apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I painted a living/dining area in Ralph Lauren's "Turlough Green", which was a nice, understated colour that worked well with my teak furniture. It is nice because it is neither minty nor sagey.

i don't have a specific color to suggest, but i would suggest getting mini samples and testing them on the wall... we were looking for the perfect shade of green for our living room and they all looked completely different on the wall, and the ones we liked best in our home ended up being the ones we were unsure of in the store... green was a hard color for us to get right!

I suggest that you look at Devine Paints. They have a TON of selections (make sure you go to a store that has ALL the options).

I say this because they are the only ones who use the actual paint for their swatches and not digital. So whatever you see on the swatch is EXACTLY what you will get on your wall.

Anything else you are taking a chance. You probably will like it, but still why take chances if you don't have to??

GOOD LUCK!!

Sleek1, doesn't Yolo also use actual paint for their large swatches?

I used "Pod" from C2 for my son's room and love it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lanastewart/3579440548/in/dateposted/

My baby's room is Honeydew by Sherwin Williams.

It's bright without being obnoxious, soft without any drab undertones.

In general, I highly recommend Sherwin Williams paints. They cover really well, and usually don't require an extra coat. Whatever you choose, stay away from Behr paint! I have had so many bad experiences with that paint that can't be blamed on the color or a bad can.

I used crocodile tears by Valspar for my living room and loved it. However, I might suggest 'sprout' to you for your nursery. Light, soft and airy but not pastel.

http://www.materials-world.com/paint-colors/valspar_lows_laura_ashley/valspar_lowes_tradition/valspar_lowes_tradition_28.htm

I adore Valspar Willow Wind, although from your description it might be a tad on the gray side for you. It's in my daughter's nursery and will also be going in our kitchen as soon as we get around to painting it!

Behr Lion might be worth checking out, too. I've seen it in several friends' homes and think it's very nice. It's a bit warmer than Willow Wind.

Remember, you can have your paint store mix up a color in almost any brand's color. We used Benjamin Moore Natura paint in Willow Wind for the nursery - the BM store already had the color in their computer system so we didn't even need to do a color match with a paint chip.

For my daughter's nursery, I used Behr's celery and feldspar and created stripes with the colors. Both those colors can be found on the same paint chip.

http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/nursery-tours/nursery-tour-sophia-anns-celery-stripes-039823

Ace Hardware Kindersely

We used Willow Branch by AFC - I would describe it as a springy green. We have yet to create the rest of my toddler son's room around this accent wall, but after living with it for a few months, I still love the color.

I'm with erinpearce. Paint samples. Colors can trick even the best "colorists." Different parts of the country, different weather, different rooms in the house, different walls in the same room, different times of day....If you've had to re-do paint in the past, maybe it had more to do with tricky conditions than with your abilities. Hopefully, your favorite brand of paint comes in little samples/pots. If not, quarts might be a worthwhile investment. Slap some up and live with it a few days. Have fun!

bring the bedding in to the paint store and they can match the color exactly...that way you know it will go together.

We went through this "journey" for our child's nursery. We tried matching to fabric and mini-samples. We ended up with B. Moore's Stem Green from their low VOC line...very fresh, bright, but not bold, gender neutral green. We still love it 2 years out!

Gee, I'd ask the lady whose post is just above this one. LOVE those walls.

2kidsandus - thanks...that's me :) the color is "Rejuvinate" from Behr.

Benjamin Moore Chameleon. My son's room is this color. It's really soft, not a lime green. More like a pale, soft apple green. You can see a link to it here, along with the Domino spread where I got the idea: http://jackandlila.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/rooms-of-their-own/

We used Behr's grass cloth. Very nice.

I would echo funnymonkey's comments - we have had great luck with Sherwin-Williams paints, and esp. love their low VOC options. We used a combo of their Shagreen and Ryegrass in our boys' room and I love the colors.

I love Farrow and Ball's "cooking apple green".

http://www.farrow-ball.com/productdetails.aspx?pid=0032CG&cid=PC&language=en-GB

Get yourself a sample pot of DKC-45, and try it.

http://www.coxpaint.com/store/cart.php?target=product&product_id=18855&category_id=255

Trust me on this -- it is an amazing colour!

It changes colour based on the light -- in bright light, it can look almost yellow, other times it looks most decidedly green (because it is a full spectrum paint composed of many more pigments than regular paint -- which is also why it is more expensive than regular paint). It glows!!! It is very cheerful, bright, and happy. It will match everything you have. We painted our toddler nursery back home with this colour, and it was everyone's favourite bedroom because of the colour and the feeling it gave the room!

Donald Kaufman, Farrow & Ball, and many others also use real paint on their swatches; Devine paints are not the only ones. Generally, the brands which charge for colour cards use real paint, as it is more costly to make them.

I second the comment on avoiding Behr paint -- we had a HUGE problem with a Behr primer we bought (last time we ever try to economize on *that* item!). The primer didn't stick to the drywall compound, causing the upper coats of paint to peel off where ever there was primer underneath. We had a technical analysis done to see if it was the drywall compound or the primer; it was the primer. We took the problem to Behr, and they did nothing. They don't stand behind their products.

We also made the mistake of using them on our deck, and it failed after 2 winters -- it all peeled off. We only use Benjamin Moore, Pratt & Lambert, Farrow & Ball or Fine Paints of Europe now.

i always use behr paint and have never had any issues at all. with or without primer.

We haven't had any issues with Behr paint either.

I painted my son's room in Dynasty Celadon from Behr. I liked it so much I used the same color for the whole downstairs.

Not everyone is going to have a problem with the paint, but it is curious that in these forums, the "problem paint" that keeps coming up is always the same, always Behr...

After what happened to us, we realized that the most costly part of any paint job is the labour -- be it in dollars or be it in time -- and so we now gladly pay more for reliable paint.

Sherwin Williams "Harmony" line is zero VOC, covers beautifully, and is often on sale for only $22/can. After using Benjamin Moore for years, I've now switched to SW Harmony... I just have them mix the Ben Moore colors :)

Benjamin Moore's "Grecian Green" is a nice soft green. It's a Pottery Barn color, too. It's fairly neutral, though.

Our kitchen and family room is Leap Frog green by Sherwin Williams. I love it so much even after 5 years. It looks great with so many colors. Such a bright, happy color.
Not the best picture...only one I had on hand but you can see the color behind the bookcase.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4296860794_cd09deff8f_b.jpg

We recently painted a nursery green, and love the outcome, but it was harder to pick the right green than I thought! I was trying to match a color in some fabric, and picked out 5 colors that I thought we should try, and got sample pots (small size containers, perfect for a trial square on the wall) from our local Benjamin Moore dealer. None of them were even close, some were hideous! We went to pick a couple more and on a whim I showed the woman at the store what I was trying to match, she VERY quickly pulled out 2 sample chips (way larger than the color cards we were working from) and said how about these? She was dead on right!

So my advice is, if you are trying to match something, take it with you to the paint store and ask them for help! They know color, and they know what will feel warm, bright, shocking, etc.

We used "Citrus Twist" by Mythic Paint Co. for our daughter's nursery. It was cheerful but subtle, minty but not too fresh. Everybody who walked in the door loved it.

Since it hasn't been mentioned, we went with Rainforest Dew in my daughter's room. But the person who says "different parts of the country, different weather, different rooms in the house, different walls in the same room, different times of day...." is very true. Our first house was a east/south east facing room in Texas and our current room is a east facing room in Seattle and boy.....it looks different. I couldn't find a link to our rooms; but it is a very nice pale green (although might be on the yellow side) and works nicely with blue and pink which are the accent colors my daughter has selected over the years.

BTW Rainforest Dew is a Benjamin Moore color.

Another trick is to find the spring green color you are using at the bottom of the paint chip, then paint the walls one of the pale versions of that color -- usually one of the top three colors on the sample chip.

I did this once with a Benjamin Moore olive green that matched a lampshade in the room, and got a fantastic taupe-y-moss-cream shade on the wall that went great with every color in the apartment (red, blue, olive, brown, etc.).

Sadly, Benjamin Moore subsequently reconfigured some of their sample cards to range from gray to green. But they still make the traditional colors. You can find them at any store that carries the full range, such as Janovic in NYC, which owns Benjamin Moore (or vice versa).

Farrow & Ball isn't too big on yellow-greens, but check them out because if they do have a color you like, the paints are all very soft and receding because they are natural and they are also low VOC.

Paint Library might also have something.

I agree you must always test everything in your own environment, and also that Benjamin Moore and Farrow & Ball are very high quality, and Behr is to be avoided. Their paints are cheap and the colors have a greyish cast. Very unattractive.

Martha Stewart also has a ton of soft greens, but I have never actually tried the paints.