Getting the Right Color

I made a mistake yesterday. I should have followed the rules. I've done this before and I should have learned my lesson. I got cocky and went against that little voice in my head telling me I should take more time to decide. I should have taken the color swatch home to match it up. But I didn't. In my own defense I had my three year old with me and thought I would "save time". So I got it home, painted a bit on the wall and low and behold...it looked BAD! So what's a girl to do? Well, I really didn't want to take my son with me, AGAIN to the store, so I decided to tint it myself. This wasn't the first time I've done it so I was pretty sure I could make it better. Using acrylic craft paint I added a bit in the lid so I could mix only a small amount of paint to test. Then when I got the color I wanted, I added a little at a time to the whole gallon. It worked like a charm.

It's a subtle difference but I like the new color so much better. The color on the far right is the original surface, the color in the middle is the "green"gray and the color on the left is the final toned-down gray.

Mixing some color into my paint.

So what was wrong with the color you ask? Well, it was a bit green looking. After looking at color formula I understood why. Added to the bright white base was black, blue and yellow. I wanted a grayish brown, kind of taupe not greenish. Darn, remember self, don't just look at the color swatch but pay attention to the color formula. Silly me!

So when I painted the color next to my brownish, gray counter, the original color looked green and it made the counter look pink. So I added maroon to the paint to test it out. I had a visit down memory lane. I thought back to basic design class and color theory. The more contrasting the color (colors that are across each other on the color wheel...i.e. red and green, yellow and purple, orange and blue) the more the paint will bring out the other color. So my paint looked green next to something that now looked much more red. By simply adding more red to the paint I was able to tone down the contrast so both the counter and paint looked much more neutral.

Here's an example of some colors below. Say you have some nasty '70's looking cabinets in your kitchen. They are wood but the finish of them are orange-brown. Pretend you have plain white walls when you move in. With white walls, the cabinets stick out like a sore thumb. If you paint your walls blue, the cabinets will look more yellow orange. Since blue is directly across of orange from the color wheel, they are contrasting colors and using these make the other existing contrasting color bolder. Painting your walls yellow will actually make the colors read more as a neutral. Purple also acts like blue making the wood look more yellow. So...if you too have an eye-sore in your home, you can try to minimize it by controlling the colors that are around it. It's as simple as a gallon of paint (and maybe some old acrylic paint you have laying around, if you try to cut corners like I did). Good luck!

Porcelaine 150 paint

I've wanted to share with you a great find. Porcelaine 150 paint can be used on china, porcelain, tile, metal, and ceramics and it can be found your local Michaels store. Simply paint it on, wait 24hrs to dry, and then fire in your oven at 300°F for 30 minutes for a finish that's as permanent as baked enamel. Once baked, the paint is microwave, and dishwasher safe, and resistant to solvents and UV rays. Plus since Porcelaine 150 is water based, you can easily mix the paint to make different colors and clean up is a cinch. Here's a few projects that I've made with the paint. Give it a try, it's super fun!

Plain tea cups are jazzed with black initials. No worries if you have bad handwriting, simply print your design to size on the computer and use carbon paper to copy it onto your cup. Carbon paper can still be found in office supply stores, usually by the typewriters.

This bowl was made as a gift for friends who were moving to Texas. Each kiddo got a painted bowl as a memento with their friends and his/her name on it.

I wanted to make house numbers that were funky and original. By using tiles that I got at a garage sale and a salvaged cabinet door, I made a cool plaque for my house. Now I just need to actually put it up outside.

Using the same tiles I've also made coasters. My children have made a set and I've painted a set as well. Just make sure you paint the edges of the tile to make it look finished and add cork backing so it won't scratch your furniture. These make perfect gifts for grandparents too!