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How To Try A Paint Color Without Painting Or Buying Samples

April 9, 2015 by Shannon Fox

How To Try A Paint Color Without Painting Or Buying Samples –

How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - save time money frustration - foxhollowcottage.com

Hi guys!!

I shared a picture on Instagram last night on a whim, asking for interior front-door color suggestions. I later shared it on Facebook too, for y’all who don’t do Insta. (on a side note, those are great places to follow me for little tidbits and check-ins. Things that don’t warrant an entire blog post, day-to-day stuff, etc… )

Well, you never disappoint, and there were some great suggestions!! One gal even suggested a cinnamon red color, which funnily enough, was the shade the door was when we bought the house! It didn’t look too bad at the time either, because the fireplace brick was a similar color.

I did the cottage-y green color a few years ago, and long before we installed the new wood floors. It’s pretty neutral so it wasn’t much of a problem, but I got the itch to do a quick-change the other day and it’s the prefect, do-able project to tackle before I leave on my trip (you can read about that here).

After the show, and trying to recover from the aftermath, I didn’t want to tear into anything too big before I take off… but I have been ITCHING to get my DIY on!!!! Bad.

I knew painting the door would be the perfect scratch, plus it was already on my to-do list.

After getting so many color suggestions, thank you again for that, I recalled a great feature that Sherwin Williams has, called the Color  Snap Visualizer. I uploaded the same exact picture I showed you, got comfy, and got to painting my door every color imaginable, without buying samples… or lifting a brush.

How To Try A Paint Color Without Painting Or Buying Samples

What I started with:

How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - save time money frustration - foxhollowcottage.com

If you like the current color, I’ve no idea what it is. I used Oops paint. Sorry!

Here are a few of the colors I tried with the Color Visualizer

I got a lot of suggestions for the color in the pillow & rug in the photo, so I tried a similar gold, Anjou Pear.

Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer - Anjou Pear - How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - save time money frustration - foxhollowcottage.com

Everyone is in love with AQUA! I got a lot of votes for it.

I tried Lagoon.

Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer - Lagoon - How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - save time money frustration - foxhollowcottage.com

And Peacock Plume. (which I am crazy about!)

Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer - Peacock Plume - How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - save time money frustration - foxhollowcottage.com

Even though the door was already a color from the green family, there were some celery & sage color suggestions so I played around and found this pretty, fresh green called Sheraton Sage.

Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer - Sheraton Sage - How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - save time money frustration - foxhollowcottage.com

I actually have this color in the Matte paint line, it’s called Hopeful.

Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer - Hopeful - How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - save time money frustration - foxhollowcottage.com

It looks better in person. The lighter colors tended to have a little bit of a neon’ish quality going on.

Here it is in my home, on some old salvaged wood I was playing around with.

Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer - Hopeful - How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - save time money frustration - foxhollowcottage.com

I think Hopeful is a perfect balance of pink & coral.

I also saw calls for light, to a dark charcoal gray, so I tried on Classic French Grey.

Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer - Classic French Grey - How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - save time money frustration - foxhollowcottage.com

And then, we had Dear Lillie lovers calling for BLACK! This is Tricorn Black.

Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer - Tricorn Black - How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - save time money frustration - foxhollowcottage.com

The exterior of the door is black right now.

Sherwin Williams Color Visualizer - Tricorn Black - How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - save time money frustration - foxhollowcottage.com

We’ve got a coco body, with bright white trim, the black front door and black shutters. I adore it. In fact, when we painted the little cottage, we had it done to match.

As you can see, the program filled in my door great! In only two clicks. After I indicated the section I wanted painted… it was a simple drag & drop to change colors!

Just thought you might find it useful as well. I know picking a new paint color can be daunting and sucks up a lot of time, just on the deciding. I still suggest a sample or two, but if this helps you narrow it down. Super!!

I’ll share the new door color as soon as I get a few rays of sunshine and some pictures snapped!!

I painted it the same night!!

I couldn’t wait.

xo ~Shannon

How to try a new paint color without buying samples or painting - foxhollowcottage.com

My latest front door look [details here]

Aqua Tiffany Blue Teal Front Door Interior Door Paint

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Filed Under: DIY, DIY Home Improvement, Easy, How To, Painting Tagged With: Help, Painting, Time Saver, Tips

« Whoops! We’ve Outgrown Our Shop
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Comments

  1. Gina says

    April 14, 2015 at 5:42 AM

    I LOVE this. With this new house I’m dying to paint color on some walls but so scared about picking the right one.

  2. kirby carespodi says

    April 10, 2015 at 6:50 AM

    We are in the process of painting the exteriors of all our doors a soft yellow. I think the trend right now is towards black, but I like white on the inside because our space is small. I love the pear and the peacock, which is a good name for an antique shop, now that I think about it! PS: I am reading your blog, but I don’t always comment because the pop ups take so long. But know that I’m reading.

    • Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage says

      April 12, 2015 at 11:49 AM

      Oh no! What kind of pop-up Kirby, message me on facebook!! xo

  3. Deborah says

    April 9, 2015 at 7:28 PM

    Hey there. I can’t wait to see what paint you went with! The black and b gray is really nice, been thinking of those colors for my house. You are more brave than I am so I think you went with……..hopeful or peacock. Am I right?

    • Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage says

      April 11, 2015 at 12:05 PM

      If the sun would come out, I could take some pictures and share it! Counting down to leaving out of state and want to share before I leave. It’s so hard to wait on the weather!!

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