Benjamin Moore offered me free paint.� And it’s not what you might think, either.� They don’t expect me to write about it on the blog (I asked) or tattoo Benjamin Moore on my forearm (I ask that, too, but would have never done it even if they wanted me to).� Here is what happened.
I was complaining on Twitter that my painter refuses to use Benjamin Moore paint, thinking my online friends with would chime in with their favorite non-Benjamin Moore paint colors.� I guess I should clarify–my painter will use Benjamin Moore paint grudgingly if I supplied it for him.� I can’t afford the 11 or so gallons of Benjamin Moore paint he said I needed.
Note that I didn’t @ Benjamin Moore.� I didn’t want to slam them or get their attention like I have seen other people do on Twitter.� Besides, I’m not a design blog and don’t have the traffic to get their attention.� I only mentioned the brand to avoid more Benjamin Moore paint color recommendations.
I was responding to some tweets when a representative from Benjamin Moore asked me why the painter wouldn’t use their paint.� Obviously, they scan Twitter for posts regarding the brand.� [Plus 2,000 points for being on top of it.]� I replied with the truth.� They asked to email me.� I did.� They asked if my painter would speak with a representative of their store.� I said no, as time talking is time not painting.� They asked if they could help (translation–how can we change this painter’s mind about our brand?).� I said, sure, give me a price break on paint so that it’s the same price as Dunn Edwards, the brand he prefers and gets for a great discount as a contractor.� They said how about we just give you the paint for free?� I said oh, sure, why not?
If all my negotiations had gone so smoothly I would have never left the practice of law. (False.)
The challenge is to find a color I love.� I thought I did with Caramel Apple.� It was my inability to match this paint to anything Dunn Edwards offered that caused all my stress.� And, no, Dunn Edwards says they can’t color match it exactly.� Kudos to them for being honest.� In my hunt for a replacement color, I stumbled across hundreds of images of inspiration.� Naturally, I’ve fixated on three completely diverse and incongruous concepts.
I could stick with my original Caramel Apple and have a living and dining room that is warm and cozy, like an Autumn evening.
Or I could paint everything Classic Brown and have a deep, dark, dramatic living and dining room like Victoria of SF Girl by Bay.� (The above links to a Pottery Barn room with Classic Brown paint.)� This would tie in nicely with the dark wall obsession I embarked upon when I painted part of the kitchen almost black.
Victoria’s dining room.� {photo credit, Victoria Smith}
[source, Jennifer of The Newlywed Diaries]
Or, I could do a complete 180 degrees and go light and bright.� The Mister is very handy, and together we can install board and batten all around the living and dining room, paint it white, and above that paint it two or three shades darker for two rooms filled with tone on tone whites, creams, and golds.
Imagine this room is mine, but where the homeowners have pulled the blue and purple from their fireplace, I would be pulling the caramels, gold, and butterscotch.
What do you think?� Which sounds more Jules?� Okay, maybe you have no idea which one sounds more Jules, but surely you have a preference?� Because I don’t.� I want them all.� I need three houses to accommodate all my decorating styles.� Okay, secretly?� I think the super dark would look really cool if the room was properly finished and accessorized.� Final touches, however, is an area in which I am woefully inadequate.� Hence, my apprehension.
p.s.� My kitchen is also painted Ralph Lauren Oatmeal, which is a gorgeous creamy color.� Maybe the light and bright will flow better with that?
p.s.s.� Unless the Ralph Lauren Polo Green part of the kitchen puts me back at square one?� Hrmpf.
Jules – I have some likely frustrating advice, but I think it will help.
Rather than focusing on colors, think about how you want your space to feel. What is your home’s personality? The caramel apple color seems comfortable, casual, cozy, warm. Is that how you want your space to read?
Personally, I love rich, dark colors — but in small doses. Would painting those main rooms dark make your home a cave? And, if so, would you like that?
Also – nice score with the paint! See if you can wrangle their low-voc type.
Didn’t help. I’ve considered all that, and I like the mood each color creates. Warm, dramatic, open…I’m an equal opportunity space feeler. :)
I’m a fan of the white. It’s timeless, easy to paint over if you get paint fickle in a few months/years, and is easy to accessorize if purple and orange become your favorite colors. White tends to look very clean and orderly to me, and I’m a fan of both. As you said, it’ll help the flow from the kitchen as well.
I love the dark wall contrast too, but I think they look better in smaller rooms, not two open rooms that flow into each other. Walking from a mostly-white-with-a-little-dark kitchen into a mostly-dark-with-a-little-white living area might blow the senses a bit.
I like almost black.
But it might be too trendy – it might get old after awhile.
Caramel apple seems safe and too boring compared to the dramatic black room you could have. Personally I think I would get bored of that faster than I’d tire of the dark paint.
ps if it’s a well lit room, the black won’t seem so dark.
okay I’m done trying to persuade you.
I see the appeal of really dark colors but I agree that in smaller doses would be my opinion. I guess I think long term – are you going to be pissed if you have to repaint the room in five years because you are sick of it? I see the super dark stuff as kind of trendy right now. Not that that’s a bad thing, but just that our living room has a lot of wall space (and goes up into the stairs/hallway upstairs) and my husband wouldn’t want to repaint it very often. So we chose a (maybe boring?) classic almost mocha cream/light coffee color.
I agreed with everything Heather had to say.
And then Stylefyles posts and I agreed with everything she had to say.
I’m worried most about brown/black being too trendy and getting tired of it. I think Heather brings up a great point about blowing the senses. It’s exactly what I am worried about.
Write now I am in sweats testing out white board and batten with pale colors on top, like Hush from Benjamin Moore.
Oh, Kelly! We posted at the same time. :)
Trendy–oy. That’s what I am worried about. Victoria managed to make it look fresh and different, but I’m not Victoria. Clearly.
Go with the Caramel Apple. It’s what you wanted before your painter’s BM problem (that sounds bad, but funny, so I’m leaving it!) caused you to look around some more.
I love color, be it dark or light. I think white is best suited for cottages by the bay or beach…not for ranch style homes that have heavy stone fireplaces. Right now the house we moved into is all white (well actually off-white) and it is driving me absolutely bonkers. it’s been 3 months and I seriously think I’m going to have to be institutionalized soon.
Here is the thing about white walks, speaking from experience. It is so difficult to decorate and accessorize a white room. Yes, you can say to yourself how you can put pops of color here and there and have dreams of creating a perfect space with just the right furniture, pictures, pillows, etc. but since you yourself have said accessorizing and decor is not necessarily your strong suit, you may drive yourself insane and we will land up in the institution together. With white walls, the accessories tell the story.
The great thing about colored walls (either dark or rich like the caramel color) is that the walls tell the story and speak for themselves. With a rich and vibrant color, you can then afford to be a little more forgiving on the accessorizing. People (and you) will focus less on what is on the side table and more on the walls themselves. Does that make sense?
So in a very long winded way, I vote for one of the darker colors. And I don’t think it is trendy at all. Rich burgundies, deep hunter greens and cozy browns have been gracing regal walls for centuries.
Does Victoria have a painting of Ritchie Valens in her dining room? Or is it Ethan Embry?
Go with your gut. You wanted Caramel Apple until you couldn’t have it. Now that you can you are overthinking the decision.
Oh dear, I thought I had an opinion and then you through in all the other options and now my only suggestion is to start saving for the other 3 homes…
I’m thinking go with your gut…you wanted the Caramel Apple so stick with something similar to that. (although I do love victoria’s black dining room!! but would you like it too or would it feel too dark?)
You know why painters hate a good quality paint, besides the lack of their discount? They want something with a thin runny texture that dries fast so they can recoat immediately and get on to their next job. Now I have learned to buy the paint myself, but the Valspar Signature I prefer covers so well, painters usually WAAAY overestimate how much paint I need to buy and I’m often stuck with an unused gallon or two. Sometimes one coat is all I need, even if the color underneath is a bilious yellow. GO WITH CARAMEL APPLE>
I’m on team DARK!
I think its the sort of thing that everyone is afraid of, but in the end it produces such gorgeous, dramatic results.
Having said that, I was having a tough time deciding too, so I came up with a compromise. We did white on our walls and painted all doors in our apt an inky dark blue. The results came out pretty fab.
But for you, I vote dark!
white walls by the way, not white walks. should take more advantage of that 5 minute edit option that is available ;)
Go with your initial gut feeling – you are the only person who will get to live in and enjoy your home.
Having said that…my own two cents are as follows : )))
go with the dark or at least the caramel apple! white it too plain and boring. I agree with a previous post about needing some great accessories for white walls as well as about the institutional feel.
And I disagree with the trendy comment. As long as its a great color, it can and will last a long time!
I say light (not white) with pops of color. That seems more Jules to me.
Anything you pick will be fab.
I just can’t do dark walls personally, they make me crazy.
You know what? I suck at this kind of thing. Seriously. My mom and dad are my “queer eye”. I let them choose and am usually very happy with my stuff (although mad at myself for not choosing on my own *eye roll*)
I agree with everyone who said you should go with your original color. I tell my kids to go with the first thing they think most times. :)
My fave? The white. I tend to have so much clutter in my VERY small house that white is just nice…plus it makes things bigger. But, I’ve never heard you complain about clutter, or small-ness in your house…soooooo-go with your warm caramel apple thing…:)
I’m going to say stick with something in the Caramel Apple range. Without touching on the whole “trendy vs. classic” thing of the super-dark walls, isn’t the Mister somewhat not-on-board with the really dark colors? Wasn’t that mentioned somewhere…did I make that up…where is my vodka…?
And I predict you will hate the white. Especially with dogs and small boys.
Also, Benjamin Moore rocks for giving you free paint. I could come up with no plausible reason for me to be on Twitter, but your score is inspiring.
Val– you are sort of right. The Mister likes dark colors, but not the Polo Green, which I wanted to paint the rest of the kitchen in. He
wants the chocolate colordoesn’t care at this point if I just make a decision.I originally wanted cream…that was a long time ago…but got nervous when Seleta explained to me all the texture I would have to add to balance the fireplace.
I think I may have found a winning combination, though. Board and batten in Linen White (creamy and warm, not bright at all) and Hush, which is like Ralph Lauren’s Oatmeal. We’ll see. I have some samples on the wall right now and The Mister just walked in the door (career day at Mikey’s school!).
Fingers crossed!
p.s. Twitter! Who knew? I was shocked when they contacted me since I really have nothing to offer them. Like I said, I think their main concern was changing the mind of my painter. From what I understand, Benjamin Moore is loved by designers and reviled by painters…most likely for the reasons Kitty cited. This new paint they are marketing (Aura) is supposed to dry in one hour for faster second coats. That sounds like it’s targeted to contractors.
p.s.s Kitty–so smart! Makes complete sense.
I am currently more than a little obsessed with board and batten so it’s no surprise to me that I like that option. I want to do our living room with board and batten in linen white and the top of the wall in BM Soft Fern.
Why is it that all the painters around here will do everything in their power to ONLY use Dunn Edwards?!? I don’t get it. I mean, it’s fine paint but is it really THAT much better? I doubt it. My sister-in-law ran into your same problem a few months ago with their painter and the exterior of their house. She caved though. Good for you for finding an alternative!
Why do you need 11 gallons?? You’re just painting your living room and dining room right?
@ Mandy–and hallway and ceilings. The painter said it’s because we were going with a dark color. Now that we are probably not (I share your most recent obsession), I think we will need less. It doesn’t matter what the painter says–I’m turning all my measurements over to BM so they can figure it out. Hah!
perhaps a bit late on this, seems like you’ve near made a decision – I vote dark!
white rooms look dingy without a ridiculous amount of natural light to make them light & bright… and you’ve said before that these rooms don’t get that – in fact, I think I first learned that tidbit from a post you linked to a while back? And since then, I’ve considered and considered why I always hated having white walls, and yet love them in the pro photos… and it turned out, it was because the white walls I’ve had have been in dark rooms.
Jules, your painter knows what he is doing….all I can say ;)
v. cool deal! =)
I don’t know how much light your room really gets, or what the furnishings will finally be, but I wouldn’t go w/the dark walls unless you felt that you had enough light/lighter furnishings in the room to brighten it up. I also wouldn’t go totally white unless you had enough furnishings/decor that would pick up the brown tones in your fireplace (otherwise the fireplace will stick out like a sore thumb as opposed to being ‘worked in’). of course, this is my opinion. =P
fun stuff! curious to see what you end up with!
Personally, I went through my color phase and now that my walls are all colors that I nearly died selecting, I just want white. I have a hallway in Lancaster White-wash and yep it is a Benjamin Moore color. Did you know that any brand of paint can match a swatch. That should help your painter or you could always change painters (but you did not hear that from moi.)
I love light and airy and then I love that deep dark mysterious, I think you can have both.
I am no help.
pve
Juliette–everything is a clean slate. We may not be able to afford everything at once, but the idea is to get new furniture and move that which is currently there into the den. :)
PVE, I love you. Always have.
Board and batten looks too “cottage-y”. Out of place in a ranch and a desert. Besides, you and the Mister could be on outings with the boys instead of installing fake b+b on a weekend. Go with Caramel Apple. If you go dark you’ll be repainting it again when you tire of it. So that’s another weekend you could be playing with the boys instead.
Hi Claren, thanks for the feedback. ;)
Actually, we don’t live in the desert, but that’s a common misconception since some cities in the Inland Empire are desert communities. We live in a ranch house, but it looks nearly identical to John and Sherry’s from This Young House or or . The difference is that our bricks are less uniform (more rough and “cottage-y”), our front porch is elevated and spans 3/4 of the front elevation (making it almost wrap around), and we have mullioned picture windows and front door.
I would never put up B&B in a Palm Springs modern house. I’m crazy, but not that crazy.
Well, if it’s a clean slate…heck, go dark! Make it the inverse of your kitchen, which has more white than black, etc. I love your kitchen and if they connect then it will look super intentional and planned. Even if they don’t directly flow into each other it’ll still look great as people move around your house – things will look more cohesive.
Also – have you thought about liming your fireplace? It’s a natural, non-committal way to change up porous stone/brick. Supposedly cheap, too. I think YHL did a post on that. Either way, might be a fun way to perk up that fireplace if you did dark walls.
I like the dark idea. It can be swank and casual at the same time – which is cool if you have a den for the kids and a LR for the adults! It’s your house, which you own, so you can always repaint! Take the leap!
So so cool! the free paint i mean. I have used many different types of paint in our house and ben moore is the best by far! i used RL oatmeal in my living room and kitchen and when i repainted last year i had ben moore color match it and used it again. love that color! day and night its pretty.
looking forward to seeing what you go with!
Hm. As the wfe of a painting contractor and someone who has done her fair share of cutting, I would say, worry not about the colour but about the quality and type of paint you’re using. Most brands will colour match. Why can’t you just take a BM colour swatch to another paint store? Just a thought.