As a real estate agent I know if you are selling or renovating, a fresh coat of paint provides a
welcome make-over for any space. I realized I needed to take my own best advice.
My husband and I live in an OLD barn and like most folks, the heart of our home is the kitchen.
Ergo it gets a lot of use and abuse. We decided to kick of 2022 with a kitchen renovation that began
with a major decision to update our beloved 1940s South Bend commercial oven and range. Once
we realized the supply chain delays would give us plenty of time not only paint the walls and ceiling
of the kitchen but to also prep the walls properly by improving drywall details, moving sockets before
painting and to redo the floors before our new oven arrives.
Reflections on white paint
Although we have painted the walls over the years the kitchen ceilings in our old barn are the same
natural wood as when we bought our home. To freshen our space we finally decided to paint the
ceiling and exposed beams flat white. I look forward to the natural brightness the painted ceiling will
deliver. If you haven’t shopped for paint in a while you might be surprised to know there are literally
over a hundred shades of white available from major paint dealers?
Super white, Decorator's white, Cloud white, the list of options and shades of differences can be
overwhelming. Every shade of white has various underlying hues that do make a difference in the
appearance of the color white. Depending on what color you paint your walls and trim you’ll want to
select the right white accordingly.
Tools to help
How do you begin to narrow your selection? Consider working with Samplize.com to get pre-painted
samples of removable, repositionable peel-and-stick swatches to see your favorite paint options on
your wall. The swatches wrap around corners and have non-damaging adhesive so you move the
test sheet to various areas to see if you love the actual color as it appears in daylight or the available
light where you want to paint. The best loved manufacturers of paint that are available as samples
include Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, Farrow & Ball and PPG. Swatches ship overnight.
What’s that color?
However, if you see a color you love used somewhere but are not sure the name of the color
the smart folks at Benjamin Moore produced an app designed to help users to immediately and
accurately color match interior and exterior flat surfaces or objects to more than 3,500 Benjamin
Moore colors. Color Portfolio app is available to download free on Apple® and Android™ mobile
devices.
Yes, it’s a painting project is worth investing in and will likely be the best investment in your home. A
fresh coat of paint is an uplifting and a value-added solution for freshening up your home for sale or
for your daily enjoyment.
p.s. I selected Chantilly Lace white paint for my ceiling. I’ll share photos in a future blog when the
work is done.