A few weeks ago my fellow co-worker/new friend/fellow blogger Andrea (check out her amazing projects at The Lottery House) and I attended a free painting tips class at West Elm.  The shindig was a collaboration between West Elm and Benjamin Moore.  They had many great tips (and great cookies) to share.  Also, just for attending you got a goodie bag complete with swatches and a free gallon of paint.  Score!

Here are a few tips and terms I picked up:

1. Metamerism – This is a fancy term for when you pick a color that ends up looking completely different depending on lighting depth and what time of day it is.  This is why our kitchen is gray in the evening and blue in the morning!  I still love it though.

2.  Pick your paint after you have chosen your textiles and decor.  I kind of disagree with this….I chose all of our paint colors before decor.  Luckily they are neutral, so I’m sure that’s why this rule did not truly apply to us.

3.  It’s OK to paint the ceiling, as long as there is crown molding or a stripe in-between the wall color and the ceiling.  I would love to do this in our house, but this would  involve some lovely popcorn removal in our future.

 

Love this color scheme from House of Turquoise

What if you had a striped ceiling instead of crown molding or a painted stripe between the wall and ceiling?  Genius.

 

Precious nursery image courtesy of Apartment Therapy

4.  Painting Techniques – They reviewed the single stripe technique, horizontal stripes, and ombre’ (ole’?)  I’m a pro at ombre’, as seen below in our den.

I’m in love with this blue ombre’ bathroom.  Maybe one day we’ll have a bathroom this beautiful.

 

Photo from the amazing site that is Houzz

5.  Sheen and VOCs:  There was a lot of talk about sheen which then led to discussion regarding VOCs (wiki it here).  Benjamin Moore is known for their zero VOC paint, and they have around 3500 colors to choose from.  With regards to sheen, they said that their eggshell sheen is the most desirable on the walls, semi-gloss for doors and trim, and matte or dead flat for ceilings.

I see a purchase from the Benjamin Moore Earth and Sky trend board in our near future.

Happy Painting!