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!
Margarita says
Hola!
I hate that MS took Ralph Lauren spot at home depot. We finaly bought a house and we got ready to get the paint for the rooms, all colors from RL, but Martha’s paint is taking the space now (RL discontinued their production at Home Depot, so sad!). I don’t feel there is that many color choices on Martha’s (Behr is huge on palet). I haven’t bought the paint ( and I don’t think I will) I prefer to go the extra mile and get the Ralph Lauren paint from their store, the paint is fabulous! One coat is like 2 of behr’s, it has little to no smell (low VOC’s), it dries very fast, all furniture and rooms I’ve painted have never chipped or flaked or made bubbles, and the colors are to die for…to me that is.
Even Home Depot employees told me to not even bother with Martha, “very low quality, more if you’re used to RL, better go with Behr.”
Eliza says
‘Her Hostessness! hahahahahahhahahha LOL
McKenzie says
I absolutely LOVE Sherwin-Williams Colorsnap and Color Visualizer – it helps to load the photo of your room and see what it’d look like – with bold or muted tones, before making a decision.
cj says
Yes! Martha’s colors are awesome! She has great taste. On the topic, (I am obsessed with paint colors) I was wondering what you guys thought of the Pottery Barn/Benjamin Moore line? They offer a fan deck and the catalog lists pages where their seasonal colors are featured. I love PB, but I didn’t have much luck with the few shades I tried in my home. I guess I need all that professional lighting:) Thanks for the great post!!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey CJ,
We have to agree with you! We’ve pulled swatches for some of the PB/BM paint suggestions and have thought that they were a bit too saturated for most interior lighting situations. Maybe getting them made at 50% with more white paint in the can would tone them down and make them more “wearable” for most houses.
xo,
s
Ashley says
I checked out the Martha paint after reading your opinion and found a color for my bathroom and they even had a free sample. Now at home with it all ready to go but for some reason I’m scared to take the first step and put the paint on the wall. Silly I know!! This is my first house which i moved with my dad(put steel beams under it and hauled it down the road in the middle of the night!)completely renovated it and painted the whole house one color to keep costs down. 6 months later I’m ready for a change. I can see it in my head but taking that first step is hard. I’m only 25 and want something young and fresh but how do i get past the fear on making a mistake?
YoungHouseLove says
Remember it’s only paint and it was free! You can always repaint for around $20. It’s the easiest and cheapest way to totally reinvent a room. Go for it!
xo,
s
cj says
Oooh good idea! I never thought of having them tone down the colors for me…never even knew that was possible! Paint colors always seem to look WAY different at the store vs. at my house! Well thanks again for the great tips! PS….I spotted your yellow pom-pom pillows on the latest Target commercial with Sabrina Soto!!! :)
Linda says
Thanks for this tip! I’m tempted to run out to HD today to check out the Sharkey Gray color!
Ashley says
I just found a great resource I wanted to share! At sherwinwilliams.com you can actually upload a photo of your room and then try out all of the paint colors on your own walls… Warning:This is very addicting! What a great idea!
Harinee says
Hey Sherry & John, Sorry if this is a double comment, but I can’t see my comment from a couple of days ago on here, maybe I didn’t submit.. I wanted to know if you have done any posts on matching certain wood finishes with paint colors for the walls? I think I have spent the past month lurking around your archives(I’m pretty obsessed now, want to demo my walls and start over so I can use the knowledge you’re sharing!), but I don’t remember seeing such a post.. forgive me if I missed an obvious one! I don’t have the option of painting my cherry kitchen cabinets, so I could use some advice on colors that won’t clash with the orangey wood..
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Harinee,
You actually left your comment on another post that we linked to from this post (called “Paint Switch”). Here’s our response below for ya:
Soft sage and celery green tones look really lovely with cherry wood, and we also love how caramel, wheat, and rich golden tans look with classic cherry wood. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Harinee says
Oh I feel so dumb! Thanks so much – I do love sage, so that might be the way to go!
YoungHouseLove says
No worries at all! We just wanted to solve the missing comment mystery for you!
xo,
s
owldeedoo says
Up next is our bathroom, and I am VERY excited! We’re sanding a few cabinets, repainting the cabinets with oil-based paint (likely from the local Hirshfields), repainting the walls, and installing a new vanity top. Husband estimates 3-5 days. I say 5-10.
We’re painting the cabinets an espresso brown (yet to be picked out) and the walls Behr’s “Rain Washed.” I did take home a few Martha chips, and the coordinating color ideas and other goodies tickled my organization bone for sure :)
Tara says
I love this post and the extras on the Martha’s paint chips! I just picked up a few Martha Stewart paint chips as I love her colors. I am steadfast also with the quality of paint from Hirshfield’s. Do you know if they can match MS’s colors so I can get the best of both worlds?
YoungHouseLove says
Most companies can color match these days. Just give them a call or check their site for that info. Hope it helps! And happy painting!
xo,
s
Tracy says
Ok, I think that Olympic might have reformulated because their website says that the colorants are zero VOC as well. here’s the link: http://www.olympic.com/paint/Find_Products/premium_interior.aspx
I used this paint in my baby’s nursery in July, and I since I was pregnant when I painted it, I used this paint exclusively. I’m glad it seems to have retained it’s zero VOC-ness even with the color added.
By the way, I love the blog. We’ve been in the midst of our own renovation of our first house since we bought it in 2008. I think my husband is getting tired of me starting every sentence with “Well on Young House Love, they did this…” :)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s what we were hoping had happened! Thanks for the link!
xo,
s
Charles says
I haven’t looked at the new MSL paints yet but I do like everything they’ve put into their paint chips..well thought out. FYI: Glidden and MSL are both made by AKZO NOBEL PAINTS LLC in Ohio…thanks to the MSDS sheets available online.
I’ve always used Behr in the past, and thought of Glidden as the good in the whole good better best business…perhaps MSL is their step towards Behr’s Ultra Premium, or at least it’s price point would suggest that. I guess I’ll find out soon enough when I let my girlfriend paint the bedroom a deep purple, have to see what MSL offers in that tone.
(I’m an engineer and deal with these things all the time, very useful in traking down who actually makes what)