either way, it’s a pretty great tool to try out and get inspired by.
๐
Happy Painting!
This conversation has been sponsored by Glidden brand paint.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Meg Kearney says
Fun! We have one room (dining) where we tested 9 different paint colors before picking one (and still loving it!) the kitchen though – I picked of a tiny swatch from the BM color fan and still love that too. But living room though – didn't love the swatch, hubby did, and only tested two colors – and I think we may change it…
katie@thecarbmonster says
Definitely a cool idea!
House of Smiths says
I thought so too! When I first saw it, I spent about an hour looking around at peoples pictures. ha! I'm nosey like that ๐
Karen K says
I LOVE picking out paint colors!! Sick. I usually take about 6 swatches of each of the colors that I am deciding on. I hang them all over the room so light hits them all a different way. If I walk in the room and look at one and don't like it, it gets taken off and eliminated immediately. I do this at different times of the day until I'm down to the one that's left. It may take two days or so to get to THAT ONE, but, this method has never steered me wrong.
Thanks for the great posts.
Our Pinteresting Family says
Great tips! Thanks for sharing. Megan
Julie says
I'd love to know the paint on that sweet blue dresser?
Julie says
I'd love to know the paint on the sweet blue dresser?
House of Smiths says
I had my friend Sausha at Sweet Pickin's make it for me. sweetpickinsfurniture.com/ Maybe you could find the color there or ask her ๐ It's so pretty, I love it!
House of Smiths says
You get a gold star for SURE! You're patient. I'm SO bad at waiting. I usually want to paint that same day, but waiting to see what the swatch looks like in different lighting is so smart!
Anonymous says
I LOVE your blog!! Your so talented!! I mean your hubby and you are sooo talented..lol!!! I was wondering where you got that cute rug in the laundry room??
Reenie says
That's how I choose my flavors (colors) too Karen K. Except for when I did my dining room ~ I was a lil more skeered…. I wanted a golden yellow. I narrowed it down to 3 and decided to get a little sample container of each one, and I'm so glad that I did. The 2 that I liked on the card were way too light-bright-yellowish. HA! When I opened the 3rd container, I almost didn't put it on the wall….because it looked too orange. My friend said ~ go ahead and put it on the wall, let's see what it looks like. I'm glad she pushed me to try it ~ because that's the color I chose ~ ~ and I love it.
I decided to do that again with my bathroom (narrow it down, paint swatches on the wall)…..the painted swatches are still on my wall…. and have been there for oh, almost a year!!! HA! One of these days I'll get to it ๐
Posh Ideas says
Paint can be really tricky. After building our home and literally picking out paint for every single thing I still enjoy the process. Nothing like a can of paint will change a room so dramatically for so little cash. Yes it's time consuming to paint, but supplies are way cheaper than new furniture.
Julie says
Thanks! Love her site too!
THE Fat Lemon says
I just found your blog a week or so ago and I'm totally hooked! You and your husband are adorable. Glad you are speaking about paint, we have a new house that was painted one color by the builder and it's too dark for my liking. It actually looks like the same color as some of the before photo's you have of your house. I want to change every room but our biggest problem is that our great room is 2 stories and open to the entire front of the house. How do we change the paint color without going to the huge expense of hiring a painter…or should we just go that route? Would love to hear your thoughts/experiences!
House of Smiths says
Thanks so much! ๐
That rug was from a place called Home Fabrics. It's here in Utah. I got it a few years ago. There's no tag on the back, but if I see one that looks similar, I'll let you know. I like rugsusa.com, they have a TON of rugs to choose from ๐
House of Smiths says
Oh man, I totally agree Amber ๐
That's why I say I LOVE painting… but reality, I just love what paint does to a room!
House of Smiths says
Hmm… honestly, we have vaulted ceilings (maybe not as tall as two stories) but we just borrowed an electrician-friends really tall ladder and did it ourselves. If you think it's WAY too tall to even attempt, then you might want to think about renting scaffolding or hiring it out.
Lesa Pollock says
Just curious, what is the paint color you used in your laundry room? It looks green and like the color I've been looking for for my dining room? Can you help me out with the color?
Thanks! I love your ideas and appreciate you sharing them with us all!!!
Susan says
Y'all are so cute. When you said your heart goes pitter-patter at the smell of new paint, I feel that way too…when my painters start! The problem is that I come from a non-painting family and so does my husband and we've never properly learned to paint. So we're not satisfied with our own work. And at this age…late 50's, we just skip it. And I pick my colors VERY carefuly, since they stay up awhile.
Michelle says
I also second the ladder or scaffolding. We have a small two story foyer. We did all of our own painting in the house when we built it. We also have a 25 ft. extension ladder. Lot of moving it, but it works. We also have one of those paint sticks too, so you don't have to get up and own to reload the roller. That may help too.
Michelle says
paint-and-supplies.hardwarestore.com/47-249-power-paint-rollers/wagner-paint-mate-stick-roller-464206.aspx
Anonymous says
I totally agree that paint can make a huge difference! Unfortunately, my husband haaaates to paint and he won't let me do it! I don't know if I blame him though – haha! Anyway, that's a cool little website/tool. I'm going to check it out! =] Thanks!
Bethany says
Loooooooove the green of your laundry room! Do you mind sharing the color name?
And, may I just say that I ADORE your blog? Love your style, your personality, your realness, and well, everything!
Dena says
since we're in a rental all the walls are khaki so we have painted furniture to add pops but then i think i went a LITTLE overboard trying to be matchy in the kitchen by painting accessories – fortunately those are easy to replace…hahahah
but when it's time to really pick colors i might be the person that really thinks about it bc i hate painting!!
Kalli says
Hey, I have been coveting the color in your daughter's room pictured in this post. I will search for it through your site, but if you get a chance, can you tell me what color yellow that is? Yellow is a scary color, but I'm dying to use it in my daughter's room. ๐ Thanks! -Kalli
House of Smiths says
That color is actually called Adobe White, but it's REALLY similar to Autumn Haze, the one we have in our whole house. It has a lot of yellow in it, but is still cream based. Yellows ARE so hard!
Kim says
This is such an a great link! I might have to post a few before and after of my house since it had this UGLY flesh tone peach/beige color. I agree, color is a great way to change the feel and jump start a new makeover!
I hope my laundry makeover goes as well as yours! diymisadventures.blogspot.com/
Unknown says
I don't think I've ever seen a washroom that looked that nice. I love it! The fanciest thing I've ever seen in one of those is a sturdy, anji mountain bamboo rug. I love how the design even takes utility into account without sacrificing the beauty. Tile in the all-too common case of leaks. Clear floor for clothes. All of the design elements are high enough to not get in the way or destroyed. Brilliant!