PAINT COLOURS & HOW WE MIX THEM

Sometimes I really wish I could shop in the US (I literally go to sleep and dream of shopping at Target!). World Market, Rugs USA, Trader Joe's...we're really missing out over here. The paint options in particular seem so much better - I always see the perfect colours and shades in Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore and Behr but they aren't available anywhere in the UK - so since we moved into our new house I've been dabbling in at-home-paint-mixing and it really surprised me how easy it is and how well it can turn out.

I added some of the paint colours that we were thinking of using to our whole-house-decor mood board. We wanted dark and light neutrals that would make the whole house feel cohesive even if each room was a different colour.

The most well known paint brands in the UK are Farrow and Ball, Little Greene, Crown and Dulux  - we have others and lots of great own brand ranges from shops like B&Q, Wickes and Wilkos but we don't have the colour options that are available in the US - Benjamin Moore carries around 3,400 colours - Farrow and Ball, Little Greene, Crown and Dulux combined only carry around 1,800 - so it's a little harder to find the perfect colour - especially when it comes to neutrals and muted tones.

I searched Pinterest and found great colours that matched what we were looking for from Benjamin Moore

old navy - revere pewter - pale smoke - creamy white - white dove - kendall charcoal

...but I couldn't find just the right shades from a brand I could purchase in the UK.

I've tried a few different brands in our old rental and in our new house and my personal favourites are Dulux and B&Q. The quality of both these brands is great - I love Dulux kitchen + and B&Q Everwhere Paint - both come in a soft matt finish but are still wipable (the only thing I don't like about Dulux paints is that mixed-in-store colours differ slightly from the testers and colour cards - for me they've always come out lighter and in some cases cooler).

After trying what felt like hundreds of testers I wasn't able find the colours we wanted. I tried picking the closest match but after we painted the walls the rooms always felt just slightly too dark or cold and the classic/cozy/warm backdrop I was trying to create just wasn't happening.

The first paint we mixed was the place-holder colour we used in the livingroom. It was cheap paint and we knew we would be painting over it soon so it was a great time to experiment. We just mixed a roughly 50/50 mix of white and colour - it turned out great and gave us the confidence to try mixing more expensive paints to create the colours we had been searching for.

For smaller amonts of paint I measure out the weight of the paint in a clean tin or jar on my kitchen scales and stir them together with a long spoon - this method is great if you are mixing testers right up to mixing about a liter of paint (enough for a small bathroom or feature wall). For bigger projects I use whole tins (so I go by the measurements on the tin instead of weighing on the scales) - and use a paddle mixer (I use this one) attached to my electric drill and a large plastic tub for mixing (you can mix the paint in a smaller container - just be careful of the spray that it creates) - this mixes bigger amounts of paint quickly and saves you from an intense upper arm workout.

Here are the colours we've used (and some we are planning on using soon) in our house

Greige - Living-Dining Room - Top middle

We loved Farrow & Ball Ammonite with our cool toned mid grey sofa but at £138 for the amount of paint we needed it was pretty pricey. We tried to find a match for it in a cheaper brand but greige tones are hard to find this side of the Atlantic - every tester we tried was either to blue or cold or too much of a true beige. I grabbed two of the testers we had tried (Polished Pebble and Natural Hessian - both from Dulux) and mixed them 50/50 - they came out exactly the tone we wanted - a really neutral warm grey. We ordered them from B&Q during a 2-for-1 sale so 10 liters of paint only set us back £50...score! When it was on the walls it read a little too beige so we mixed in some more grey - our finished colour is close to a 3 parts Polished Pebble to 2 parts Natural Hessian. It turned out almost exactly the same colour as Ammonite and I think it looks simelar to Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter.

Cream - Future Bedroom - Top left

When we finish our bedroom we'd love it to be full of layered neutrals and we think warm cream walls would be the perfect background to lots of wood tones and plush textiles. We tried mixing the leftover paint from the livingroom (we have about 5 liters left) 50/50 with white and it turned out just right - I think it's close to Benjamin Moore Creamy White.

Pale Grey-Off White - Hallway and Kitchen - Top right

This is a Dulux colour called Mineral Haze 4 - we didn't mix it. Although it didn't turn out exactly the colour of the tester (which was a slightly warmer tone) it's still a great clean white that we hope will keep the small hallway and kitchen as light and bright as possible. I thinks it's similar to Benjamin Moore Dove White.

Dark Grey - Bathroom - Bottom middle

We were going for something similar to Kendall Charcoal and after trying out 10 or so grey testers for the bathroom and not finding one that was just right we chose Dulux Urban Obsession but lightened it a shade by mixing 2 parts colour to 1 part white (for example 500g urban obsession + 250g white). It turned out exactly how we wanted it - deep but still fresh, not too dark and without any green or brown tones.

Pale Blue -  Girls Room - Bottom left

This is the colour the girls chose for their room - it's called Celestial Cloud 5 (another Dulux colour). It turned out the same tone but lighter than the tester - I think it looks similar to Benjamin Moore Pale Smoke.

White - Trim, Doors and Guest Room - Bottom right

In the UK when you say white everyone thinks of the same thing - Pure Brilliant White. It's as white as you can get - no pigment at all - not cool or warm - just white white white. This is what we've been using for the trim, doors and ceilings in every room and also for the walls in the guest room. My favourite for trim is this one and my favourite for ceilings and walls (and mixing) is this one.

Sometimes it takes a while to find the perfect mix - and I've never tried mixing really bright colours - but after seeing how easy it can be - and being really happy with the colours we've been able to create  - I would definitely recommend mixing paint at home as an option for anyone struggling to find a particular shade.

Anyone got any tips for finding their perfect colour? I'd love to hear them!