Your House Colors! Get Ready for Testing Paint Color Tips!

Practical Professional Advice You can Apply Right Now

Q: Are you about to make decisions about interior or exterior paint colors?

Q: Painters and designers: Are you about to recommend paint colors for a client?

Q: How can you make high quality color test samples to help your clients make their best color decisions?

Q: Perhaps you are a design or painting professional who has just been asked for the thousandth time, “How will it look?” Of course, you may have even seen the specified color in many other settings over the years—or, perhaps you’ve never seen it yourself in “real life.” Do you have time to test a lot of color swatches for your clients?

Whether you are doing this yourself or perhaps even suggesting that the client do it—and let you know what they want to use (and some people will actually want to do this) —I’d like to share a few tips that you can recommend, or even use yourself if they are new to you.

It’s not rocket science; we all know that. This post providing some tips for testing will attempt to help you out.

Be sure to do the test for each color with the same finish (i.e., flat, semi-gloss, eggshell, high gloss) you’ll be using on the actual surface.

Here we go!

Keep it Simple but Consider the Details Below
I recommend starting with the premise that color looks different in all types of lighting and throughout the day—and evening—on different surfaces. Color changes in corners, also, as it intensifies where two walls of the same color meet, and it changes in other ways when two walls or surfaces (i.e., wall and ceiling) of differing colors meet. Different product finishes of the same color will look different.

It’s the angle that does it—whether the typical 90 degrees or something else, as in a vaulted ceiling, and the reflection of light causes the colors to affect each other.

Therefore, the following details apply:

1. Make the paint test on a moveable and reposition-able surface. Use something that can be affixed temporarily to any wall, ceiling, or even floor (when you are painting a floor). Note: do not use your blue tape on the edges of this! Tape the back side only.

1. Make the colored surfaces in proportion to each other. For example, trim colors will usually be narrower than the wall color surfaces.
2. Be sure the surface you paint the test on is primed, or at least under-painted with a color similar to what you’re testing. For example, you can use poster board but since it’s paper, it must be oil-primed so it does not warp. Personally I like the rolled-on, flat-finish, fast drying low odor products for this. If you are doing a lot for yourself or for clients, this is practical. Foam core board is good also but more expensive for large amounts, and takes up more room if you have limited storage space.

Note: I’ve typically prepared up to 20 or so poster boards with this type of oil primer, to have ready to go in advance–and easy to use at a moment’s notice–when preparing color tests for clients.

1. DO NOT use foam brushes. Just use a foam or low-texture 6" roller, to roll on two coats of your finish (test) color, making the application as close to what you intend to do on the final surface. Use a roller with similar pile to what you plan to use on the job.
2. Use a stable surface with a texture similar to the wall or surface to be painted. IF the target surface is textured, it’s worth it to make a replica since color reacts so differently with the light falling on textured or smooth surfaces.
3. Be sure to do the test with the same finish (i.e., flat, semi-gloss, eggshell, high gloss) you’ll be using on the actual surface.
4. Be sure to do 2 coats, just as your finish color will be done.  Using a single coat even for testing does not get accurate results of color coverage.
5. Label your sample cards and cut a nice, smooth-edged sample, about 8 inches by 8 inches to leave with the client for their own “shopping” purposes. I find that people appreciate this especially when they are looking at window treatments and furnishings.

Materials for Sampling
OK, so what about materials for the sample surface? You can use wood, (smooth and primed, of course), poster board and foam core (oil prime first), and you can use other substrates like gator board, or drywall (also prime).

One that I personally really like to use and always recommend to my clients who want to do the testing themselves is Small Wall. It’s a great surface, prepared for paint (in other words, no priming needed). It is 1-foot square (two in a pack), has a re-positionable adhesive strip on the back. You can also order larger sample boards 18" x 24" prepared for painting, from another favorite professional product Mighty Boards.

Both can be reused and re-painted. You can even cut them with a solid paper cutter or utility knife, to make smaller pieces, and hole-punch if that’s how you keep color records.

Below example: author's image 4 showing 2 painted swatch colors directly on the wall (not advised)

Below example: Author's image 4-a: Mask the wall with white, make a large, rolled paint sample. Doing this on a separate card or large poster board will give you an idea of the actual color. Can you tell which one this is, from picture 4?

Below example: author's image 4-b: Same process as 4-a. Which of the two “tested” colors is this one?

Digital Color Views!
For any interior and exterior projects, there is one more thing you can offer, that some painters have even used as their palette application guidelines: You can order a digital rendition of what the house will look like (exterior) with the various colors on the different parts of the house. That’s a great way to show a couple of color options in an overall visual. The output you receive is in .jpg or .pdf format.  We can even show up to 50 different color areas on each image we prepare for you, if needed! Any detail can be included in the views.
Just ask me about this service.

Exterior Suggestion
Whether your project is interior or exterior, the same process applies. However, for exterior work you might want to have some siding pieces available that are at least very similar to the client’s house if not the exact same thing.

Doing more than just one strip (minimum four to six strips high, of clapboard style) will give a more accurate view of what the shadows will do at various times of day. Remember to make trim samples also, in the same widths as the actual trim and casings or other details.

So, you might ask, why go to all this trouble, anyway?
The main reason is: Minimize confusion, make the color choices easy, and be professional. Stripes and color patches on the walls look messy and are visually confusing.

You can’t see the specified colors next to each other on a large enough surface because there is just too much going on and the existing colors will inform the appearance of the tested colors, and vice-versa.

• Further Guidance, Illustrations
  Patches are confusing—use one color at a time. This is a useless waste of time, money and emotion. Let’s hope it’s just done for the sake of this picture and not to actually suggest testing colors like this!
• See example Image 4a, above: Block the other colors by hanging a white sheet, using white paper, or painting a white primer background.

Note: Using a roller is best to get the most solid coverage (yes, apply two coats) and no streaks. The point is to replicate the actual color appearance of the final surface.