Hard to choose paint colors
By Lena Kovadlo
@lovebuglena (43081)
Staten Island, New York
March 4, 2024 11:33am CST
We are repainting most of the house and I have to pick the colors. Right now my focus is on the living room and the stairs that lead to the living room and up to the 3rd floor. It's hard for me to figure out which colors to choose for which thing (wall, stairs, stairs wall, etc.) and if they go together.
Benjamin Moore (that's the paint brand we are using) has a tool on their website that lets you upload a picture of your own room and then you define up to five areas of the room and select the color you want for those areas. This lets you see how the room will look.
I had to create an account on there as you can't use this feature without one. The first step was to upload a picture of the room. In order for the picture to show most of the walls I had to do a panoramic view picture when taking a shot of it. This makes the picture narrower than a regular picture and hard to really see how the colors look.
I've been at it for a bit and I am not thrilled about how it's turning out with the panoramic view picture. It's hard to really see the colors on it. It's better with a regular picture but to take a regular picture means I don't get to see one wall that I need to see. I think I just have to forget about this whole thing and just go with my gut on what color goes where and hope it will all work well.
12 people like this
11 responses
@mildredtabitha (16070)
• Nairobi, Kenya
4 Mar
I'm really sorry about this experience you are having. Panoramic pictures are really hard to view.
Maybe you should ask yourself if you want dull or bright colors. Once you decide then you can choose from your favorite colors.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Mar
I don't want dull colors or anything in your face either.
1 person likes this
@mildredtabitha (16070)
• Nairobi, Kenya
4 Mar
@lovebuglena now you got the answer.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (159359)
• Boise, Idaho
4 Mar
Those tools on some of the paint sites are fun to use. Are you going white on the stairs? Lots of shades, etc. That always drives me crazy. Have fun. Go light or you'll freak yourself out.
@celticeagle (159359)
• Boise, Idaho
6 Mar
@lovebuglena .........Sounds frustrating indeed. Good luck! I remember doing my office a darker color than I should have and was sure sorry later.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
8 Mar
@celticeagle I hope I won’t regret the color choices.
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@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
5 Mar
Fun to use but also frustrating. I define an area and then go to select a color for it. It tells me the area is not defined and the color won't show even though I just defined the area.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (86830)
• United States
4 Mar
I hope you'll be able to pick cool colors Leenie. I love your place there.
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Mar
@RebeccasFarm I just edited my comment, not sure if you saw the entire thing lol.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Mar
Downstairs (1st floor) is nosegay. 
And the 1st floor wall by the stairs and the stairs themselves (not steps though) will be piano concerto. I wanted to do the stairs wall nosegay too and the living room raindrops on roses. And the stairs and stairs wall up to 3rd floor same as the other stairs. And maybe the accent wall in the living room piano concerto as well.
And the 1st floor wall by the stairs and the stairs themselves (not steps though) will be piano concerto. I wanted to do the stairs wall nosegay too and the living room raindrops on roses. And the stairs and stairs wall up to 3rd floor same as the other stairs. And maybe the accent wall in the living room piano concerto as well.1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar
Have you narrowed down the hues of colors you are interested in? For example, do you want vibrant colors, pastel colors, neutral colors, earthy tones, etc?
@moffittjc (118521)
• Gainesville, Florida
5 Mar
@lovebuglena I really like the raindrops on roses. It's a light but cheery color. I think it will look really good once it's done.
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
5 Mar
I've narrowed down the possible colors for the room, stairs, etc. Question is which of them to pair together. I know I want moldings to be piano concerto and the living room walls to be raindrops on roses. But not sure on accent wall. I have a few colors in mind but can't make up my mind, which is best. The Benjamin Moore website tool slightly helps but not 100%.
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
5 Mar
Here it is. Accent wall is homespun charm. Wall is raindrops on roses. Stairs/moldings is piano concerto even though some of the stairs didn't change to that color for technical reasons. Hard to really tell from this how exactly it will look in real life.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156804)
• United States
5 Mar
Why not just go with an off white? Buyers usually look for that type of coloration. Have a good day.
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
5 Mar
Do not want to go with off-white. If you look at Jeff's thread I uploaded a pic of possible colors that I may do.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156804)
• United States
6 Mar
@lovebuglena Looks nice. Do you have rose-colored accents in your living room?
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
6 Mar
@LindaOHio Nope. We are going to get all new furniture and decor after the renovation is done.
After talking with the contractor I will do the stairs wall the same color as the stairs (piano concerto) which will be the accent wall. And I think the wall where the bathroom is we will keep the same color as the living room (rainbows on roses).
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (58027)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
4 Mar
YSometimes you have to take several and you can edit it into one in post. Most phones give you that option. Unless you have an older phone.
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Mar
I am using the Benjamin Moore tool so all I can do is upload a pic and try to pick different colors for the areas I define. Cannot combine pics.
@JESSY3236 (18957)
• United States
12 Mar
Yeah it's always hard choosing paint colors. They have so many. I had trouble with that type of tool on a hair dye website. I couldn't really tell if the hair dye would look good on me.
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
13 Mar
What’s on a computer screen or even on a piece of paper is not exactly the same as what it will look like on the wall.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (326098)
• Rockingham, Australia
5 Mar
I don't envy you trying to work through this. I hate having to choose paint colours.
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
5 Mar
I have a set of colors I really like. It's a matter of them going together.
1 person likes this
@kobesbuddy (74673)
• East Tawas, Michigan
4 Mar
Just visualize your own favorite colors and go from there. We did this and it turned out lovely!
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
4 Mar
I am not great at actually visualizing the colors. There are people who can really see them in their mind. Not me.
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (43081)
• Staten Island, New York
5 Mar
It is not. To me anyway. It's easier to pick colors than to see/know if they actually work well together.
