The other day we swung by Home Depot to take a peek at the recently added Martha Stewart Living Paint collection and were of course wowed by Miss Martha’s always impeccable taste in colors.
What we didn’t expect was to be equally enthralled by the other side of the paint chips, where Martha has provided a bunch of “extras” to make the most of her paints. It got us wondering about what other paint brands go above and beyond when it comes to their sample chips. But let’s start with the line of paints that piqued our curiosity in the first place:
Perhaps our favorite thing about the Martha chips is that they suggest coordinating colors for the ceiling (on the top of the chip) and the trim/woodwork (on the bottom)- and you can easily fold each of them over to view it with the main color on the front. We think it’s a great way to start thinking outside of the box… since without Martha you might never think of putting River Mist (slate blue) trim with a Bakery Box White (milky white) wall.
And if that’s not enough coordination help, let’s say you’re trying to repaint your whole house. The front corners are marked with small icons to help you assemble a harmonious scheme of colors that could work seamlessly from room to room (just match the icons for foolproof cohesion).
These MSL chips also leave space to assist you in organizing and remembering all of the paints in your house (leave it up to Martha to help you be as type-A as possible when it comes to remembering what room is painted what color).
But enough about Her Hostessness, let’s move on to some of the other souped up paint chips we know and love. We’ve always been fans of Glidden’s gorgeous range of colors (also available at Home Depot) even though they eliminated some of our favs when they trimmed down their line last year (though many are still in HD’s system – just gotta ask for them by name at the desk). But one thing we did like about their relaunch was that their new paint chips, like Martha’s, come with suggested coordinating colors on the back. They also take it one step further and show you an inspiration photo, so you can better visualize how the colors might come together.
Home Depot’s other main brand, Behr, is a little less generous when it comes to guiding you chip-by-chip (though, like many brands, they offer separate booklets to help you stay within a certain scheme or mood). But you gotta give ’em credit for thinking of adding a perforated hole in their cards, so you can easily build your own custom fan deck of favorite colors – they even provide the ring!
Over at Lowe’s we found less in the super-chip department from their main brands Olympic and Valspar. Though you’ve probably seen that Valspar’s chips have these pre-cut squares to help you visualize how two colors might work side-by-side or even to help you see how closely a swatch matches a pillow or other coordinating item that you have on hand. In fact we’ve used this feature to closely match existing wall paint in the sunroom that we couldn’t identify- and the new paint touch ups were completely undetectable.
Now we didn’t make it over to any of the private paint retailers like Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore during our tour de chips, but the fan decks we have at home don’t boast any added features like the ones we highlighted above. Although we do love both brands and recognize that their separate booklets and pamphlets are full of steal-worthy ideas. In the end, we’re not judging paint brands solely on how pimped out their chips are- we think it falls in the “nice to have” not “must have” category. But we do appreciate that some go the extra mile to provide some added inspiration, organization, and coordination help.
Have you guys seen any especially helpful “extras” that a paint brand, paint website, or paint department has created? Or have you used any of the bonus features that we highlighted above to help in your paint selections thus far? Has anyone checked out the new line of Martha paints and loved what they saw? We were actually chatting with the Glidden delivery guy as he stocked the paint chips and he whispered that “the new Martha stuff is second to none.” We thought that was a pretty nice endorsement coming from someone who works for the competition!
Cait @ Hernando House says
Those are some pretty cool features from the Marth paint line!
Valspar’s regular chips aren’t especially helpful, but at least for their Seaside Retreat line (which we used in most of our house) they have a section of chips that show coordinating colors, and I think even some with room inspiration photos.
LoquaciousLaura says
I went in to buy Behr but I’m probably going Martha :) Her paint is low-VOC also!
I had a fantastic time playing around with the coordination icons … the line is relatively limited, but the color choices are fabulous.
Kate! says
Our HD has had MSL paints for awhile now – I, too, LOVE the ceiling/trim suggestions on the chips and the symbols to coordinate colors. There are also a handful of *large* premixed sample paints available at $2.99 a pop!
Recently I became a Sherwin Williams fan – I found their website and it has this neat feature where you can upload a picture of your room and section off the walls (or trim etc). That way you can test out different colors on YOUR picture! Super cool.
When I went into the store, their sample cans are huge. Huge-normous! And only $5.99. I’m painting my powder room with a sample can. They also give out entire fan decks for free. So many bonuses at SW.
Erin R says
We used Martha’s paint for our kitchen table and chairs. I believe it was called Silhouette. It covers beautifully! We were painting over a white primer with black paint and we probably could have gotten away with just one coat. I plan on using the leftovers to paint our living room console. I freaking love Martha!
Mandy says
We used Behr for our house, and love the way the colors turned out. i would have loved to use Martha, but having to paint a whole house was expensive enough at one, we couldn’t take the added cost. I have been a Behr girl my whole life, and find it hard to switch since I can scrub the death out of my walls and you can never tell after the spot has dried…
@Kate! – I have never stepped foot in a SW store, but now I feel like I must just to check out the sample cans since we are thinking about repainting our bathrooms and could probably use one can for both rooms
Lauren says
The bigger, the better for chip size! I’ve read elsewhere that you can order massive (12″X12″) chips from the designer/industry section of many paint brands. (And yes, Canadians, they seem to ship up here as well!)
Tiffini S. says
We generally use Valspar because Lowes is the closest to our home. But I am less than thrilled with the color continuity. Not sure if it’s Lowes just doing a bad job of mixing the paint, or the paint make up that really misses the mark. The buttery cream we used in our living room is really just a dirty looking white and the jade color in our bedroom is not only a far cry from the paint chip, but it doesn’t seem to coordinate well with any color that I’ve brought in thus far. I’ve returned 6 bedspreads already!
This is the same Lowe’s, however that the paint guy convinced us to mix dark grey in with our primer. We used 3 coats of paint to cover the dark grey in the primer! What’s the point of even using primer if you need three coats to cover it??? I feel a re-painting coming on in the future, but with 13 foot ceilings, it’s a rough go of things. Maybe we’ll go with Martha’s colors, then. Seems like it might be worth the 30 minute drive…
Tiffany says
Love that blue chip!!!!!!
XOXO,
http://outfitidentifier.com/
Ashley says
I’m super impressed with the new MSL because my personal resolution with our new house is to be more organized! In our case, we lucked out that the seller left their paint cans and chips behind so we know what everything is painted!
A great tool my husband and I found is from Sherwin Williams – it’s their visualizer tool that allows you to upload a photo of your room and select from their different colors to “paint” your walls.
http://www.sherwin-williams.com/do_it_yourself/paint_colors/visualizer/
We have a bright red kitchen and we were trying to decide what or IF to paint it. The colors that we were excited to try totally didn’t work with our cabinets! I’m SO glad we could try it out on screen before trying it out on our walls! We ended up realizing the red is a great color to stay with – for now. It helped save us a lot of time, money, and headaches!
Veronica says
Hi guys I just adore your site, I stumbled on it, searching the web for pics of before and afters. Trying to get wall paint color ideas. I recently painted my bathroom green (more like a sage green) we have dark cabinets, goes very nice together. My question is I removed the towel rack holder, just above our tub. What would you suggest putting over the tub that could hold towels (just please don”t say another towel rack). Im going for a spa feel. Thanks for any input.
YoungHouseLove says
We love the look of some sort of shelf with rolled up towels on it. Very posh!
xo,
s
Jocelyn Stott says
Love it! Great post. Paint chips are so fun. All of that color in one place, staring back at you – it’s intoxicating. I grew up with parents who were ALWAYS working on about 50 projects at our house and trips to Home Depot were constant. My sister and I HATED going there when we were young, but we entertained ourselves by collecting paint chips and then using them for various art projects once at home. Now as an adult, I have different feelings towards Home Depot, but I will always say Thank GOD for the paint chip section :)
Monique says
MSL Paint samples are MASSIVE. I still have bottles laying around I use for touch ups or other projects. I wouldn’t say greatest of quality.. but neat marketing none the less with the paint chips..
By the way.. Martha’s PET line recently touched down in Petsmart.. I bought my pup a new bed.. its great! I’m pretty sure you could put Marthas name on a can of saurkraut and people would go crazy over it. The woman is a machine.
Christine says
OH, Martha, what will you think of next? :)
tarynkay says
“Ghost ship” and “Shark Loop” are some of the best paint-color names ever. What the heck is a shark loop? I have no idea, but it sounds awesome. Paint names just do me in- I love them. I’ve never chosen a color just for the name, but I have rejected colors b/c of the name. That is so dumb of me, but I can’t help it. I’m just really a word person, I guess.
susanne says
We recently painted our kitchen with MSL Faded Ink. We were very happy with the way it turned out. We ended up throwing on a quick second coat, but probably didn’t need to. Color is beautiful and rich.
Tracy says
I got a new Sherwin Williams mini fan deck the other day that includes only their most popular colors. It seems like a safe way to pick a winner. If you stop by the store, be sure to get on their mailing list — I get notified of special sales every quarter or so.
Erin says
Leave it to Martha to apply the Garanimals theory to paint. Y’all remember Garanimals (that kids’ clothing line where all you had to do was buy clothes hanging on the same color hangers and you were guaranteed to match), right?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we loved Garanimals!
xo,
s
liz @ btb says
Ooo I love me some Martha! And her paint chips are so helpful that I helped myself to one of each. My husband was so embarassed. We were actually at HD last night picking up Harvest Brown paint for our kitchen/living/dining room ceiling. We’re still undecided on the walls… something light.
Here’s a pic:
http://bontempsbeignet.blogspot.com/2010/07/summer-to-do-list-painting-paralysis.html
Alicia says
LOVE the new Martha paint. Just put the first coat on a dresser last night in her ‘cumulus cloud’ in semi-gloss. Gorgeous.
I actually bought a quart of the Martha, and a quart of Behr in a much darker gray for a coordinating dresser, and the price difference was only a couple dollars. I know it was just for a quart, but if there’s a Martha color you just love, I’d say go for it. The top of the dresser was perfectly smooth this morning. Thought the quality was amazing.
Nicole says
I’ve always used Benjamin Moore mostly based on the customer service. I’ve been to 6 locations in 4 different cities and have always been impressed with the service. I do love their products but I just feel so welcome when I walk in to their store. I’m always anxious to start a new project just so I can see their smiling faces!
Janet says
Our master bedroom and the upstairs hallway are painted in Valspar’s Sharkloop! I love that color. :)
Even though Valspar doesn’t suggest coordinating colors, I love the cut out square they have. We painted one wall in our guest room a very bright Caribbean blue. I want to paint the other walls another color, so I use their cut outs to help figure out what will work well.
Jenny says
I wish that Mythic Paints did more with suggesting coordinating colors. I used other maker’s paint chips and combo suggestions and ultimately had them mixed in no-VOC Mythic Paint. Benjamin Moore’s chips are too small – I think it just encourages you to buy the little paint samples. The size of MSL, Behr and Sherwin Williams paint chips were the best for me.
Amanda @ longroadset says
I’m a big fan of lowes online painting program. It kind of helps to see how a color scheme would work (or of course how badly in would clash!)
That’s actually how I picked out Eddie Bauers Celadon for our bedroom and a light kind of brown that will eventually be on the ceiling. Not that I didn’t go get paint chips to make sure it was what I wanted, but the program is nice, even if you’re just playing around with ideas. It can also give you accent color ideas based on the main color you choose. Which is pretty nifty.
Martha says
We used a Dutch Boy color palate for our house. They have really handy cards that make 6 or 7 color suggestions with an image on the back demonstrating how it could all be used in a room.
Of course I decided I didn’t like one of the colors, which was similar to a blue we already had in the house, so I kept the existing blue.
And then I decided to ditch the primary color in the palate for the existing green in our dining room. (A decision I now vaguely regret.)
I think I will be much more confident with my color choices when we re-paint.
I only deliberately selected the paint for one room of my house and it was the one we painted six months after the rest.
stacey erin says
I saw these at my local HD earlier this summer! I love how organized Ms. Martha makes everything!
Stacey says
I recently used Martha’s paint for a project, and loved the way it turned out. I especially loved that her paints are low VOC paints. I did not pay attention to the fact that she gives so many helpful tips and resources right there on the chip. This is definitely great to know for future projects!
Amy says
I, too, am a fan of Sherwin Williams website with the color visualizer. I was “painting” the walls of many houses before my husband and I even bought our first home. Now, I ended up with about 100 paint cards from Lowe’s and we just have a 6-room house, plus basement! I think I’ll end up at Sherwin Williams though I haven’t collected any of their paint cards yet.
JenniG says
Hey! Shark Loop is the color I painted my bathroom! :) And my master bedroom is painted Magnet Dapple, which is a few shades darker. I LOVE it.
Laura says
So far I love Glidden’s colors the best along with their large paint chips. Like Martha, Glidden also has the icon in the corner so it is easy to coordinate colors.
I will also check out Martha but might not be able to use because of the expense. Will Home Depot color match the Martha colors in another paint line like Glidden?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, for sure! We do that wit Glidden paint sometimes (matching it to Behr, which seems a smidge more high-quality). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Keeley says
I’m really pleased with the newer Behr Premium Plus (or Ultra, or whatever it’s called) paint line. The paint is so thick and has excellent coverage with one coat.
The best part? Behr now has a color called Silver Sage with is an EXACT match to my favorite color (also Silver Sage) from Restoration Hardware. I live over an hour from Restoration Hardware and I was always asking Home Depot to color match it, and now I can just pull it from the collection!
Elizabeth says
They still make Garanimals…my three year old neice practically lives in them!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my goodness, we’re going to have to snag some for Clara when she’s big enough!
xo,
s
Brooke says
I have to say that as much as I appreciated Martha’s suggestions, I totally ignored her! I really liked one dark purple that had a different icon than the aqua-ish color I liked for another room. I looked at them in different lights and in both rooms and with all the accessories and decided that if I’d pair them in the same room, they’d work together to form a good palette for the house. So take that, Martha! I didn’t need your helpful icons!
Val says
I have to admit…I’m rolling on the floor laughing right now. My husband works for the Glidden across the street for the HD in Richmond on Broad. Did you know that Glidden and Martha are owned by the same company? Exact same paint.
http://www.akzonobel.com/
YoungHouseLove says
That explains it! Although it’s funny that he was more about Martha than the Glidden logo on his shirt!
xo,
s
Sarah says
I’m a huge fan of Behr paint in general. I had less than pleasant results with Valspar when it comes to paint quality, but I love Valspar color options better. I compared paint brands not too long ago on my blog (but not their chips – great points!).
One color inspiration I plan to start doing (you know, “someday” when I can stop looking at countertop and flooring samples) is to use some of my favorite nail polish colors. Lincoln Park After Dark by OPI is so moody and eggplant-y (not a word, but it works) that I’d love to have it as throw pillows.
Ruth says
I just used Sherwin Williams paint to paint kitchen walls and found that they have the LRV on the back of their chips. That helped me to pick colors a lot. By the way, we also used Ben Moore when painting kitchen cabs and both husband and I think the extra $$$$ was totally worth it. We’ve used mostly Dutch Boy from Walmart in the past (and Behr twice) and the difference is remarkably different.
tasha roe says
I had a problem with the color and quality of my Glidden paint from Home Depot so I called the Glidden 800#. The rep that I spoke with said that they scaled the paint colors back because Home Depot doesn’t (at the time of the call) offer the exact base colors needed to make all of the paints to an exact match and they eliminated the ones that HD could not not create. That was the problem with my paint – not a true match to the card even though HD made it exactly like the formula called for.
We love to paint stuff – walls, furniture, shutters, doors, etc… and for the longest time I have been a Behr snob; wouldn’t use anything else. THEN I tried Benjamin Moore and SHerwin Williams. OMG! night and day difference. The coverage, the vibrance, the ease of application, the selection, service…..I could go on and on. There really is a huge difference. oh and Sherwin WIlliams has their paint 40% this Saturday!! Stock up! you can always buy white and tint it later!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the heads up on the Sherwin Williams sale, Tasha!
40% off is awesome!
xo,
s
Kristen says
Yesterday we just finished painting all the walls in a crafting retreat we are opening this fall. We used Glidden paints and made sure to match the little symbol in the corner with all the different colors we used(ours was a circle). It was VERY helpful! I think it looks pretty good too!
Beth says
Benjamin Moore has a new line of paint called Aura… it’s 144 colors that all work harmoniously together… very helpful if you’re doing a whole house.
Meaghan says
Benjamin Moore’s mini paint samples are my favorite…especially if you are super meticulous and need to be sure the paint works on your walls
Megan says
This is really funny because just yesterday I was at Home Depot and I got a Martha Stewart color (Mourning Dove) matched to Glidden paint for our bedroom! I have never used Glidden paint before, but seems to be working fine for me and you can’t beat the price.
Shannon says
Hi John and Sherry,
I just love that you posted about paints! I have been compiling a long list of paints to check out over the last week or so (Behr, CIL, SICO, Benjamin Moore, Martha, Para, etc.). I also did a blog post about Pittsburgh Paints and how great their colour coordination chips are. I just added a link back to your paint blog post at the bottom of my blog post for my readers to hear what you have to say too.
Smiles,
Shannon
http://www.akadesign.ca
Patti says
I love Benjamin Moore paint and their stores, they’re so helpful. On the BM website, they have a feature called personal color viewer that I like to play with. You can experiment with different paint colors with pictures of rooms that they provide or you can upload your own room photos. In my experience, the actual paint color is a little different than the color on my computer screen, but overall it gives you a good idea of what will work together.
Jen says
I recently used the new Martha paint matched to Glidden Quiet Rain in my bathroom. I painted the trim with Freshaire off the shelf white. Freshaire may be zero-VOC but I thought it had a much stronger odor than the Martha paint. I could hardly smell a thing with Martha’s paint, whereas with the Freshaire I felt I needed to avoid the room for a while so the smell could dissapate. I was happy with the coverage of the MSL paint and it was a few bucks cheaper than the Behr Ultra paint.
Carolyn says
I have tried many others (even MSL paint from years ago when she first started paints…not at HD) but nothing compares to Benjamin Moore quality and coverage. I,ve painted almost every room in this house to cover up the cheap paint the previous owners had used…you can really tell when a wall has been painted with superior paint. My fav colours are storehouse, muslin and herbs de Provence. That being said, i’ve had those fantastically large MSL paint chips on my bathroom wall for months now. I am tempted to try it out…I think tadpole is the colour I am leaning towards.
Tricia says
What brand of paint should I buy? I have been reading reviews online and am now more confused than I was before. There are so many mixed feelings about all of them. Any suggestions so I don’t have to pull a name out of a hat?
YoungHouseLove says
Tricia,
We’ve had great luck with Behr and Benjamin Moore. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sonu says
I totally appreciate bells & whistles as much as the next designer, but it’s sooo important to remember that the quality of the paint is just as critical (if not more). I love Aura and Natura (Benjamin Moore) and end up with a color that lasts as long as my mood to have it on the wall.
Jessica says
My boyfriend and I just bought our first place and we are so excited to start painting! This post couldn’t have come at a better time. We are going to HD tonight to pick out some colors.
Off topic, but do you guys have a list or something of basic household essentials? We are on a tight budget and don’t want to go overboard on buying stuff we don’t need! We need to equip an entire 1 br apartment because we previously both lived at home, so we don’t have anything at all! Please help!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jessica,
We actually don’t have a list because it’s a super subjective subject so it’s all about what your indiviual needs are. Our advice would be not to buy a thing until you decide you truly need it to avoid going overboard and spending money on stuff you never actually use. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sara says
Sigh… I love paint chips! I think I oculd look at new chips every day. And, the funny thing is, I always come back to my first choice for a room.
Jen @ The Decor Scene says
I’m going to have to check out Martha’s colors. Love her paint chips. I’m a Benjamin Moore or Valspar girl and I love their products. I really love Valspars Seaside collect. But I might have to expand my horizons and check out these other lines. Great post.
margie says
Hey guys! I could use some advice. I am painting my living room this fall and I am in love with painted ceilings!! But we are painting the wall going up our stairs (from the front door-up the stairs-to the upstairs hallway) green like MS Bay leaf and we are doing the remaining 3 walls plus the wall under the stairs gray like MS sharkey gray. So my question is what would you suggest as the ceiling color? Side note-we do not have crown molding. :(
Thanks!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Just bring home a ton of swatches and see what you like with both colors! From soft gray to light pink or blue you have tons of options. Hope it helps!
xo,
s