I had two shades of green for a bathroom picked out - the much darker of the two for the trim. I had tested them on a section of wall that I had primed up beforehand.

When I painted some primed door trim and it looked 'off'. I waited for it to dry and it's still much, much, much lighter than it was when I decided on it (from the wall test). This too, was just a test paint to see the general outcome in place.

I went back and painted a little over the first test area and again over the trim and the test area darkened properly but not the trim - still way too light!

Any ideas what happened or what I didn't do that I should have?

 

Are you saying the that trim paint matched the trim sample on the wall but doesn't look the same on the door?

If so it is probably a lighting issue. The wall may be reflecting light different than the door making you think it is a different color. It is also possible that you're not getting complete coverage on the door in which case another coat will help.

 

It has to be a lighting issue, as least in terms of the contour of the trim. I thought about the coverage issue but no difference in any number of coats of paint or primer. It's almost as if it doesn't darken after it's dry. But I was surprised to see how darker it dried on the wall section. What it dried to on the trim is almost what the wet color is.

All I know is it sure is an ugly color on the trim!

On a side note - I'm almost starting to miss that ole reliable 'renters white'...

 

Check that last post. Seems if I put a splotch on all the walls only two of them look the way I anticipated. So I guess the trim IS the actual paint color and the swatch (2 of them) I based my decision on was different from the lighting on that area - which doesn't seem to be different light. But I guess it is.

Good grief!

 

Shadows, reflections and even the different types of lighting can all alter the way a color appears.