Young House Love

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Our Benjamin Moore Collection Of Favorite Paint Colors

Aw yeah, you know we love a good Britney reference. And you know we love painting (walls, paneling, brick, large ceramic roosters…). A big part of that is picking a paint color. Paint chips are kind of like potato chips to us (we can’t pop just one), and Benjamin Moore has been our snack of choice for a while now. Their color catalog is massive so it’s no wonder we’ve used their tones in nearly every room (Sesame in the kitchen, Moonshine in the living room and dining room, Proposal in Clara’s room, and Dragonfly on the back of our dining room built-ins). Then we used their Advance paint when it came to painting our office built-ins and kitchen cabinets since we’d heard so many good things about it (contractors and readers alike were always such enthusiastic Benjamin Moore fans). We even used their paint for a bunch of secret book projects (both on the walls and on a number of furniture pieces).

So, long story short, when Benjamin Moore invited us to curate a collection of our favorite colors… ummm, it was pretty much a dream of ours. I can’t even tell you how crazy it is for us to see our header on their site.

BenMoore Homepage

So after months of development, we’re crazy-excited to share our Benjamin Moore collection with you guys. Our job was essentially to sift through gobs of swatches (literally thousands of them) to pluck out 32 of our favorites in the hopes of helping anyone who is suffering from the dreaded paint paralysis. So yeah, picture us covering the entire sectional (poor Karl!) with paint swatches and creating different combos and switching things in and out until we landed on a collection to call our own. This partnership is just like any other side gig that helps pay the bills – like writing our magazine column or our book – except we got to play with paint chips for this one, so… score!

BenMoore Color Gallery

Some of the colors in our collection are tried and true choices of ours that we’ve already got on our own walls and some are colors that we’ve eyed forever (and haven’t used in our own house yet… but it’s probably only a matter of time). And some of them are colors that we used for our book – so we’ve seen them on the walls and on furniture, but the walls have since been painted over and the furniture has been hidden because that stuff has to stay secret until our book’s out this fall. So while many of them would be great on walls, we also split or collection into some suggested uses to help you out (like for trim/doors or as accents), so you can check that out here. We love the idea of using the bolder accent colors to wake up a room by:

  • painting a media cabinet, dresser, bed, desk, or chair
  • making some homemade art on a large canvas to fill an entire wall
  • painting a collection of frames to unify them and add drama
  • adding color to a lamp base, basket, or tabletop accessory
  • painting the back wall of a bookcase or built in for added interest

You can read a little intro to the collection here, check out all of our colors here, see them split by suggested application here, and read more thought behind the collection here (if you told us five years ago that we’d end up on the BM website, we’d have laughed at you for at least ten minutes). And you can pop over to view our collection whenever you’d like by following this little sidebar button.

BenMoore Out Button

Now can we just take a moment to talk about how INSANE it is to see our mugs right under Candice Olson’s? There might have been a series of ten to fifteen shrieks that scared a certain dog and delighted a certain toddler (who joined in on the last five to ten of them).

BenMoore Candice Olson Page

So that’s our latest secret project, which we couldn’t wait to share with you guys! I hope anyone out there who is overwhelmed by a giant wall full of swatches might find comfort in a smaller little collection of favorites to peruse and potentially use in their home. And since we’re on the subject of color, do you have an absolute favorite paint color? Is it the perfect neutral? A bold bright hue? Or a color that reminds you of a special place or time?

Comments

  4. Christine says

    Wow. You guys are *Officially* big time now, even though you would never say that about yourselves! I already reference all the colors you guys use/have used… this is so cool for you!!

    Reply

  5. Allyn says

    I have a habit of painting rooms blue. For a few years, it was the same exact shade in different house, now it’s totally different shades, but still… I have to have a blue room!
    I’d be shrieking too!

    Reply

  7. Rebecca says

    I love BM’s Thornton Sage. I used it in my bedroom and the color changes with the different lighting throughout the day but is so calming and peaceful. Congrats!

    Reply

    • Gail says

      Do you actually ever use Ben? It seems to me that you mostly take the more frugal and economical option of color matching Ben colors to other paint brands.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yup, we used Benjamin Moore paint to paint our office cabinets and our kitchen cabinets (after many contractors recommended it) and it’s awesome! It has great coverage and goes on like butter! We also got to use it for a lot of secret book projects (both on furniture and walls) and it’s just really smooth and easy to work with!

      xo,
      s

  9. kari macleod says

    Wow! So excited for you guys! You are just rolling in surprises this year! Can’t wait till YOUR book comes out…now to check out some paint colors!

    Reply

  16. heather says

    I have a question for you guys. How on earth do you handle gut to the studs renovations sanely? After four years of asking and waiting, I was just informed by my husband the ETA on the start to our addition is May 1st. I immediately got heart palpitations, sweaty and stomach flips…with horrible thoughts of divorce on the other end because of all the horror stories you hear of couples who hate each other after renovating.

    What pieces of advice do you have to getting through it? Maybe it’s a little different because he deals with this stuff everyday so it’s second nature to him – and to me it’s like “AAHH CHANGE”.

    Any advice is welcome. Deep breaths.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, deep breaths are a good idea first! Second, try to always always keep in mind that you’re on the same team. You might be annoyed or frustrated with the situation, but you both want a beautiful, safe, comfortable home, so it’s worth the bumps along the way! It’s nice to remember that you both want the same end result and you just have to work together to stay calm until you get there. Our rule is that someone always has to be the rock. Someone can be freaking out, but the other person has to talk them down. Because if you’re both freaking out at the same time, it’s a mess. Hahah. Just try to stay calm, remember it’s temporary, and go into it like it’s you against the world. You’re in it together!

      xo,
      s

    • heather says

      Thanks Sherry, I appreciate it more than you know. My husband is always the rock haha. I’m always the one like “ahhgg what’s going on?!” I’m also prone to saying “no” with my foot down immediately if something is suggested I’m unsure of…and I need to knock it off. I think I should probably just go live in a yurt while he fixes the house and it will be unbelievable haha. My husband has more talent in his pinky finger than in my entire body.

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, all of our relatives. It’s so funny when we go to family gatherings and they say “so are you guys still in advertising? What’s up with you?” – it’s really funny!

      xo,
      s

  19. gia says

    Amazing! We use benjamin moore throughout our house and its the best. We are lucky to have my father in law, who is a professional painter and painted our entire house while I was preggo! :)

    I am so excited for you both and can not wait until you book comes out this fall!! I really really hope you come to NJ for a book signing- you have to come back to your home land sherry!

    Reply

  20. Kate says

    Oh my gosh! I had to do a double take when both your site and Benjamin Moore’s popped up on my news feed. Congratulations on your colour collection! I have been a reader for years but this is my first comment. I just couldn’t not let you know how amazing this is. As a decorator (from Canada) I can’t wait to get some of those colours into paint cans and then on some walls! Congrats!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks so much Krystle! It’s like they’re our babies. We have stared at them for months and made tweaks galore. So happy with the end result!

      xo,
      s

  22. Emily G. says

    So excited for you guys! My parents drug their power tools from Delaware up to New Jersey to help build my dream desk (inspired by your office desk) and I decided that I wanted to paint the top of the desk a nice blue. We can’t paint the walls since it’s a rental and I want a nice pop of color in the room. While browsing through the bazillion colors that Benny Moore has I saw your sweet family like a shining beacon helping me to choose just the right shade. ;)

    Reply

  24. Karen F says

    You guys!!! How cool is this?

    We used Benjamin Moore paint when we repainted a few years ago (this was before I discovered your blog) – for the most part I love what we chose, but there are a few rooms that definitely missed the mark and I’m dying to repaint – so I will check out your collection for sure!

    Reply

  28. Sarah says

    I was literally just on the BM web site reseaching paint colors/locations at your recommendation. I am smack dab in the middle painting my kitchen cabinets following your instructions and wanted the same exact paint (but different color. Imagine how delighted I was to see your header on the site. WTG! It’s good to see that BM recognized the opportunity to work with YHL. You guys rock!

    Reply

  29. kraksa says

    awesome! you guys rock! :)
    uhm, and yeah… I love, love, love your blog

    wish there would be BM paint in the Netherlands…

    I have a blue living room (farrow & ball, chinese blue in chalky matt finish – beautiful paint)

    Greetings from Amsterdam!

    Reply

  30. Kate @The Little Spoon Blog says

    Wow!! Congrats, that is such an accomplishment! I have to laugh at how obsessed I am with your blog…because I still live at home. My reasoning behind my obsession is so when I do move out (hopefully sooner rarer then later) ill have so many ideas for decorating! Congrats again!

    Reply

  32. Kate says

    I was just on the Ben Moore site not 2 hours ago and saw this! I figured it was old news I had missed, haha. Congrats guys – this is big time :)

    Reply

  33. Anita says

    Awesome! I can already see a couple of colors I’d love to try on our walls. Out of curiosity, did you make your final selections based on how they looked ‘out of the can’ (e.g. painted on a wall, etc) or on the swatches themselves?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Many of them were based on seeing them on the wall (either at our house or other people’s homes) while some of the accents were just decided using larger swatches and envisioning something like a big ceramic animal painted that color. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  35. Nadia says

    Wow!! So impressive! After like two years of painting squares all over our house in search of the perfect gray, we finally found it!!! We seriously tried almost every sample in BM that looked gray or had gray in its name!! I thought Moonshine would be it after all your guys’ dealings with with, but alas, it turned blue on our walls!!! :-( BUT when we did our kitchen reno last year, I finally tried Classic Gray and it was our WINNER!!! It is the perfect light white gray that is light enough to still make our rooms feel light and airy, but still gray enough that our new white cabinets, black counters and white beadboard pop against them!!! It went up in our bathroom too and looks just as good in there, where there is very little natural light versus our sun drenched kitchen. Now if I could just find a way to convince the hubby that we really need it in our living room and bedroom ( yes, yes, I know we just painted them a year ago, but I SWEAR this is the last time :-) hehe)???? Any suggestions ;-)

    Reply

  36. Kerri says

    The most perfect colour is Pashmina by Benjamin Moore. We have it through our entire entrance, living area, dining room and hallway and it will be going in all of those same areas in a new house as well!

    Reply

  39. Kelly says

    SOOOO COOL! Thank you also because you guys have saved me! I’ve been obsessing over what to paint all the walls in our new fixer upper and coming up totally clueless. Of course I have to take my cues from my favorite DIY couple in the world and you’ve made it super easy!

    Reply

  40. M says

    Just painted my Ikea bookshelves gloss red and LOVE them! They’re a jolt of energy in my forcibly-neutral apartment.

    Reply

  42. Shelley says

    Whoa – yay for you guys! Benjamin Moore really does have the best paint and I always find our local Benjamin Moore paint store guys to be so helpful. It’s the only paint we have used in our house!

    Reply

  44. Amy Knisely says

    I just finished repainting our living room Glidden’s Barely Jade. I never thought I’d be so happy with a neutral colored wall, but this is the right color to contrast with the golden oak floors and it makes the white trim and decorative plaster ceiling pop. It will look amazing when we install new bright white baseboard and crown molding.
    BTW – your guest room was major inspiration for the color in our master suite. We ended up with a Waverly color (can’t remember the name of it) but it’s a rich, mid-tone blue.

    Reply

  45. mark says

    Is it weird for a guy to comment here? I recently found your site and we have been loving all the content and ideas. I have no idea what colors to pick in a paint store and this will help IMMENSELY!

    When is the book coming out?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, thanks Mark! Yes, dudes do occasionally comment and we love it (John especially loves it, so you might get a virtual high five or even a virtual chest bump if you’re lucky). So glad the paint colors will help, and as for the book, it’s coming out this fall! So excited.

      xo,
      s

  46. Krystle Clark says

    Oh, wow! What an AMAZING opportunity! Congratulations on your newest endeavor! I have already incorporated some of your color choices into my home (Plumage and Dragonfly)and cannot wait to get inspired by your latest colors. Thanks for inspiring us everyday to be creative, be thankful, love, and of course, get on that already!

    Reply

  49. Suzannah says

    This is totally unrelated, but in your old house, in the den, did you DIY a light fixture using your old ceiling fan and a lamp shade? I’m thinking I need to do this, but I’m wondering how you did yours, and if that’s actually what you did, If not, ignore this! ;)

    Reply

  50. Dawn says

    How very exciting! Just last week I was looking up a previous post of some of your favorite paint colors and took my post-it to Ace to find the samples! (I ended up choosing one of them for my bathroom after looking for weeks at other swatches!) I love your blog and your design style. Congrats!

    Reply

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