Monday, December 17, 2012

Fail.

I spent all yesterday painting my office Musical Myst by Behr. And let me just tell you... fail. I went into Home Depot and selected a color I thought resembled Middleton Pink (they couldn't match Farrow and Ball's perfectly blushy hue since it's a new color and not in their system). I was confident in my "no need to test it on the wall, I can tell what colors I like just by looking at the swatch" because that's what I did in my old apartment with Behr's Dolphin Fin grey and it came out perfect. And the Black Jack by Bejamin Moore paint I used on the wall in my old home office. Apparently I lost the magic touch.

When I finished last night, I thought it looked ok. Maybe it needed a second coat since you could barely notice the pink in a photo. But when I woke up and saw it in daylight, I realized it must have been the yellow incandescent lights making it look bearable. In the morning daylight, Musical Myst is looking purpley, almost w/ a neon glow in some light. Apparently my office has a lot of natural blue light. Not good. Don't know what to do next... hate that I wasted an entire afternoon. C'est la vie.

BEFORE
standard beige that the entire apartment was painted with when I moved in

AFTER - bleh. ew no. boring.

AFTER #2 - in some soft light I thought it could work...

AFTER #3 - but for the most part, you can't even tell it's pink in photos.

Well, I tried.

Back to the drawing board. Or as the case may be, back to Home Depot.

Help! Anyone have luck with blush pinks that look pink but not in a Pepto Bismol/bubblegum way?

15 comments:

  1. Here is a link from Nicole's blog, Making it Lovely. You may know her since she also lives in Chicago, but she has many shades of pink in her home and it's so pretty. The shades aren't overwhelming and they photograph well. Pink and gray are hard shades to pick.

    http://makingitlovely.com/2009/07/20/picking-perfect-pink-paint/

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  2. So frustrating! I had the same thing happen with a yellow room I did. It didn't turn out butter soft yellow at all. It turned out a horrid play room yellow.

    Best of luck! Color makes such a huge difference in how you feel.

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  3. That's okay! Have another whack at it ;) I cant believe Mike is okay with doing pink.... he must be a great guy!!

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  4. PInk is a hard color to get right. I had a whole pink apartment once that we were not allowed to paint. It was a bad pink- I think the painters just took a bunch of left over colors and mixed them together to make a weird flesh tone. Sorry that wasn't very helpful but good luck, I know you'll make it look great.

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  5. I hate when that happens! It happened to me with my son's room, I wanted a light grey and after choosing among tons and tons of swatches I thought I had the perfect one. Well, turns out that it looks more pale blue (like a nursery blue) than grey and I don't like it at all. But since my husband did the job I really don't feel like asking him to do it again (and he'll kill me if I do it for all the work he did!), so pale blue it is! I say, go back and bring some samples to really appreciate the look ;) And don't think you wasted your time, I guess it's just part of the process, try and fail, try and fail, then succeed :)

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  6. Benjamin Moore "Love and Happiness". I painted my post-college bedroom this color and loved it. It is definitely pink in all lighting, but it is NOT pepto bismol or girly bubblegum pink. It's lovely.

    This is a picture of it used in a living room from an old House Beautiful: http://becolorful.typepad.com/.a/6a00e550ae2fdc8834014e5f289962970c-pi

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  7. i hope you find the right pink! :) it's going to look amazing when done like everything else. :)

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  8. uggh! totally happens to the best of us... I had this with our finished basement I chose a color without testing and my husband painted the WHOLE thing before I realized it was totally WRONG. Poor guy. Give yourself a break from it then have another try at it! Love the idea of pink though... so so chic.

    http://goodlifeforless.blogspot.com

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  9. Here's a perfect pink....Benamin Moore Elephant Pink 2087-70. It will brighten your world! :)

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  10. Try one with a slight peach undertone to cut that blue light coming in.

    Franci

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  11. I have had this exact same thing happen. Whatever you do, get test paints this time to put on the wall and watch them for a day with different light coming in. Good luck!

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  12. Awe bummer! I love the idea of a pink room but I wish I had some advice to offer as far as selecting the right shade! I really enjoy your adventures in home decor though so lemme know how the project turns out! Hope all is well.

    -Nico

    www.SatinAndsalt.com

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  13. Situations like this is why I'm scared to paint my apartment. I want to paint so bad but I'm petrified of the swatches...I can't wait to see what you do! I'm in definite need of some inspiration here! =)

    Ergo - Blog

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  14. We painted my bedroom Love Story in Benj Moore. I love it so much, it looks so good with white trim. But it is all about lighting!

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  15. Pick three or four colors that you like and paint 3 x 3 swatches on the wall. Look at them for several days, in the different light of sun, no sun, morning, nighttime, etc and see what looks good. Sometimes you will be surprised at what works. Wall condition, plaster, lighting - all make a difference with color.

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