Another Paint Color Party!

One of my favorite topics is paint color and the effect on mood!  Where I would guess most people worry about matching furniture, making the general public happy when painting, I consider the effect of color on the mood of those in our house.  (You’ve heard about the prison who painted all the walls pink?)
So, that said, through the years in our 6 states and 14 hours, we’ve had opportunity to live with and paint different colors here and there.   The new trend of light blues/grays are beautiful but not sure if our style.  We are currently renting, so no painting for a while.  Therefore, I share my favorite colors from the past.
Pittsburgh Paint Carob Chip
When deciding on a purple shade, I’m sure a groan emits……not wanting it to look like a  funhouse, but a rich, eggplant color.  I found this at the bottom of a “brownish” paint chip – Carob Chip.


This was my office and had been painted 3 times in one year.  It was navy blue when we moved in:

I hated this.  Could not function.  Turned my brain “off”.  lol  So then I tried to play nice and paint it taupe:

After painting it taupe, I was literally sad.  Terribly sad and didn’t know why.  It was then that I realized COLOR has a huge impact.  I spent a lot of time thinking about what color would I love to paint, whether it was practical or not.  Since this was also technically a formal dining room, I knew I could be bold.  I chose Carob Chip, crossed my fingers and voila’!  It was amazing. 

Pittsburgh Paint Raspberry Truffle
Another color we stumbled on was seen in a home on the real estate tour one day (I am a licensed real estate agent, inactive due to disability.)  I was super lucky when my husband fell in love with it and asked to paint it in our bedroom.  I would venture to say this surprises his side of the family – that he would venture away from the safe colors  - but he is VERY affected by color and I’ve learned that making him happy color-wise goes a long way to marital bliss.  :)   Please IGNORE carpet color – house came with this and we saved our pennies until we could replace it.  We treated it as a neutral.  ;)




Same color – different house – different lighting.  We hadn’t finished the trim yet.  It never felt “peach-based” which I think it looks like in this photo.  I had to push for the neutral bedding.  Our bedding currently, at once again my husband’s request, is a bright RED.  Yes, of course, red is known to be a calming color.  Ha!  Not!  But he likes it and if he’s happy, we’re all happy. 

I’m joining the Paint Party over here:

Paint Party!

320 Sycamore is having a Paint Party and I just found it! After you peruse my blog, you will see I am a crazy paint girl - color rocks my world. I am very bold and not afraid of color. If I don't like it, I (or someone I hire!) can always repaint. Color simply calls to me, makes my world go 'round.

So, first up, EVERY girl needs one of these - a Paint Deck!!


I'm a licensed real estate agent (in referral due to disability) and a former Accredited Home Stager, and I LOVED using these paint decks. Just go in to your favorite paint store and ask to buy one - at Pittsburgh Paint, they were $10 a few years ago. So worth it!

OK, my favorite color of all time - Carob Chip from Pittsburgh Paint.


Here is the room in different lighting when we staged the home for sale and made this room a formal dining room, and added a chandelier. This home had TONS of natural light and I do recommend that your paint poster board and put them around your home to see what looks good in your home and your lighting. When we were selling our home, we neutralized it (except for changing the paint in this room - most recommended we leave one room bold. Notice the neutral carpet? lol)

When we moved in, the room was blue:

I never liked it, and tried this beige. Just didn't make me happy, so we then tried the Carob Chip. Love!!

Purple is a very tricky color. This color chip looks almost black and has a deep brown tone to it. I would never have picked it had someone not recommended it - and had I not, I would have been trying A LOT of different plum colors until I finally found this one - it was just what I wanted.


Have you ever painted a room using the darkest color on a swatch? Ack - it can be scary!

My second favorite color of all time is Raspberry Truffle, also from Pittsburgh Paint. It is the 2nd from the bottom of the next swatch -

We used it in several rooms, but here was our Master Bedroom. The navy carpet was already there, so we just considered a neutral until we could change it. lol

I prefer the gold bedspread - thought it warmed the room perfectly.


Oh, and here's another house we used this color in:


We hadn't gotten the new trim up, yet. My preference is white trim, as you can go bold easily with color.


Also, I LOVE that color swatch from Sherwin Williams that includes Ivoire and Blonde. If you have oak cabinets and really want to set them off perfectly, that is THE color to use. Here was one house we used it in:



And finally, our current rent home. Lucky us, it had color too! Here are some photos, although I do not know the paint names on these.


It has been said that perhaps I need a color intervention, but until then, I will continue to let color bring joy to my life and spur creativity within me!! Be bold - give paint a try!

Thanks for visiting!

Cheri