help choosing the right color from paint chip

We are building a new house and having the builders do some of the painting for us. About a year ago, we painted our current bedroom what I thought would be a peaceful, tranquil green, and it turned out to look more like valentine-candy-heart green. I want to try for the tranquil green I wanted before, but it's SO hard for me to visualize when I'm looking at hundreds of paint chips! I don't have the luxury of buying a color and trying it on the walls, because the builder's doing the painting.

My bedding is cream, with a subtle vine and flower design. The vine is dark green...I just want something that will sort of coordinate with that. Our bed and dresser are dark wood.

How can I tell which green to choose? I want my bedroom to feel like a peaceful retreat, not a sugary, candy heart fest!

Thanks for your help!

 

the first time, you ended up with too bright (ie "pure") of a color, when what you wanted was something very toned down, meaning "grayed" or "muddy". look for the color you think you want, but then follow it toward the grayer/browner end, versus the bluer/brighter end, which is where you ended up last time. does that make sense? tranquil, sagey greens are actually quite mossy & warm. keep looking - you'll find it.

and you really should try it out first - if not on the wall, then buy a quart of the paint and a big poster board and paint it with a couple coats. then take that into the space and look at it. it'll really help.

but even once your walls are painted, they'll probably seem too bright, but don't panic. once the flooring goes down and your furniture gets in there, and especially once wall art & window treatments go up, the walls will really tone down. nothing is more glaring than an empty room and big plain expanses of wall!

 

I think I'm too scared to go for the green, because I have an exact color in mind, and I will only be disappointed if it isn't just right.

So, now I'm thinking a rich cream, the same color as my bedding. Will that be too monotonous? I thought maybe I'd pick up the darker green in the bedding on the windows and with other accents. But, I don't want the room to be bland...I'm still going for a calming retreat feel. It's not a huge room, but there are vaulted ceilings, so it feels pretty big.

nolldl

 

what's the big deal? if you don't like the color, REPAINT til you get it right! it's just paint!! don't wimp out now without even trying & settle for safe and bland!!! go for your peaceful, tranquil GREEN!!!

however.........do cream walls & cream bedding mean a bland room? possibly. with dark furniture? maybe not. with green accents & rich fabrics & textures? probably not. it could be calm & classy, if done right.

what's the flooring?

 

Beige carpet...so I guess it could turn out to be pretty bland. We don't have a lot of artwork...I was actually planning to frame some botanical prints to hang over the bed. We don't have a lot of accessories, or even curtains, in there yet, so I'm really starting from scratch, with the exception of the bedding, which I love. We've kind of left the bedroom for last "since nobody else sees it," so when we do it, I really want to do it right!

And my dear husband will not likely want me to repaint once we've paid to have it done, at least not for a long while!

Calm and classy sounds wonderful...tell me more!

Thanks for all your help! I've been searching online for DAYS and getting nowhere!

nolldl

 

to keep it from being bland, instead of painting the SAME cream as the bedding, go a few shades darker & richer. your dark furniture will really be nice. then maybe add some of the dark green in the drapery. the botanicals sound good - dark wood frames - grouped together or lined up over the headboard.

just make sure the undertones of the creams are the same as the beige - you don't want yellowy creams with taupy beige carpet. but if the carpet is a warm tannish beige, you'll be fine.

 

Then don't look at the paint chips. Find the colour in real life (a wall, a fabric, a teacup), and bring that (or a sample of) to the paint supplier. They can scan it and give you a precise match, regardless of the chips.