Thursday, September 20, 2012

Learning Who "Your Paint People Are": Lowe's vs. Home Depot

I think the most important statement that a home makes begins with the paint on the walls, and it is also the hardest thing to decide. Therefore the question arises: where do you go to get the goods? Until just this week, I have always been a Lowe's Loyalist. Growing up in the country with a mother who had two very green thumbs, a trip to Lowe's was a big deal. First of all, it wasn't like it was just down the road. It took about 30 minutes to get there. If any of my Peterstown, West Virginia, friends are reading this you know exactly what I'm talking about. So if you were lucky enough to score a road trip to Lowe's, when you got there it was a pretty big let down. It smelled like dirt and there was  nothing exciting going on for a teenager. Now that I'm much older and wiser, a trip to Lowe's is a pretty fun time. (Side note: Just a few weeks ago I had my most adult moment ever when I saw a guy with a power washer in his cart, and my first thought was "LUCKY"!)  I still love my Lowe's for all things DIY....until I discovered the paint section at Home Depot.

So I must confess that I am a bit of a paintaholic. Over the past ten years I've spent approximate 72 million dollars on paint. I once had a bathroom that I painted so many times the room shrank by at least an inch in diameter. That might be a stretch, but the room changed colors ten times when I lived there. I tried about five shades of beige, one super dark blue (you know the one- curse you Pottery Barn and your impossible-to-duplicate blue), green, then back to beige. As you can see, I gotta get the color just right- or I can't live with it and it has to change!

This was my biggest dilemma upon moving in to my current home. The colors in this house were such a nightmare when we bought it I still have a little PTSD just thinking about it. The color was called "Bicycle Yellow" by Behr. I do believe that if hell has a color, this is it. I hated it so much I couldn't even take a before photo, but here is what it looks like- and in case there is any doubt, it is the lovely mind blowing shade on the bottom:

That's right folks- absolutely everywhere, and in a lovely high gloss sheen. ICK.

After several gallons of paint, and several failed attempts to get the shade right through trial and error at my beloved Lowe's, I stumbled upon something that I wish I had found a very very long time ago: Hello paint section at Home Depot!

May I present, the Martha Stewart Living Complete Paint Palette for Interiors and Exteriors.


Seriously Martha? Why have you been keeping this from me for so long?  Inside this handy dandy pamphlet is every single shade of paint that Martha has conjured up (along with their extra snobby sounding names) and underneath of the color is the "Martha Stewart Living Color Coordinating System". Each color belongs to one of 6 families and if you pick paints in the same family, voila! Magically they coordinate.

So now I am on my way with my "Tailor's Chalk" white and "Driftwood Gray" for my kitchen cabinets, and so far so good. However, that is an entirely different post all together people. Can't hardly wait, can you?!

2 comments:

  1. I think my most adult moment was just realizing that I enjoyed going to Lowes in general lol! Mom and Dad used to drag me there when I was little and it was a nightmare. They'd always say, "one day this will be one of your favorite stores" to which I'd, of course, strenuously deny.

    .......touche parents, touche.

    PS, I'm going to try to pull a MIB moment here and forget everything I just read because it's making me want to pant my house.....AGAIN!!! :p

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  2. PS I had to remember my Google+ account info just to be able to reply to this...and apparently that means I now have a blogger account....wonder what I can blog about.....I got nothin' lol.

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