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.
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!
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.
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).
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?
Jamie says
First of all, a big CONGRATS to you guys!!
Secondly, THANK YOU! We just bought a house and I have been seriously stumped about room color. I kinda had an idea of what I wanted to do, but there was one room that was seriously just a big question mark. I found the BM Sea Glass and I am pretty sure it’s “the one!” :) Hehe thanks guys.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, so glad Jamie! Send pics!
xo,
s
goldensarah says
Wow – your collection is beautiful! I love watching your success – congrats! So well deserved.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much!
xo,
s
Lindsay @ Me, Ed and Pea says
Congrats guys! Super awesome!
The two colors I just used in my bathroom (Stampede and Stonington Gray) didn’t make the cut! Bummer! haha
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, that’s hilarious! Stonington Gray was in our collection until the last week, when we added a plum color instead (we had one too many taupey-grays) but it was clooooose! So funny you bring that one up! And Stampede is awesome too. The whole time I kept saying “can’t our collection be 2,000 colors?” but I guess that would defeat the purpose, haha.
xo,
s
laxsupermom says
Congratulations on the new collection! That’s so cool! Can’t wait to check it out on my next paint buying trip.
Joy says
We did an exhaustive search of paint colors for our home and finally found some winners from your post on choosing the perfect paint color–so thank you! We ended up using Moonshine, Quiet Moments, and Soft Fern on your recommendation :). Another favorite that I found is Manchester Tan. It’s beige, which can be kind of boring I admit, but I think it looks great in our kitchen with our cream-colored cabinets. I’m so glad to see all your faves in ones spot!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, I love all of those! It’s so funny how many colors they have but I can totally picture all of those – even Manchester Tan! It’s a great color!
xo,
s
Celia says
That is so exciting!!! Congratulations. I used a color similar to the Citron to paint the back of a book case in our study… inspired by YHL. Love all the great tips and ideas on the blog.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh, sounds so awesome! Would love to see a pic!
xo,
s
Mary says
I am over the moon obsessed with Valspar’s Mandarin Orange. It’s been my kickoff color for a fun painting project updating my boring wood bar stools from Target. I even used your projects guide and post on furniture painting to get me started, so thanks!
Now, the really important question, when can I pre-order your book?
YoungHouseLove says
No way! I have loved that color for years! So funny! And as for pre-ordering our book, we heard that it hit amazon.com a few days ago and it’s true! There’s no picture and it’s not even the full title, but it’s available for pre-order if you search Young House Love! Crazy, huh?!
xo,
s
Angela B says
I just looked it up on The Book Depository (a UK site with free shipping to most countries – I’m in Australia) and it says ‘By Sherry Petersik, Illustrated by John Petersik’. Ha ha! Can’t wait to see John’s illustrations if they’re anything like the ones we’ve seen in the past – like the frame breaking the ceramic dog.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahhaha- so funny! I wish John was illustrating it but my guess is that it’s just labeled that way since it’s such early days and they don’t have the real info yet. Hilarious!
xo,
s
Meghan, UK says
Oooh! It’s up on Amazon.co.uk now too, so UK readers can pre-order without shipping from America (joy!) http://tinyurl.com/75t5lta
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoooo! Oh man, it’s so crazy to us. We keep thinking we made up the book in our mind and the whole three weeks of shooting was an intense dream sequence or something.
xo,
s
Katie says
Is this the paint brand you always buy at Home Depot? I looked on their website to see if Benjamin Moore paints were available but they weren’t listed.
YoungHouseLove says
We used to use Olympic Premium at Lowe’s (loved that it was no-VOC!) but after chatting with a few contractors who recommended Benjamin Moore Advance paint for painting our office built-ins and kitchen cabinets we gave that a try. It was amazing! We also got to use some no-VOC Benjamin Moore paint for book projects and really loved it! It has great coverage! Olympic is good stuff too, just might take a few more coats to get the same coverage. We get our Benjamin Moore paint from a local paint company called Virginia Paint. Maybe just check their site to see where it’s sold near you? Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Alayne says
since you mentioned paint colors…….
I have a quick question. I SOOOO want to paint my master bedroom (BM Stratton Blue)but since we have an older home we have tons of nail pops (which look like bubbles in the drywall). Have you experienced anything like this? My hubby wants to screw the drywall down then hammer the pops back in. That is a TON of work with filling and sanding all the holes! We’ve lived in our house for nearly 3 years and I’m ready to make it feel like “OURS” which is hard since we have 3 kiddos 5 and under. Any advice?
YoungHouseLove says
I’m afraid your hubby’s plan is the only one we’ve heard that actually works for the long haul, so as annoying as it is, it’ll probably be worth the trouble (as opposed to spending half the time to try to get them hidden only to see them pop back out in a few months). So sorry! Does anyone else have a shortcut that works for the long term?
xo,
s
Mike Grant says
Congratulations guys. I can’t wait to check out your color collection. What other secrets do you have up your sleeves?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, oh we got secrets, yo. Mostly book projects that we’re still hiding (and dying to share).
xo,
s
Nicole says
So happy for you guys! That is a big deal! Great selection of colors.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Nicole!
xo,
s
Margaret says
We found Ashen Tan and Quiet Moments on some mood boards you created in 2010. Now virtually every room on our first floor is one or the other and WE LOVE IT. I was happy to see that they both made the list!
YoungHouseLove says
Love those colors so much!
xo,
s
JennyB says
SCOOORE! Congrats, you guys! I love your color choices. I painted our hallway, beneath the chair rail, Dragonfly after seeing it as the background for your built-ins a year ago. The top half has remained white(ish). I’ve been stuck on what color to choose for the top…but with your favorite colors on the BM site, I’m thinking Moonshine or Ashen Tan may be a good combo. I’ve tried to get a picture to show on Facebook but I can never get hall pictures to look that great. Thanks, as always, for the great inspiration and congratulations again!!
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh I bet Moonshine or Ashen Tan would look awesome! Would love to see a pic someday!
xo,
s
Reenie says
Woot Woot!!! :)
Shelley @ Green Eggs and Hamlet says
Wow, congratulations! I’m loving Taupe Fedora, Ashen Tan, Shitake Mushroom (I think my favorite), Decatur Buff, and Nantucket Breeze as possibles for our family room. We’ve settled on a neutral tan since my fiance wanted deep red and I wanted a soothing blue or green. Will have to get some test pots of these. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Those colors are my babies! I’m crazy excited about your family room. Definitely send pics. Shitake Mushroom is amazing. Well, so is Ashen Tan and Nantucket Breeze, heck they’re all my babies! And we’ve gone full circle. Haha.
xo,
s
misa says
we painted our sunroom “black beauty” and i am completely in love with that color. it’s a rich and very warm black.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh sounds so mysterious!
xo,
s
Lauren says
This is soooo exciting! I love BM paint (I painted my previous bedroom their Electric Blue. Vibrant and FUN).
Love to see you getting more and more exposure :)
Amber says
Thank you guys for picking exciting and fun colors. I know everyone loves neutrals, but I like color too! The other 2 people that had chosen colors were all neturals and softer colors. (I’m not hating on neutrals, most of my house is neutral, but I liked getting a snapshot of the more vibrant colors they have)
Also my favorite thing about Benjamin Moore Paint is the names of the colors. :) They all have great names.
YoungHouseLove says
I know! I want that to be my job. Naming paint swatches and nail polish. Oddly enough I used to do some product naming when I was in advertising, but never got to do paint. I did help name a giant hamburger for Wendy’s though. Haha.
xo,
s
DJ Sherry says
this just might be a bigger deal than the book! so very cool
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks DJ Sherry!
xo,
s
Mackenzie says
Gosh, I seriously just love you guys. You’re always so humble and excited about each new opportunity!
Also, love your picks! If I didn’t live in an apartment where wall painting is strictly forbidden :(, I’d be dousing the walls in sea glass, elderberry wine, skydive and milano red!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, those are good ones! All of these colors are our babies, so anyone who uses them better send us pics! And thanks for the kind words Mackenzie.
xo,
s
Nichole@40daysof says
Coolest gig so far! Congrats!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Nichole!
xo,
s
Linda says
Sorry – second comment – in Chicago, some of the bigger Ace stores qualified to become Benjamin Moore retailers as well, so maybe check your local Ace. The Ace in Wheaton, IL (Rice Lake Square) even carries the Aura line!
You know, in a way I’m thrilled to see Sherry and John start using BM more – I used to feel a little sorry for Ben when the colors were ‘borrowed’ from BM’s R&D and used to color match to other paints. That’s not to say other paints aren’t fine…but once I used BM years ago on the advice of my landlord, of all people, I never went back.
Jenn says
can we talk about how fun paint names are? That’s the job I want, naming colors.
Have you ever checked out http://www.colourlovers.com ? Name colors, create patterns, design pallettes… it’s a color girl’s dream! it’s helped me get over my pinterest addiction, but alas, it’s my new “problem”.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh, that’s a rabbit hole and I just fell in. I might never come out again!
xo,
s
Darcy says
OMG you guys!!!!! You sure are keeping the surprises coming this year! It is just so flippin’ exciting!! CONGRATULATIONS!!
I got goosebumps for you guys when I saw your adorable picture on the BM website!! Couldn’t be happening to a sweeter little family — xoxo
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, thanks so much Darcy!
xo,
s
Ellen says
Wow – totally awesome for you guys!! Yea! Take the night off… no blogging and go celebrate!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks Ellen! But I have a big kitchen reveal post to finish up for tomorrow morning. So exciting to a dork like me!
xo,
s
Micha says
Woot! That’s all kinds of insane! Congratulations!!!
Lauren says
Amazing!! That is such a huge validation of your design aesthetic!! Congratulations!
Ayana says
The colors you have picked out are they suppose to flow. Like if I pick 2 colors from the fall/winter will they flow? This the problem I have. How to flow colors. HELP!!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, most of them should flow even if you mix seasons! I would just get the swatches and hold them together and see how they look. We love them all jumbled in a pile and even love breaking some of them out in pairs or groups of four or five!
xo,
s
Elaine K says
This is very big news! So exciting! I know where I’m going to look first for ideas for painting my living room and dining room!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Elaine.
xo,
s
Momcat says
Niiiiiiice! I work selling high end paints and we LOVE color collections, it’s so easy to pull out a palette that is already selected for those clients who are… ahem, overwhelmed by color selections.
And yes! Add my shrieks to yours about showing up with Candace Olsen! Suh-weet!
Momcat says
And by the way, Quiet Moments is an amazing color! I have it on my bedroom walls. First saw it in a yoga studio on Libbie Ave and had to have it! So pretty. Let me know if you ever want to see it live & in person :)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, I’ve seen it in person and love it! So funny that it’s in a yoga studio – it’s the perfect soft-blue-green-gray color! So sophisticated and surprisingly neutral for being a color!
xo,
s
Vanessa says
Love the colors! By the way Happy Belated Birthday Sherry! I tried commenting you yesterday but my Iphone was not cooperating- but I did want to wish you a good one and I am right behind you, I will be 30 in November! :(
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Vanessa!
xo,
s
monica says
How exciting!! Congratulations!!!! Finding the perfect paint color can be so difficult sometimes, with all the nuances of shades and tones and changing with light of day… it really is an art!
Lindsay says
Lenox Tan is a personal favorite for a warm neutral color.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh sounds pretty!
xo,
s
Erika says
Ahh!! You’re post could not have come at a better time. I am sitting and looking at the paint samples up in my kitchen. We have dark cabinets and white counters. I have no clue what to choose. Considering a light gray or light turquoise…such decisions. Will be checking out Moore!
Crystal says
I am a big fan of Benjamin Moore Paints and a big fan of YHL. You two fit together like peas and carrots.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Crystal!
xo,
s
Lisa@Cozy Condo Living says
You two have such a cool job!!! Did you choose Richmond Green because of the name?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we really love the color- and of course the name doesn’t hurt!
xo,
s
Lauren says
Congratulations on the collection! It’ll be helpful for me to look through your swatches to plan for re-painting walls and accent walls :)
Penny says
Aw I love it when good things happen to good people! Yay!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Penny!
xo,
s
Victoria R says
I was never a huge zombie movie fan, but I love The Walking Dead! How intense was that season finale?? I can’t wait for fall…
YoungHouseLove says
Ack- it was crazy good!
xo,
s
Lisa says
Very cool. This really is the big time! Two colors I love that get tons of compliments-Revere Pewter (warm grey that looks modern without feeling cold in our kitchen/dining room) and Wales Gray (perfect bedroom blue).
Karen F says
I have Revere Pewter in several rooms in my house, and a hallway – I love it!
Gabrielle says
Holy good gracious! Nice work! Thats absolutely fantastic and incredibly exciting.
Alissa says
Congrats!! Our library is Quiet Moments and my husband’s office and half bath is Beach Glass. Already having 2 out of 32 YHL picks ain’t bad! :)
Kahley @ Ambiance says
So freeeeeeeakin amazing!! Congrats guys!! You should be proud of yourselves!!!
Sheila says
I paint my entire house almost every year, but I’m in a color rut lately. Your collection has inspired me to dip my toe into the bold paint pool. ;) And one of your choices (Decatur Buff) has been a favorite for years. I currently have it in our kitchen, family room and entryway. It’s the ultimate neutral and looks beautiful with any color palette. Congratulations on this exciting project!
Jillian says
Sherry and John Congrats on the Ben Moore Fabulousness, we def have a hard time picking colors and this will be a great reference :). On another note, we have been redecorating our living room from a tuscan theme to light, bright, and fun; long story short I have to get my hands on some of the crate and barrel (Sue the napkin)Mateo napkins or a similar fabric. Have you seen a similar fabric? Thanks for your help. Big Fan—Jillian :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, maybe check overstock, amazon, and ebay? Hoping it helps!
xo,
s
Laura says
Um, this is seriously a dream of mine! I have been stalking your tried and true paint colors for a while now, and now it will be even easier! So cool, congrats!!
Jenn says
Congratulations! Well deserved. I just had a fun moment last week. A friend was describing a blog she has recently come to love. When she started describing some of the projects, I recognized it as a blog that I too love…yours. Thanks for all your hard work.
Kristine says
This is so awesome! I found your site while searching for paint colors. I even have your “foolproof paint suggestions” blog post forever bookmarked on my browser. It’s about time you guys get recognized in the big leagues (aka Ben Moore). Congratulations!
Laura says
Wow, those colors are soooooo YHL! Sounds like a fun gig! :)