Our Favourite Benjamin Moore Whites For 2022…In No Particular Order….

Chantilly Lace OC-65

Let’s start with Benjamin Moore’s known truest white, OC-65 Chantilly Lace.  This has become a fast growing popular colour choice for a pure, bright white.  This shade of white can work for trims, doors, ceilings and on occasion the walls as well.  The majority of its use is for millwork because it’s a ‘pure’ white.  This colour is unfiltered by coloured tint, which makes for an untainted white that can frame off many colours.  On the other hand, it sometimes reflects as too stark of a contrast against subtler colours.  It may appear too sterile for cabinetry, however it works well on the walls for a modern and streamlined style.

• If you like this you may also like: OC-61 White Diamond & OC-68 Distant Gray

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Cloud White CC-40

What can you say about Cloud White? It has been a tried and true colour, steadily for trim, because it’s a warm and soft white on the eyes.  It’s cloudy—yes, that’s fitting—, so it doesn’t appear as a sharp contrast with wall colours.  Cloud white couples well with subtle and soft colours such as the Historical colours, like HC-172 Revere Pewter.  While Revere Pewter can also be used with a sharp white, like Chantilly Lace, there is a much softer affect when used with Cloud White.  While this colour is popularly used for trim, it can also be applied for walls.  The slightly stronger yellow undertone creates a warm and natural white colour for walls, trim ceiling and cabinetry!

• If you like this you may also like: OC-122 Cotton Balls & CC- 50 White Down

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Simply White OC-117

As many of you know, OC-117 Simply White is Benjamin Moore’s 2016 Colour of the Year!  This is an exciting year to discover all these shades of white, including the 2016 colour.  Simply White combines the brightness of a colour like Chantilly Lace and the warmth of the Cloud White, into a fresh, yet warm shade of white.  Formerly, Simply White has often been used for trims and millwork, however, the warm yellow undertone of this colour makes it a great choice for an inviting wall colour as well.  The Simply White can pair well with vivid colours because it’s a bright colour itself, as well as warmer tone colours due to the yellow undertone.  For more insight into the uses of Simply White, check out Benjamin Moore Colour Trends 2019 

• If you like this you may also like: OC-121 Mountain Peak White & OC-118 Snowfall White

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Dove Wing OC-18

OC-18 Dove Wing falls under a warm off white, and the darkest out of this selection of whites.  Dove Wing is still an overall light colour and a great white to use on the walls. The gray tones make for a softer shade, while the touch of yellow makes it warm and an inviting hue of white.  Dove Wing is also a great alternative for a cabinetry colour, creating a casual and natural look as apposed to a pure white which can sometimes come off too stark or sanitary.

• If you like this you may also like: CC- 50 White Down & PM-20 China White

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White Dove OC-17

OC-17 White Dove is OC-18 Dove Wing’s counterpart! White Dove is a slightly lighter version of the creamy and soft off white of Dove Wing.  These two colours pair well with each other, often with White Dove as trim and Dove Wing as a corresponding wall colour.  Unlike the Cloud White, the White Dove has a little less yellow, and more gray creating still a warm but more neutral coloured off white.  White Dove is a completely versatile colour, suitable for trim, kitchen cabinets as well as walls.  White Dove can also be used as both the wall and trim colours at the same time, with preferably different sheen textures, to make a room appear taller.

• If you like this you may also like: OC-18 Dove White & OC- 25 Cloud Cover

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Decorators White CC-20

Decorators White falls under a cool undertone of an off-white. It contains a little gray, creating an off-white option that doesn’t lean in any particular colour tone, but it’s a softer version of a pure white such as Chantilly Lace.  This particular shade of white is a good option for trim colours when combined with grays.

• If you like this you may also like: OC-62 Baby’s Breath & OC-64 Pure White

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Oxford White CC-30

CC-30 Oxford White is one of my favourite whites! This is an excellent choice for trims and millwork.  It’s similar to Decorators White, due to its gray background.  It makes for a fresh, clean and modern white, but because it doesn’t appear too gray, can also be substituted for a pure white.  It is a softer version of Benjamin Moore’s purest white Chantilly Lace.  Oxford White is what I would consider, a close second to Cloud White in terms of versatility with most colours.  It is warm enough to be suited to warm colours, yet pure enough to compliment cool colours as well.

• If you like this you may also like: AF-5 Frostine & OC-57 White Heron 

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Intense White OC-51

This shade of white, leans heavily to the gray scale of off-whites.  It also has a slight undertone of green, which allows it to feel warmer without it being a yellow-gray.  This makes for a great choice for a wall colour that has just a hint of depth to it, and feels warmer than a pure gray.  The Intense White is a flexible gray that looks great with many shades of grays.  The muted white can be combined with lighter shades of white trim or even the same shade in a different sheen.

• If you like this you may also like: OC-52 Gray Owl & OC-26 Silver Satin

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Paper White OC-55

OC-55 Paper White falls in between the warmth of Intense White and the gray from Pure White.  It carries qualities of both colours, a mixture of blue, green and gray to form a creamy version of a cool gray.  The Paper White performs best on walls, creating a fresh, yet diffused white, that pairs well with cool tones of blue, greens and grays.

• If you like this you may also like: OC-53 Horizon & OC- 54 White Wisp

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Pure White OC-64

This shade of off white is the coolest on our spectrum of whites, containing the most blue.  It also has a little gray to create a blend that is crisp, vivid yet soft.  The Pure White, while not necessarily true to its name, is a good choice of colour for walls, that pair well with grays and cool colour tones such as blues.

• If you like this you may also like: OC-62 Baby’s Breath & OC-55 Paper White

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HC-80 Bleeker Beige

The warmest of the medium toned neutrals, is HC-80 Bleeker Beige. While it can be considered a taupey beige, it carries a hint of gray to create a soft, subtle beige. This pairs well with creams and off whites, as well as warmer, more traditional colours like reds, olives and burnt oranges. It’s also a colour that backdrops mahogany or reddish undertone wood furniture well!

OC-15 Baby Fawn

OC-15 Baby Fawn and HC-173 Edgecomb Gray are one in the same! This historical colour also found in the off-whites, is adeptly placed in both. It’s one of the darkest off-whites you’ll find in the off-white section, but maintains a light-to-medium tone within the historical colours. Truer to the name OC-15 Baby Fawn, in my opinion, is an ever so slightly flesh-pink tone you’d expect to see from a baby fawn indeed! It’s a highly versatile greige; a soft, milky beige, that creates a blend of warmth and familiarity. These factors lend it to be a popular resale home colour.

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CC-490 Stone Hearth

CC-490 Stone Hearth is a slightly darker neutral that leans a little toward the beige side. Having said that, light direction, and the amount of light in a space can affect this colour significantly. In Northern or Eastern facing rooms, it may draw on the gray side of the colour, whereas Southern or Western facing rooms will highlight the warm beige undertone. Conversely, lots of light will showcase a mid-tone depth, where the colour can become significantly darker in minimally lit spaces. This medium tone neutral is an ideal backdrop for muted shades, of all colour spectrums, as it doesn’t lean too heavily toward a green or red undertone.

HC-172 Revere Pewter

For the longest time, HC-172 Revere Pewter has been Benjamin Moore’s most popular colour! It’s a tried and true neutral to the core. It’s a perfect blend of beige and gray, to create a ‘greige’. With a slight green undertone (if any), it pairs well with traditional browns and warm tones, but also just as well with warm grays. The blend of different colours in this hue, allow it to go grayer in cooler lighting, but picks up the warmth in warmer lighting.

OC-28 Collingwood

Also part of the off-whites, this transitional greige, leans to the lighter and grayer scale of the neutrals. With a fairly neutral undertone as well, it makes for a versatile colour for throughout the home. It compliments the in-trend grays, while maintaining a good balance with more traditional dark brown furniture. It’s a friendly and elegant shade of gray that feels inviting yet fresh in many spaces.

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CC-394 Boulevard

One of my favourite neutrals that falls under a greige, is the CC-394 Boulevard. It has a slight pink undertone with a dash of yellow that creates a modest mix! This creamy gray pairs well with other neutrals and stronger pops of colour. Whether its furniture or accessories that are dark, light or even metallic, it gracefully backdrops many different hues.

2111-50 Stone Harbour

This trendy colour is a mix between the warmth of CC-394 Boulevard and the 2017 colour 2112-50 Stormy Monday. Stemming from a brown-gray, it captures the warmth from the brown, but predominantly leans towards a gray. This balanced colour is also a fantastic medium neutral tone for a transitional style, that merges the browns and grays seamlessly. This violet undertone gray looks grayer under cool lighting, and warmer under warm temperature lighting, like South or West facing areas. 

Stormy Monday

As part of the 2017 colour trends, this medium tone gray is a sober and modern colour for updated styles. The mix of blue and red undertones, gives the impression of a purple undertone gray, but coordinates better with cooler grays and red-undertone browns. Mixing pattern and contrast, makes this colour come alive, while layering similar neutrals like whites and lighter grays creates a streamlined and sleek impression.

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HC-170 Stonington Gray

Stonington Gray is arguably one of my favourite neutrals. While it undoubtedly falls into the grays, it’s one of the most neutral and true grays Benjamin Moore has, to offer! It’s mix of blue and green undertones, allows for a more natural gray, rather than an exclusively cold gray. While HC-169 Coventry Gray is worth mentioning as a close runner up, it’s certainly darker than the Stonington Gray and typically doesn’t assimilate in dimly lit spaces as well. The HC-170 Stonington Gray pairs well with crisp whites to create a modern impression or warmer whites to soften the grays. Most importantly it coordinates flawlessly with charcoal grays like HC-168 Chelsea Gray or HC-166 Kendall Charcoal. 

2121-40 Silver Half Dollar

While this colour could barely be considered a neutral, the strong blue undertones in this colour create a fresh and crisp gray that is in trend currently. It coordinates well with contrasting bold colours, and similar tone grays. It may perform better, to cool down a strongly lit Southern or Western exposed area, whereas the same undertone would be intensified in Northern or Eastern exposed spaces. It coordinates well with contrasting bold colours, and similar tone grays.

Goldilocks only had three options to choose from in her story, but there are 10 beautiful and perfectly neutral mid-toned colours to fulfill your own colour story!

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The post Top 10 Benjamin Moore Mid-tone Neutrals (warm to cool) appeared first on The Paint People.

2121-10 Gray

Gray is a great alternative to white or beige walls.  Unlike white, gray naturally hides imperfections, where as white emphasizes smudges and blemishes.  Let’s face it, as much as we like white, it’s hard to keep clean!

Gray is still considered a neutral, so it innately goes great with most colours; and it’s a modern twist on the commonly used and trite beige.  Gray can act as a neutral backdrop to your collection of furniture and art, or conversely, be the statement colour of the room.  A dark charcoal gray, for example, introduces drama yet still feels elegant.  Benjamin Moore’s HC-167 Amherst Gray & AF- 710 Secret is a great place to start, when looking for darker shades of gray.

Neutral grays

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Alternatively an all gray palate can have a similar effect to a pure white palate.  A palate of exclusively grays can be just as interesting as greys paired with colour.  A grey palate emanates sophistication and luxury. When working with a monochromatic colour scheme, shades of gray for example, it’s important to layer materials, such as using different textures to provide depth.

The temperature of the gray you select is influential to the overall atmosphere of a space as well.  The temperature refers to the coolness or darkness a colour can have on a room, and correlates strongly with the direction a room is facing and therefore the amount of light the area receives.  Although the hue and depth of a gray is important, the temperature of a gray colour can have a big impact on how the space feels.  For example, OC-26 Silver Satin, an immensely versatile colour, conveys an iridescent quality yet feels warm.  On the flip side, 2121-50 Ice Cube Silver is light and airy as well, but has a much cooler temperature.  Be sure to reflect on the colour, depth and temperature of gray to attain the perfect hue.

White grays with different undertones

Currently, grays are used in almost any location in the house.  Because gray is regarded as a neutral, it makes for a great colour option for throughout the house.  Even though it may be easier to choose one shade of gray for throughout the house, I’d suggest adding other hues to your colour palate by implementing more than one colour throughout your home.  It will make it appear more complete, by adding depth and flow from one room to another.  Popular architecture today embraces open concept floorplans, and one colour throughout the space is ideal to make it feel larger and more spacious.  On the other hand, utilize your home’s natural architectural separation, like a bulkhead or doorway for instance, to create an opportunity to use other shades or colours.

Similarly to white, pure gray is limited.  Tinted paint is always comprised of, however small the amount may be, a colorant to achieve the colour hue you’re looking for.  Each gray is made up of different undertones.  Fundamentally, grays can be made up of an undertone of blue, red and yellow, but can also be a combination of these.

Here’s a breakdown of what each undertone could signify:

Blue-Gray

Everyone tends to gravitate toward to, what they consider, is the truest gray.  I’d say the majority associate ‘gray’ with a blue-undertone gray.  Colours such as HC-169 Coventry Gray and 2121-40 Silver Half Dollar are some of the most popular grays for this reason.  A blue-undertone gray can cool off a south facing room, or similarly a room with a lot of sun exposure.  A cool tone gray in a warm room will hold its value and won’t look dull or dreary.  While blue-undertone grays may feel like a true gray, these can also feel cold.  North facing rooms, for this reason, would not fare well with a cool, blue-undertone gray.

Blue undertoned grays

Blue-undertoned grays, when combined with green, can draw the warmer qualities of green and at the same time, enhance the silvery, crispness of the blue. HC-170 Stonington Gray for example, appears closer to a true gray, but doesn’t have a purely blue base.  Other grays such as OC-52 Gray Owl and 1474 Cape May Cobblestone have a greener undertone, and even though it’s not a bright undertone, like the blue, it does express a softness and warmth.

Blue undertoned grays combined with green

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Red-Gray

An undertone of red in gray appears warmer than a blue-undertone of gray.  A gray with undertones of red may appear slightly pink, however the lighting with these colours can affect how they present themselves.  Red-undertoned grays depicted under daylighting, or fluorescent lighting can reveal the pink undertones, whereas warm lighting, or incandescent bulbs can play down the pink pigment.   Benjamin Moore’s 2108-50 Silver Fox and 2108-60 Abalone are great examples of grays with warmer undertones.

Red undertoned grays

When a gray possess an undertone of red, it can also include purple.  A purple undertone is a mix of blue and red pigment, which is also commonly perceived as a true gray.  2112-70 American White is a good example of a purple undertone of gray, and as such performs best under warm or incandescent lighting.  On the other hand, with an ideal ratio of blue to red, a gray can feel balanced, when it doesn’t lean too much toward one colour or the other.  Colours such as 1472 Silver Chain and 1459 Metro Gray appear to be close to a true gray, as both have red and blue undertones.

Red undertoned grays combined with purple

Yellow-Gray

A yellow-undertone of gray will feel and look the most neutral, compared to blue-undertoned grays and red-undertoned grays.  Grays with yellow will appear warm and bright, perfect for minimally lit areas.  A slight yellow or gold pigment behind a gray is great for spaces without natural light and is a good idea to use for Northern exposure areas.  Introducing warm tones of the gray will help it not feel as dreary.

The yellow undertone of gray will dance between the line of gray and beige and is worth considering, for transitional style homes.  While beige may have been overused and is now commonplace, a yellow-undertone gray is a compromise between the warm elements of beige and the modern, fresh feeling of gray.  If you’re not wanting to jump into icy blue or steely grays, colours like HC-173 Edgecomb Gray and OC-15 Baby Fawn would be a worthy concession between a cold gray and a warm beige.  By the same token, HC-172 Revere Pewter is also a transitional gray with a yellow undertone, and while it does have a hint of a green backdrop as well, it’s currently the most popular Benjamin Moore colour because it’s such a flexible ‘greige’.

Yellow undertoned grays

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Comparably, a yellow-undertone of gray can also incorporate a mix of anther colour, commonly red or orange, much like a blue-gray can contain green.  Applying red to a yellow-gray can create more warmth and depth.  OC-28 Collingwood, CC-490 Stone Hearth and CC-394 Boulevard are all great examples of how a combination of yellow and red as undertones of gray work well to establish a warm gray that doesn’t show too much like a beige.

Yellow undertoned grays combined with red

The hue of gray you choose will be influenced by the materials existing in your space. Reflect on the undertones of the materials in your house, when choosing a gray, and by doing so, you can start to eliminate certain grays that won’t work with the undertones you have.

If you’re lucky enough to start with a blank slate, it can influence the tone of materials to come as well.

Lastly opt for a flat or matte finish on the walls versus an eggshell, when choosing a gray colour.  A flat or matte finish looks sleeker, and less industrial than shiny walls.  While a matte finish has previously been expected to show smudges and imperfections, the washable quality of Benjamin Moore’s Aura Matte or Regal Select Ulti-Matte is an ideal product to use with gray. Pairing a washable matte paint, and gray, a colour that naturally conceals defects, will ensure you have the perfect colour and flawless walls.

K522 Aura Matte

Aura Matte Interior Product Details

K522 Regal Select Ulti-Matte

Regal Select Ulti-Matte Interior Product Details

When it all comes down to gray, there really are more than 50 shades.  Finding the perfect shade of gray is possible, when you break down what you’re look at.  If you deduce what you like, what you’re looking for and what will and won’t work, you can certainly find the perfect shade of gray!

Here’s a list of some great grays under each colour tone:

Blue-Undertone Gray:

List of blue undertoned gray paint

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Red-Undertone Gray:

List of red undertoned gray paint

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Yellow-Undertone Gray:

List of yellow undertoned gray paint

Sahra McFarlane
Interior Decorator
Creative Haus Designs

Photos Courtesy of benjaminmoore.com Note: On-screen and printer color representations may vary from actual paint colors.

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The post More Than 50 Shades of Gray appeared first on The Paint People.

Then, around 1940, everything changed. Following it’s invention by Canadian Norman Breakey, the paint roller revolutionized how we paint our homes by making the process faster while also spreading the paint more evenly and avoiding brush marks.

Today, few people would choose a brush over a roller to paint an entire wall in a house.

But they have another option too. They might choose to spray paint the wall instead of rollering it.

There is an ongoing debate over whether spray painting or roller painting is best for interior or exterior painting.

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Here’s a quick comparison to get us started.

Preparation Time

Without having to set up the spray equipment, put paint in the reservoir, connect hoses and cords, etc., rollering has a much shorter preparation time. And if you include all the masking that spraying can require, it doesn’t even come close.

Application Time

All the time you saved in preparation will be lost in how much longer it takes to roll on paint. Regardless of the preparation time, you can paint a wall many times faster with a paint sprayer than with a roller.

Painting Accuracy

When spray painting interior walls you’ll need to make mask off everything you don’t want to get sprayed, like the ceiling, windows, door and floor. So rollers are more accurate, but you’ll usually need a small brush to do corners.

Spreads Paint Evenly

It’s tough to pick a winner here. Both spraying and rolling spreads paint fairly evenly, but both can run the risk of overlapping unevenly too.

Clean-Up

While it can take some doing to clean your roller brushes and equipment, it’s not nearly as bad as having to clean the spray gun, reservoir bottle, and everything else connected to the gun.

Many professional painters combine spray painting, roller painting and brush painting depending on the exact surface being painted. Starting with the brush, each method is faster than the previous one, but each method is less accurate than the previous one. That means spray painting is the fastest way to paint large areas where you don’t need so much accuracy, like an exterior wall; roller painting is good for interior walls where you need to avoid getting paint on other surfaces; and brushes help you do the detail work.

If you want to learn more about how spray painting can help your next project go faster and look better, visit the the full-service Spray Centre at our Dixie Rd. and Eglinton Ave. location. You’ll find complete lines of paint sprayers and equipment, from the leading manufacturers, including Titan, Graco and Lemmer, that you can buy or rent. Seminars are regularly scheduled to show you how to spray paint like a pro. And, best of all, our specialized spray paint technicians are available to answer all your questions and help you find the right equipment for your needs. Call or visit the Spray Centre today.

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Except that moment may be contributing to your day-to-day stress like anything else.

You might not realize it, but elements of your interior décor can contribute to your feelings of stress, even anxiety.

3 Ways Your Interior Décor May Cause Stress

It can happen in the nicest of homes, with lots of space and what are otherwise considered great decorating ideas. Whether it’s the decorating mix, or due to the passage of time, the following can contribute to your feelings of stress at home.

1. Unintentional Clutter – Let’s start with an example. Gallery walls are very popular. Whether you combine works of art, family photos, and mementos, or an eclectic mix of things, when you’re done, it looks great.
   But, as time goes on, things like galleries walls or curio cabinets can actually become over-stimulating. This is especially true in our always connected and communicating world.
   To avoid unintentional clutter, try to give everything in your décor a bit of breathing room and balance.
   
2. You Over-Cooked it with Popular Paint Colours – We all like to have the latest décor trends, like those in wall paints. But those colours, like Benjamin Moore’s colours of the year, aren’t always meant to be used wholesale throughout the room or house. They will look great when you first use them. But the bolder colours can get ‘in your face’ after a while. And even lighter colours, and a lighter, texture-less, minimal décor, can be sleek on the first appearance, but too much so to be comfortable in the long run.
   
3. There’s No Green – Want to break up the intensity of a bold colour? Want to add warmth to your light, minimalist look? Add some greenery. And take as much time with fitting them into your décor as you would with any other part of the décor. If you have a green thumb, great. If you don’t, choose hardier varieties that can withstand abuse while you learn how to keep everything healthy. Plants dying all around you can be stress-inducing too.

If you want to learn more about paint colours and your décor, call or visit your nearest The Paint People location.

The post Stressed Out? Your Interior Décor Could be the Culprit appeared first on The Paint People.

But to really add romance to a room, it takes more of an overall approach to the design and décor, versus just dimming the lights and putting on Barry White.

Choose muted colours and patterns

Regardless of how romantic you make a room, it’s not really so until someone’s in it. If that certain someone disappears in a sea of strong colours or busy patterns, let’s just say some of the romance will be lost.
Starting with wall paint colors, including Benjamin Moore’s Pink Bliss, or their Marilyn’s Dress, stick to neutral palettes and minimal patterns.

Have Elements of Vintage, Antiques and/or Natural Wood

It takes time for something to be imbued with romance. That doesn’t mean your entire room must look like a Victorian parlour, but touches like an ornate chandelier, copper accessories or even a hardwood floor in a lighter stain can do the trick.

Be Versatile with Your Lighting

Just slapping a dimmer onto the overhead light in the bedroom won’t be enough. Think about all the different ways the room can be lit to set a mood, including things like indirect lighting and pot lighting, and give yourself all the options. That way, regardless of anything else in the room, it can be made to suit the mood.

Mix Design Styles

Typically, décor styles, like contemporary, industrial or scandinavian, generally mean sticking to the colours fabrics and designs of that style. But ‘romantic’ isn’t really a design style. It’ll take a different combination of elements in your home than it will in anyone else’s home.

If you’re looking for paint colour or décor suggestions for any style of room, stop by The Paint People and let’s chat.

The post How to Give Your Home A More Romantic Décor appeared first on The Paint People.

While a complete bathroom renovation may be a tall order, a bathroom refresh could be all you need to create blissful surroundings. But what makes it blissful? What type of surrounding would bring you joy? Is it a light, airy space, a dark moody atmosphere or pale tranquil hues? No matter the style, a blissful bathroom should establish a feeling of harmony and happiness! A simple change in paint colour can help achieve that.

Traditionally, light and pale colours could be considered blissful and with varying wisps of blue, green and pink undertones, these blissful beauties are sure to bring serenity:

2139-60 Green Tint

2123-60 Seafoam

2122-50 Iceberg

2122-40 Smoke

2035-70 Italian Ice Green

HC-144 Palladian Blue

OC-71 Sand Dollar

OC-37 Glacier White

2114-60 Hint of Violet

880 White Zinfandel

1366 Rosemist

Comfortable and familiar neutrals, or slightly darker tones of colour, can also create an equally blissful atmosphere!

1536 Northern Cliffs

OC-18 Dove Wing

CSP-115 Barnwood

CC-460 Inukshuk

2129-30 Blue Note

OC-28 Collingwood

The bathroom is probably one of the easiest paint projects to undertake yourself! An obvious first step might be to implement organization solutions, but after addressing storage and clearing floor and counter space, you’re left with the walls. Ideas of consistency and unity come to mind when establishing a blissful surround, so often the best approach is to create a palate off your existing tiles. Complementary colour undertones pulled from the tile colour can bring a unified and soft palate that indeed creates bliss!

The finishing factor of a blissful bathroom may lie in the product you decide to use for the walls. Typically, a shiner finish would have been warranted for bathroom walls years ago, but now, shiner finishes feel dated and sometimes even cheap. Benjamin Moore’s advancements in paint technology has bestowed a beautifully updated and durable matte bathroom product. The Aura Bath & Spa, only available in matte, remains washable and holds up to the moisture and humidity that is inevitable in bathroom territory.

While your bathroom can be utilized for getting ready and conversely also for moments of relaxation, finding your bathroom bliss can originate from differing colours, from calming hushed hues to clean tinted whites right through to cozy darker tones!

The post Paint Ideas for a Blissful Bathroom appeared first on The Paint People.

But considering the deep freeze we endured this past winter, you may need an even bigger fix of summer. And you can get it by bringing some of the summer’s natural, easy-going paint shades to your interior colours and wall paints.

The bonus is, if next winter is another cold one, you’ll still be surrounded by summer! Here are just a few paint shades and interior course you can use to bring summer inside this year.

1. The Calm Light of the Forest

In the brightest, sunny day, the forest is still mellow. If you have bright rooms, you can keep the mellow mood with walls in Benjamin Moore’s Kelp Forest Green.

2. Lighter with Limestone and Hampton Green

What if you have the opposite problem and want to lighten a room by reflecting more of the sun’s light, without using the harsh glare of white. Benjamin Moore’s Limestone is bright but relaxed. And it is nicely complemented with Hampton Green, which offers interesting contrast without any harshness.

3. Freshness & Youth

Just like the flavour, Benjamin Moore’s Spearmint Ice is cool and refreshing. It’s the perfect backdrop for denim blues and slate greys. If you’re looking for lively splashes of colour, accent the room with white, chartreuse and lime. This paint shade is like an endless summer!

If you’re looking to get more summer shades for your home’s decor, call or visit The Paint People. You can take advantage of our Creative Haus Designs colour consultation services to add summer to your existing decor or come up with the palette for a new renovation.

The post Some Summer Paint Shades for Inside Your Home appeared first on The Paint People.

Many factors come into play in how to choose the right finish.

1. Personal preference
2. Durability
3. Moisture repellency
4. Condition of the substrate
5. Appropriate finish for the specific substrate

1. Personal Preference

Back in the day, when paint technology was not up to par, people leaned towards paint finishes that were shiny! They wanted the ability to scrub their walls and remove any grease or dirt that may have accumulated overtime. These high-gloss finishes are the most durable, however, you may see your reflection in them!

Nowadays there are far more choices of “flatter finishes” to choose from; where before it was impractical, with today’s technology it’s not. You can choose paints that are both matte and durable. With a “matte finish”, there is less reflection on the surface, thus creating an “art gallery” look, much desired by designers and interior decorators.

2. Paint Finish Durability

First, you must ask yourself, where will I be applying this paint? I.e. front foyer, kitchen, backsplash, doors or trims? Do you have Kids? We all know they can be messy and are hands on. Pets? They have claws that carry in outdoor dirt and they shake off their fur!

Paint is available in many different types of sheens. The shinier the paint, the more durable it becomes, however the more imperfections you will notice. There are two factors that affect durability, the quality of the product and its sheen. You want to stick with high quality 100% acrylic latex products with proprietary resins. Many of Benjamin Moore’s products are a 100% acrylic latex that is environmentally conscious and ultra durable. They are the only paint manufacturer that produces their own resins. This helps them control quality and durability with every product.

3. Paint Finish Moisture Repellency

Bathrooms can have great ventilation, but it is important to have a moisture resistant finish that looks beautiful and yet is still durable!

A shinier finish can repel the humidity and still have great durability, but now we offer mildew and moisture matte finish to match the rest of the house. Benjamin Moore’s Aura Bath & Spa is a premium interior coating specially formulated for optimal performance in high humidity environments such as baths and spas. With the added benefits of Color Lock Technology and mildew resistance it delivers remarkable durability and exceptional color.

4. Condition of The Surface

Not all walls are perfectly constructed, and many have had a lot of repairs done to them. A flat or matte finish can hide these imperfections and unify uneven textures. It is best used for hallways, family rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms. Yes, even bathrooms! See moisture repellency for more details.

Using a pearl, satin or semi-gloss can emphasize these imperfections, and it’s best used for doors, trims and crown mouldings. Spraying these finishes would yield the best looking, furniture like results.

5. Appropriate Finish for the Specific Substrate

Each substrate is made to endure a certain amount of abuse.

Ceilings, for example generally require little to no maintenance or cleaning, so a good ultra-flat serves the purpose. An ultra-flat ceiling paint will hide all imperfections and touch-up seamlessly but will have very little durability. Benjamin Moore Waterborne Ceiling Paint

Trims and doors on the other hand see a lot more abuse with brooms, vacuums, handprints and shoes. In these cases, pearls, satins and semi-glosses are perfect for the job. These finishes create tough, chip resistant surface. The full Advance paint line and Cabinet Coat are great choices to use.

Choosing the right finish for walls becomes the common ground between the ceiling and trim. Matte finishes and Eggshells are easily washable and diffuse the light enough to create designer art gallery look. Gone are the days where we were limited to only a couple wall finishes to choose from. Benjamin Moore’s Aura matte finish is part of an innovative paint and colorant system integrating the best technologies to deliver superior durability for any color along with the promise of long lasting beauty. In addition to using 100% acrylic latex, proprietary resins have been incorporated to give the product its extraordinary performance properties.

Choosing the right finish for your project and design can be easy. Understand the traffic and washability for the area that is to be painted and decide accordingly.

Come in and speak with one of our product specialists who will show you all the sheen samples we have to offer. This will provide you with a genuine feel and look of each finish.

The post How to Choose The Right Finish appeared first on The Paint People.

While still maintaining Benjamin Moore’s name in quality, the Century paints are better suited for areas like dining rooms, bedrooms and living rooms, places where you want to make a luxurious and opulent impression.  A suede-like look, has a similar appeal than that of wallpaper, with texture that compels you to want to touch it!

The Benjamin Moore Century collection has a plethora of choices within the whole colour spectrum.  Rich and decadent shades in each colour category make for spaces with impact and presence.  Easily more than twenty percent of the selected colours are dedicated to neutrals, steadily on grays and sprinkled with warmer greiges.  With neutrals being a consistently safe choice, a handful of the go-to neutrals include Q2 Cendree, Q1 Marcasite, Z3 Galena and Z2Mica.  Where Cendree and Marcasite resonate as cool grays, Galena and Mica make up equally as warm grays.

Alternatively, non-neutral colour choices from the Benjamin Moore Century paints include shades from varying colour hues.  Opening with shades of purple, the T1 Thistle, T2 Larkspur Seed, R6 Amethyst and R5 Ametrine emanate mystic and regal tones, reflecting both dusty violets and jewel like, berry tints.

Befitting Benjamin Moore’s 2018 Colour of the Year, AF-290 Caliente, the Century line also offers rich reds, with arguably the deepest pigment saturation and texture that creates an uncanny resemblance and feel to a physical flower petal.  With passionate reds and burnt ambers, some of the most prominent colours are C8 Alizarin, V2 Persian Red, V5 Sumac and N4 Saffron.

Yellow is the lightest pigmented colour out of the colour spectrum, and therefore the least saturated, nevertheless, Benjamin Moore Century colours offers a surprisingly extensive choice within a warm yellow palate, ranging from mustard to khaki tones!  Century’s Y8 Limonite,Y5 Yarrow, Y9 Golden Currant and U3 Wild Caraway embrace a yellowed amber glow.

The Benjamin Moore Century palate, zeroes in on some of the best tones of one hue that can easily evoke opposite reactions; green.  From lush and luxurious emeralds to comfortable and organic shades, O7 Privet, O5 Terre Verte, O6 Viridan and O4 Veronese Green are an adeptly selected handful of green shades within such a varying hue.

Maintaining the trendy blues, Benjamin Moore’s Century paints spotlight a varying palate, extending from tranquil green-blues to modest, blackcurrant indigos, and everything in between. The powdery, periwinkles, contrast the ability of range in comparison with the deepest Mediterranean ocean teals!  These hues encompass a fluctuation and fluid palate; U9 Blue Muscari, T6 Mazarine, U8 Cobalt, T7 Deep Iolite.

Benjamin Moore’s latest available product, Century, is a precious and commendable paint option, attentive to the market need for a lavish and unique amalgamation of physical texture and colour impression!  Imagine, a soft to the touch wall, in perfect harmony with an equally opposing strong and opulent colour! It really is the best of both worlds!

The post Best Benjamin Moore Century Swatches appeared first on The Paint People.