Paint Samples

I don't need to choose colors; there is a lot more planning and hard work to go before anything gets painted. But I looked into it enough that colors are in my head, a little. Also, playing around with tools and paint and such helps motivate me to clean out and organize the garage.

I had some good quality primer left over from the 2015 paint experiment. Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3 is water-based, int/ext white primer. I bought a new sander and polished off the ivy crawlers on the siding visible out the kitchen window. The siding is actually in pretty good condition. I also bought a tube of DAP Dynaflex 230 latex caulk (never use silicone-based caulk if you expect to paint it, YouTube taught me). Priming the wall bright white increased the light level, but it did look a bit "whitewashed builder's flip."

So, instead of Conservative Gray, as I said on the color board, I bought a sample quart of Acier (SW 9170). The psychology of color still eludes me. I look at dark paint chips and they come out light; I look at light colors and they come out white. So I went with a fairly dark putty color. What the heck, it's just a sample.

As you'll recall from the Exterior Color post, I think the wood siding and the "chair rail" should all be the same color, because I don't like the high contrast bright white over dark blue it is now.

A few observations: Acier represents a nice putty gray (as opposed to a green gray or a brown gray). Acier is fine for a house, but it is too dark (LRV 32) for this north-facing, tree-shaded house. Also, seeing all one shade, I see that Peggy has been right all along--one shade says "cheap paint job."

Acier is not a bad house color, but my house needs more to keep it from looking dreary.

I kept the eaves the bright white they are now--they help bounce light inside, I think.

On the other hand, I was right to some extent as well: it almost looks like a slightly different shade horizontal to vertical. (As predicted by Mark's house on 9th Ave.)

Sherwin-Williams are nice folks to deal with. The quart of Acier cost $8.29 ($33.16/gallon is a big discount, I think). I like the hue of Acier (it seems earthy enough to go with the brick, to me), but it needs to be lighter.

Repose Gray (SW 7015, LRV 58) might be a better shade. I wonder if I should go with Repose Gray for the lower, horizontal boards and the "chair rail," and use an off-white (e.g., Eider White SW 7014, LRV 73) on the vertical boards, with a screaming white on the trim. Eider White is a coordinating color with both Repose Gray and Acier.

If I go with a very light on the vertical boards, I would just continue it onto the eaves. As it is, I left the eaves bright white for now.

As an experiment, I filled in the V-groove gaps on the vertical siding with caulk and left those closer to the electric panel "natural." The caulk looks much more polished.

Update 4/7/19: Maybe we keep the Acier lower and go with Repose Gray above.

I think the experiment shows gray hue good; some contrast between upper and lower good; Acier too dark. I don't have any Repose Gray paint, but here are the color chips:

LRV 73 over LRV 58 will be a lot lighter than LRV 32

Continuing my experimental mood, I framed out part of the living room ceiling and tried painting the walls and ceiling (and my trim boards on the ceiling) with Eider White. I left the trim gloss white and the north wall Glidden "Blue Grey Sky."

I like the bright white trim against the Eider White wall, and I think the scaled-down crown molding really works to lift the ceiling. 

The molding at the ceiling is a simple 1/4 cove--I like that best--and at the wall, it's a too-small bead. I would put 1/4 cove at the wall, too, I think.

Obviously, the Blue Grey Sky (the medium shade in the 2015 experiment) is way too high-contrast. The plan had been to cover every surface except door and window trim (and maybe a chair rail where occurring) with Eider White in Satin finish.

Acier doesn't look too dark in context. I ain't got no good color sense.