Creating a mini paint palettes will help connect the color scheme decorating dots.
The next time you repaint the house, think about portable paint palettes — shorthand fan decks of your color choices. Sure, many of us have used the notebook method or (worse) the toss-it-all-in-a-tote where it all becomes a jumbled mess. There is something satisfying about holding a color scheme in your hand and seeing all the beautiful choices available at your fingertips.
Jane made this paint specification chart for her contractor when remodeling their apartment kitchen. It not only features the paint colors along the right side, and finishes for every room in the chart, but a floor plan showing how the rooms are to be painted. This is great visual aid, and a huge help to the painting contractor, when undergoing an extensive remodeling project.
A simple method for creating a color chart — or even a personalized fan deck — is to use actual paint chip cards and punch a hole in each one to keep the cards together on a metal ring. Easy, but not the best way since paint chips cards may change color with age.
An ideal system is to take the actual paint colors you’ve chosen and apply those to something easily carried around. Paint stir sticks or paint lids are good candidates and are easy to label with the brand, color name and number. This type of system is likely more useful for DIY projects than when an outside painter is involved.
My method of madness is painting dinner-size Chinets. They are large enough to give me a good representation of the color. (Cell phone picture, not so much!) The plates are also thick, sturdy and stackable. I noted which rooms were to be painted which particular color on the back for my daughter’s dining room transformation.
I love this image of vintage spoons painted with Fired Earth colors. While not practical to carry around, it would be interesting artwork in a home studio or educational art room.
(Sources: tumblr, BHG, Elle Decoration UK)
See how our eyes makes certain colors difficult to judge in Tricks Color Can Play and find inspiration for color combinations in Color Scheme Ideas.
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those spoons are the best!
You know how much I love paint! This is a fabulous post Allison.
The plates are such a wonderful idea,light and portable. I have a massive canvas stencilled with rows of dots to display paint colours in my shop. Looks great but I wouldn’t like to carry it anywhere.
Those spoons look so pretty.
They all look so pretty!
Great idea! Even though the paint colors really look different on the wall, it helps in keeping track. Especially when using multiple colors. That’s why it seems so much easier to just paint the walls one color and moldings white LOL But that’s boring… Thanks for sharing this tip!!
Judy