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Full-Spectrum Paint Part I After reading Donald Kaufman's book on color, I want to use
full spectrum paint on our house (picking paint for the entire
house this week! Yikes!!) What brands are full-spectrum?? I know
his paint is - but it is only sold at stores in New Jersey and
California. I'm in Colorado and need to make choices soon. We
have Benjamin Moore here and C2 has a supplier in Denver (Belcaro).
Follow-Up Postings: RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I wish I could help, but I don't even know what full spectrum paint is. : ( Can you tell I'm new to this? lol RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Full spectrum paints use many different tints to make a color - so it is more complex and has portions of the entire color spectrum in the paint. Most paint manufacturers use 3 colors to make a color. A full spectrum color will have many tints including the main color's complement on the color wheel - so the paint has more depth and changes as your lighting in the room changes. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Here's another for you. I haven't used any full spectrum paints yet, but I'm very interested in them Here is a link that might be useful: ellen kennon full spectrum paints RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Shoot - now that I've read all about full spectrum paints, I don't want to use anything else. Too bad the nearest source is a little far to drive. Sure would like to try just one. Jen RE: Full-spectrum paint brands For my money, C-2 is well worth the extra dollars. Though I don't think I've ever paid more than $30/gallon. It's gorgeous, complex paint made with 16 colorants. I haven't used anything else for years. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands What situations is full spectrum recommended for? Specically, I have a room which gets very limited natural light. Would it be a waste to go with full spectrum there? RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Belinda, we have had a full-spectrum paint (we're going to use C2 Aspen) _specifically_ recommended to us for our cave-like master bedroom. A paint using only the usual 2 or 3 pigments just "dies" in low light, while a paint with more pigments shifts with the light levels. Now I'm just waiting for the friends who've promised to paint the dang room for me to get their butts here and DO it. :-) C2 runs around $30 a gallon here for Pro Series, $40 for Premium (NH). I've gotten lucky enough to see a few C2-painted rooms recently and I do think it makes a real difference. It's indescribable exactly how, it's like it's iridescent or opalescent but it's not because it doesn't have that shininess one associates with iridescence/opalescence. I'm not sure if Devine qualifies as full spectrum, but it does use more pigments than a typical paint. It's about $35 a gallon, give or take a bit. I haven't gotten a chance to see it in real life yet, but I've ordered the palette just for kicks. (I've decided to collect fanbooks. LOL) C2 and Devine are WAAAAY more affordable than Kaufman or Fine Paints of Europe, both of which can approach and even pass $100 a gallon. Ellen Kennon paint is actually ICI/Dulux paint with more pigments added, costing $35-50/gallon. Incolorado - Your painter couldn't get anywhere near the same color with SW. I know, I tried, being addicted to SW's Harmony paint. It looked like _crap_. The actual _paint_ is only a small part of the project budget for repainting. I've reposted a link to an article I recently posted here - it gives a good explanation of why full spectrum paints are worth it and why they work. Here is a link that might be useful: paint article by pro colorist RE: Full-spectrum paint brands johnmari - I'm glad to hear good things about c2 - I think
I'll drive up to Denver and check it out. The thing that bugs
me about Kaufman is its limited availability - and they want
$75 for color samples. They also told me on the phone they are
the only full spectrum paint available which isn't true. I don't
like to be lied to. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Johnmari - You're right. C-2 colors are luminous. About a year ago, I had out three-story stairs and halls painted with C-2's "Polenta", a golden shade without a hint of green. I looked all over, and never found a color remotely close. It makes my dark halls feel like sunshine, and people have strong, positive, reactions to the room. Makes my living room and dining room pale by comparison. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands incolorado, you should be able to order the C2 fandeck by phoning Belcaro up rather than making the long drive. I think I paid about $30? for mine but honestly it's just so much fun to play with it's worth it just for that! Unlike most brands, the C2 deck is made of the real paint so it's more like what you'll really get. (I have heard Kaufman's company can be a bit snotty... I'm still waiting for his books to come ILL from the library, and I've heard over and over that he is The Authority on the subject, but sheesh, acknowledge your dang competition and convince us of why you're better rather than just ignoring them.) I do plan to use a BM paint for my living room because I can't get quite the right color match (I want "Wet Concrete") with C2... "Nightcap" isn't quite brownish enough. But, "Limon" might just be right for the guest room where I was going to colormatch from another brand... back to the store for another poster-chip! (That is one of the coolest things about C2, the huge 18"x24" superchip. Costs about $5 each but some stores let you return the ones you don't like.) Devine's colors are very muted, they might have a better match for the "Wet Concrete" than C2 does, and I've been listening to house_vixen too long to ignore the brand completely. ;-) Jen, you can order the fanbooks/palettes and samples online to get a little taste and see if you think it is worth the drive for gallons to do your actual project. For C2 contact www.belcaro.com and for Devine contact www.millerpaint.com - if worse comes to worst, Miller will even ship you gallons for $40 a gallon (including s/h), and Belcaro can probably quote you a price to ship out C2. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Update - I talked to Ellen Kennon on the phone - really nice
lady! Anyway, her paints are available through local ICI/Dulux
dealers. She is sending me a color sample kit and will help consult
- I can send her pictures etc. Then she deals with the paint
store and has them mix her formula. If this absolutely won't wrk, then I'll head to Belcaro in Denver and check out C2. Thanks for all the suggestions! Especially desert gal ca who posted Ellen's site! Mary Sue RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Okay, you've convinced me. I am going to call Ellen today. Thank you everyone for the wonderful information. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Thanks Mari. Boy that is tempting. But yesterday, I started to tell Hubby about the full-spectrum paints and he said "I'm not listening, we've already picked out the paints and we're not going to look any more." -- LOL. I've already ordered about 20 little bottles of BM paint from Belcaro.com and from those we selected colors for the living areas. But there's still the bedrooms.... :-) I'm very intrigued and would love to try one of these. Jen RE: Full-spectrum paint brands You are absolutely welcome Incolorado. Keep us posted on how the consultation goes and what you decide to do. As I said, I haven't used them yet, but the colors sound so wonderful I am just going to have to in the house we are moving into in a couple of weeks. So I'm dying to hear the feedback on it all. Helen RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Dear new friends! Sit down for a second and let me tell you
my experience with Ellen Kennon and her line of Full Spectrum
paints!!! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands wow, great thread. I was thinking about asking a similar question this AM, and now it appears I have 1/2 my answer. I saw a home in South Carolina that was a dark grey, but the most luminous, vivid grey I've ever seen and with a crisp white trim, the house just popped. Could have been FS paint??? RE: Full-spectrum paint brands The grey paint must of been FS to look like that. I decided to paint our main rooms grey and heard from so many people that it would look dead, dark and/or gloomy. I paint with Farrow and Ball and everyone loves the result. The grey walls look so luminous and they change colour throughout the day. It really does look magical! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands oh I wish you could see the grey samples from Ellen Kennon!! Gustavian Grey is a newer color and it has such a beautiful rich, warm glow! Maybe it's all the different pigments that go in to her paints, but they do change with afternoon light and morning light..or if you hang different pieces of art or different colors of fabric for windows or sofas...you will never tire of a color like that! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Is Farrow & Ball Full SpectruM?????? RE: Full-spectrum paint brands It's hard to imagine a luminous grey. We chose against a paint color because it looked too flat grey to us. I am so intrigued about these full spectrum paints and am willing to give them a try. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands okay, you guys have got my attention. i found a place nearby that carries benjamin moore and another place that carries pratt and lambert. i've never really looked at colors for either brand. we're about to move to another building at work and i want to paint my new office a light turquoise. what i DON'T want is the paint to shift into a light mint color. i want turquoise and what i call turquoise is hard to find. should i look at both? do you recommend one over the other? i tried looking up c2 but the nearest dealer is in dallas and i'm just not up for that right now! hit me with pros/cons and anything else ya' got (except for tomatoes!). thanks! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I'm going to try and post pix of the luminous grey lady I saw. I'm sure the digital pix won't be great, but I'll try. They actually matched the color from the color of the mud in the tidal flats on their property. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Belcaro does the 2oz samples for C2, also--in addition to the Benjamin Moore and Pratt & Lambert--in case you want to see if you can spot the difference. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Is Devine paint considered Full Spectrum? It is sold at The Great Indoors. There is no C2 retailer in Arizona. When sharing this thread with my husband, he said ..."maybe, we should become a C2 retailer." What's the scoop with Benjamin Moore? RE: Full-spectrum paint brands About C2 - when I called Belcaro in Denver and asked about C2 they said that it isn't marketed as a full-spectrum paint. Their pigments are European (Finnish maybe?? - can't remember what he said) - I'm not sure if all the colors have portions of the entire spectrum or not. Anyone have more info?? Update on my Ellen Kennon painting - we have painted most
of the second story of our new house. So far it looks really
good! As far as changing light goes, it has been overcast and
rainy here - which isn't typical for Colorado - so I haven't
really seen the walls with other lighting yet. We followed Ellen's
advice and put her Alexandra blue on the ceilings - really love
it! It is so soft - wish the rain would clear up so I can see
everything better!!! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Incolorado - please keep us updated on this. Does the blue look blue to you or does it look white? RE: Full-spectrum paint brands belinda- yes they look blue, but just barely - sorta soft
blue -greyish. Ellen Kennon suggested this as a ceiling color
on her wesite - it seems to go with many of her colors. She compares
it to the twilight sky. It looks a little different in each room
it is in! depeding on the lighting and the wall color. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Hi All! I contacted Devine Paints to ask if they are full-spectrum as defined by the Ellen Kennon website and also in the article johnmari posted. My email was forwarded to a paint expert at Miller paint and he said, "By their definition, Yes we a full spectrum system. We have 11 different colorants available to us to make a broad array of colors. For repeatablity, we typically use 3 colorants sometimes 4." When I read his reply I didn't think they actually did produce full-spectrum paints as defined by the article or Ellen Kennon. Yes, they may have colors in the full-color spectrum, but each individual paint is not a full-spectrum paint. I wrote back to Miller's paint expert and indicated that most typical major brands only use 2-4 colorants for each paint, whereas full-spectrum paints typically use 7-11 colorants. The paint expert at Miller wrote me back and said, "Miller does not formulate a color for cost, as the article suggests. We formulate to get a color the customer wants. The fewer colors used the more repeatable the color and the more consistent the color. Another problem that can happen with multicolorants is a color phenomena called Metamerism. This is when you change light sources, the color changes. This might be desirable on a car, but not necessarily on a living room wall." So, to sum this all up. I interpret this to mean that Devine paints are NOT full-spectrum since they only use 3-4 colorants per each paint color. I also find it interesting that the paint expert notes that with a change of light sources the full-spectrum paint may change colors (with the insinuation that this is bad/not desirable). Well, isn't this one of the advantages of a full-spectrum paint - it's rich ability to show a variety of color variations? Anyway, just thought I'd share what I found out by emailing Devine directly about whether they're full-spectrum or not. Based on what I've read I would say no, but I guess it's up to interpretation. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I'd say no too, since full-spectrum paint means that a full spectrum of colors is used in each paint color, not just 2-4. I think he (the first guy you talked to) misunderstood your question or doesn't really know what true full-spectrum paints are. Interesting about Metamerism but I agree with you -- I thought that was a desireable feature. I've seen other paint colors change in various colors too (from tan to grey etc.). Jen RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Fascinating thread. I am really interested in hearing from those who have used C2 or other full spectrum paints on the extent of the color change in different light, weather, time of day. I am not sure that the metamerism is something I would like. I guess it would depend on how much, and what the other shades are. I can't wait to get back to the states and order samples of all these things and put them up and see what I think. It's very exciting. Ivette RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Ellen Kennon is coming to my hometown tommorrow and I have been invited to see a local project she is working on!!! I am so excited. I will purchase her chips and will let you all know what happens. I have been working on this for a few days and didn't want to say anything to you guys, but I recieved an e-mail from her last night. I have to say, she is a very nice lady. She was raised in the same town as I live in. Isn't life wonderfully wierd! Will let you all know after I see her and the project she is working on locally. RE: Screwed up on days Sheeeze, I guess I am so excited I forgot what day it is. Ellen will be coming in to my town on Thursday and Friday. Will update all after my meeting with her. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Great paint info - great web site for that matter! We are building in NJ and have not made any final color choices. What a challenge! I was aiming for C2 based on past postings - I visited the local C2 dealer and agree their colors seem to have more depth than BM or SW but am still skeptical if they are actually "full spectrum". After reading the recent postings, I now am very interested in Ellen Kennon paints and am awaiting the samples from her. I spoke to her, I must say she was very nice and helpful. Would love to know if anyone has actually used both C2 and Ellen Kennon paints, what colors and which you feel is the better product. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I called several local paint stores, including ICI which per Ellen's website has an agreement with her to distribute her paint (the order is placed with Ellen, the delivered to a local ICI store for customer pickup) and no one had a clue what I was talking about when I asked about full spectrum paints. I found this interesting since the big boxes get bashed quite a bit for lack of knowledge. In this area the employees at the paint stores were no more helpful. Even ICI! I was surprised and disappointed as I thought that even if they didn't carry the product, a professional would at least know that it exists and have a general idea what it is. I hope someone responds to the question about C2 vs Ellen Kennon. There's a C2 store about an hour from me, I'm kinda leaning toward the Ellen Kennon paint. Out of laziness mostly. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Belinda- The ICI/Dulux guys here didn't know anything about
full-spectrum either (really, no one I called did except for
one guy at Belcaro who didn't think much of Donald Kaufman or
his book...) However, Ellen takes care of it and tells them what
to put in the paint. One of the guys asked my husband who she
was - a color consultant or what and my hubby said that she mixed
full-spectrum paints with more pigments in them than normal.
The paint store employee confirmed that there were more pigments
in Ellen's formulas than normal colors. So even though they don't
know anything about it, you get the paints you want via Ellen.
I have to say she has been really helpful and patient with me
- prompt service and not pushy at all! She has kinda held my
hand via the phone - I am happy with the choices we've made from
here line! Riverrat - say hello to Ellen for me! I'd love to actually meet her someday! Mary Sue RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Hey Incolorado, I have my paint samples, and am just waiting to get into my new house in a couple of weeks before I go any further with my decisions. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I have her samples too. We are using Light Terracotta in the dining room, Honeysuckle in the entry and hallway, Buttercream in a northfacing bedroom (gorgeous pale butter color), and probably Sunset Rose in the family room and kitchen. Our Spanish home can take these colors and she recommended them. Ellen is very helpful and is not pushy at all. She just answers questions and makes suggestions based on information I've provided. She's truly delightful to work with. We don't have a C2 store anywhere around here so there's no chance of trying it anyway. Jen RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Mary Sue, RE: Full-spectrum paint brands desert gal - We used Alexandra Blue on all the bedroom ceilings.
Baby's room - buttercream (soft yellow), daughter's room - Cameo
(soft pink), son's room - Classic cream (he is a white or cream
kinda kid!), game room - Camelhair, kids bath - Terracotta sand,
laundry room - white opal. We are now picking colors for the
main living areas of the house - so far we've chosen: master
- Ashen green, powder - Ashen green, master bath - Classic cream.
We are considering Lichen for the kitchen. We were in a quandry
about the entryway and living room - they are two stories high
and my woodwork and trim in the house is either natural knotty
alder or natural, rustic cherry. So we wanted a soft neutral
without too much taupe, orange or yellow. We narrowed it down
to Terracotta sand (too taupe), Light terracotta (too peach)
and honeysuckle (too yellow). So at Ellen's suggestion, I went
to ICI and looked at their color board. We came up with one of
their colors and she added the pigments necessary to make it
full-spectrum. We now have a soft, creamy neutral with a hint
of taupe and a hint of blush to it! I think it will look great
with the woodwork and flooring. Ellen also said if I had a color
picked out in another brand, she could try to duplicate it and
make it full spectrum. Very helpful! Now I just need to think
of a name for this color we came up with!! :) RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Mary Sue, My girls and I pored over the all the colors and the smallest one kept getting annoyed that we were "getting them out of order", after she'd done all the work of organizing them all to her liking. It was interesting to see who chose what colors. One of them loved the jewel colors, another loved the golds and yellows, and the other just fell in love with the ones that were the color of water, and we all had a good time playing color cards for ages. The house we are moving into is a big old place with high high ceilings, and both the sitting room, and our master bedroom have classic arched sunrooms off them. I'm really looking forward to seeing just how the rooms feel,and what the light is like before I can make up my mind about what colors will go where. Keep us posted, Helen RE: Full-spectrum paint brands no one has yet mentioned the author of a book i bought tonight on a whim--annie sloan. it's called "paint alchemy" and it's about making your OWN paint. she also sells this paint through her website. i don't know that you'd call her paint full spectrum; she's probably more of a pigment purist. but the recipes look good if you want to use a more natural paint.... i'll let you know what i think after i've read more of the book. but i can tell you now i don't think her colors are for the faint of heart! Here is a link that might be useful: check out annie's website in the meantime RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Marysue - your entry way in your home sounds just like ours.
I have been having the same dilemma - our trim will be southern
yellow pine stained to be a natural cherry/honey finish. We have
natural exposed beams which are aging to a variation of hues
- cream/reddish/tan. The first floor is a very open plan, and
two story entry way kind of flows into the kitchen (natural cherry/mocha
cherry) which then flows into the family room. I'm finding it
pretty difficult to find a color that does not clash with the
wood tones without going with something to bland. We want to
stick with a creme/tannish color that actually looks like a color.
The dining room which is also just off entry will be a sage color
(not sure which one yet). I am waiting for the Ellen Kennon samples
and hope to find something for both areas. If not, the info.
you gave about the paint board sounds interesting - how many
colors are on the board? I am not familiar with that co. at all.
Good to know one of their colors can be converted to a full spectrum
paint and Ellen Kennon is willing to help out like this. Did
Ellen mix a sample and send it to you to see if you liked it
before you purchased all the paint you needed? RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Here's some first-hand feedback about C2. I like this paint and am in the midst of painting a whole house with it, everything from bare drywall to exterior trim, with a couple of exceptions where oil is better. Paid under $30/gal for it on sale at 20% off. I used C2 contractor's grade acrylic flat and semingloss, and have sprayed, brushed and rolled it on drywall,wood and some wood/resin trim. Color aside, it's easy to apply, doesn't splatter, gets great coverage and cleans up nicely. Re. color: they're rich and some yellows were brighter than expected. They seem to cure to a slightly darker shade in a week or two, but it's very subtle. Limerick, a yellow used on kitchen cabinets, and kernel, a yellow off-white on trim, both had more yellow in them than expected, but aren't garish. We also used the kernel for the walls of a bedroom that has a terra cota colored tile floor. Roasted tomato, a red used on stair risers and trim, is a rich, brownish red that was similar to the chip. Wasabi green, which was supposed to be a grey/green, was harsher
than expected. Almost made you gag, and everybody had the same
reaction; but I suspect it wasn't mixed well enough before application.
Too much green. Not enough grey. Most of the walls are still pure white. We primed and topcoated all the bare walls and ceilings with flat "architect white" to lay down a base. It's a very pure white, but not much different from other basic tint bases. We rolled a white semigloss topcoat on some kitchen and bathroom walls, and it backbrushes to a very smooth finish, almost as smooth as a sprayed finish. The colors are very rich, and you should definitely try some samples before committing to a color. I found the big paint chips a distraction and they didn't help much with color choice. They seem to excite some customers, and every time I visited the store someone was walking around with a fistful of giant chips gushing about the colors, so C2 has a good marketing idea. Painting a small area is still the best way to check a color. I don't really know about "full spectrum". I just choose C2 because the dealer is two blocks away, the paint was on sale at 20% off , and it was easy to work with. The colors are definitely interesting though. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands davevt, have you used the "premium" line of C2 as well as the ProSeries (contractor grade)? Thanks for the pointer about the yellows, I had an instinctive twitch about it and yellow IS one of the colors we're using (Limon, pale pale pale yellow; DH was interested in Bee's Knees but I have a gut feeling it'll go egg-yolk on us). I don't know anyone who's had a nice thing to say about Wasabi. *chuckle* DH hopes to get the guest room primed this Saturday and get the first topcoat on on Monday (darn family gatherings on the 4th, grrr), so I've got to go get the paint mixed on Friday or Saturday. Finally, to get rid of that awful easter-egg grape-bubblegum purple! (I love purple. Just not that purple.) I do like the 3"x4" chips better than the standard little bitty ones (I have both as I bought the fan deck) I find it much easier to see what I'm doing and I like them better for matching to fabrics etc. I'm also looking forward to comparing the 18x24 to the final product. I've noticed a lot of other manufacturers are all of a sudden coming out with oversized chips, which I find very interesting. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Davevt - thanks for the feedback on C2 - sounds like it is a winner on coverage/application but like you said, would be best to test out the colors first. Kernel was one possibility - thanks for the tip. I am finding - many test boards later - is true with any of the paints, BM, SW or otherwise, that no matter what size the sample chips, actually putting it up is the best bet. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands njgal - not sure the number of colors ICI has - it was a big
book! Ellen and I picked a color over the phone - she has the
book, too. Then the paint store guy mixed a test gallon for me
while I was there(she charges less for test gallons). In talking
with her today, I found out that ICI has around 500 stores -
she has an agreement with the main office. She said she has dealt
with about 60 different stores over the past three years. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Premium C2. Yes, I used it early on, but couldn't see any difference in color saturation compared to the contractor's grade. The latter has such good color and coverage that I wasn't motivated to pay more for premium, except for some exterior trim and kitchen cabinets where I thought the extra solids might be more durable. It's possible there's more of a difference when the paint is fully cured. C2 does seem to change more with lighting conditions than other paints I've used. The "roasted tomato" goes from a bright orange/red in morning light to a deeper brown/red with incandescent light. The "limerick" yellow seems to get brighter in incandescent light and softer in natural light. The incandescents bulbs are identical in both cases. I really admire the person who thought up the mega-chip idea, it's a great example of understanding your market. I assume most interior paint decisions are made by women, and C2's market is probably well-educated, possibly affluent women with a strong interest in home decorating. When I went into the paint store, those shoppers were clearly enthusiastic about the big chips, which kept them close to the C2 brand longer than others. (Sorry for the off topic ramble, but how color affects human behavior is more interesting than the color itself sometimes.) RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I saw Ellen's project today and I have to say it was stunning. She is working on a wonderful home in the area, not finished yet, but it is going to be fabulous. Ellen used some stunning combinations of wall, trim and ceiling colors. I would never have thought of using a sage green trim with an old brick or clay color on the walls. It was BEAUTIFUL together. This was truely an educational experience, one I will relish in for a long time. The experience opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking and seeing color. We then headed over to my place for a consultation with Ellen. She is very thoughtful and really listens to what you have to say. I love the color I now have in my great room, but I have never really "felt" comfortable in that space. We now know what direction I want to take in this room and decided on some colors to achieve what I feel I need for this space. I adore the Camel Hair color for my walls in the great room and will paint the ceiling (24ft.) the same color as the walls. Since I will be redoing the floors in the dining room a dark stain (Ebony or Jacobean)we like the way the Mocha color looked, very dramatic. Camel Hair and Mocha look so good together, seeing that these rooms are open to each other. We didn't discuss the guest room, but I have already decided that I will be painting that room in the buttercream with the ceiling being Alexandria Blue. I used to be a die hard Benjamine Moore fan, great paint, but this full spectrum paint thing is very different from your regular paint that has only 2-3 tints in it. With full spectrum paint you can actually see and feel the diffence between the two. I know, I thought "we'll see", but it really is different. incolorado, some of the colors you have chosen to use in your
home, I saw today in the house that Ellen is doing. Wow, is all
I can say. You will love the greens you have chosen for the living
areas of your home. I think you were on the phone with her when
my DH and I drove up to the project house. I wish you could have
been with us. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I was really excited to see the discussion of full spectrum paints here. I have read the Donald Kaufman book and have used the Ellen Kennon Full Spectrum paints. At first, I was skeptical, beacuse, after all, isn't paint, paint? But I quickly became a convert as I heard the raves by my professional painter and his assistant as they painted the interior of my house. As a matter of fact, he had not used ICI paint before and now has done rooms in HIS house with Ellen's paints. Mine is an open floor plan with lots of windows and I used Old Brick and Buttercream in the living room, Lichen in the small dining area and Light Terra Cotta in the family room which I use as an office. All the colors compliment each other and it makes my happy as I am continually entertained throughout the day as the colors change. With all my windows, it really brings the "outside in", too. Everyone who comes into my house comments of the "feel" and the colors. Although pictures cannot do it justice, I did take some photos of the differnet rooms and would be glad to share with anyone who would like to take a look. Oh, and I had my bedroom painted - even the ceiling fan blades - in ashen green and it is so cozy like a cocoon. I could go on forever about how glad I am to have discovered Ellen Kennon Full Spectrum paints and just wanted to share another great experience. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands This is the most fun site to read...I find myself going back every couple of days to see what everyone has discovered! As I have said in past postings.. I've used a great deal of Ellen's paints and I admit that I raised an eyebrow over the "feelings" they will evoke.. but it's the gospel truth! When you talk to her, and that is very easy to do... she can explain the healing qualities to you and how she prays over these colors. It isn't just the pigments or the quality or magic... But it does make you feel wonderful! I can't wait to read about more people taking the plunge! As a designer, painting is one of the first things I will suggest for a home or office. It's very funny that people will spend $4000 for a sofa and more or less the same for window treatments... but really struggle with a gallon of paint!! It's the least expensive way to completely alter the look of a room!! And you may find that your furniture looks so much better against a new background..that you put that extra $4000 into oh, say... a new wardrobe!! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands PARFL, yes please do post photo's of your projects, I am very interested in seeing the Lichen and Buttercream paint. The Old Brick color is a wonderful color, I would like to see this one also, oh heck, please post them all. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I have Ellen Kennon's samples and I am utterly enchanted by them, but I am so afraid of trying color. I have painted exactly one wall in my life a color other than white and while I admit that I like my terra cota kitchen wall, I'm paralyzed about picking colors for the rest of the house. My bedroom furniture is walnut with a brown (really tiny flecks of bright red and bright green -- full spectrum powder coat...) iron bed and grey and pink veined white marble tops. Anybody have suggestions for a paint color that would go with the natural oak floors? RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Yes, please post pictures. This subject really has me interested.
I have a very open floor plan with a lot of varying walls that
I've been really agonizing over paints and colors. Usually I
prefer Benjamin Moore but the two locations near me are anything
but helpful and I was just ready to start buying some fan decks
when this thread caught my eye. Sometimes I think there are just
too many paint choices so maybe that's another way that the Kennon
paints could help because there are fewer to choose from but
it sounds like they really make a difference. I emailed Ellen
about stores in Tampa and she uses a different dealer so I left
a message to get some more information and will probably order
all the paint samples. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Yes, PLEASE post pictures. We move into our new but old house next week, and I'm just dying to do stuff. I'm drawn to the verdigris, and/or the Gustavian grey for our master bedroom..they are so gentle, soothing and restful, but not dull or gloomy. Then again, I love the buttercream and the honeysuckle and the....etc etc etc Riverrat, your experience sounds terrific, and I absolutely love your house. Are you going to carry the camelhair into the kitchen? And yes, the mocha and the camel are going to look sensational together. Pictures..I want pictures. JxBrown, why not call Ellen and talk to her....straight from the horse's mouth (so to speak). From what I've heard from everyone here, she would probably be delighted to help you take the next step. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands desert gal, Yes, I will bring the Camel Hair into the kitchen. We have this big thing at our house at the end of July, and then I go out of the country for a few weeks the beginning of August. It dosn't look like I will be able to do any painting until the end of August, I can't wait though, it is going to look great. I will post new pictures to the website as soon as it is painted. JxBrown, You really need to call or e-mail and talk with Ellen, she is so nice and informative and will help you through the process. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I can hardly wait to start painting with Ellen's colors. We've selected Sunset Rose for the family room and kitchen, and Light Terracotta for the dining room. Probably Honeysuckle for the entry and hallway (I'm scared it might be too yellow, but it is a golden yellow)... not sure yet about the living room -- might be Light Terracotta too -- and Buttercream (a beautiful pale warm buttery yellow) for a north-facing bedroom. The colors are so yummy, and the swatches are painted with her paints so they are the real thing. And as everyone else has said above, Ellen is wonderful to work with. So helpful, not at all pushy -- she seems like she truly wants to *help*, patiently listens and offers suggestions. I can't say enough for her. As soon as we wash the walls in the dining room and prepare the surface, we will paint it... hopefully in the next week or two. I'll report back! Jen RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Great thread! I think that this is exactly the final step that I need to take to be finished w/ the paint palette of our home before I fully move on to completing full furnishings. Thanks for sharing your experiences w/ Ellen & I will be contacting her. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Hello everyone - haven't had time to post because we've been
painting!!!! We hired painters to do our two story areas - we
used the new color that Ellen helped me come up with. Last night
the painters said this is the neatest paint we've ever seen!!
They were blown away how it reflects light and how the colors
change depending on light and shadow! It looks so good! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Just tagging along in all of this...I ordered the samples from Ellen today - maybe I'll start small - like my laundry room! Anyway if I can ever figure out how I'd post the initial look into my house for advice on paint colors and I'll surely get Ellen involved as I progress forward. There sure seems to be a lot of great hints and advice on this board and altho I don't post much, I read A LOT! Thanks for this thread - it came along at the right time for me! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I had a very special room to redecorate and knew I needed a very special color. From a recommendation on this forum, I contacted Ellen Kennon. She is so pleasant, soothing and helpful--especially when she's helping draw out your concept for the room. She even helped me with furniture placement once the room was done. Here's how it worked--I had the color cards in front of me and Ellen on the phone. I decided to paint with Amber. She figured out how much I needed, took my credit card info and faxed the pigment formula to my local (ok, 35 miles away isn't that local) ICI Dulux store. I picked it up there, prepaid. The two guys behind the counter were very curious--"There's A LOT of color in this paint, this is some impressive color," etc. When I was done, Ellen helped me choose a carpet color. I never would have put sage with amber but I trusted her and now the room is positively etherial; my favorite room in the house. I'll post a picture, but the focus was the mosaic, not the wall. You'll get the idea, however. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I used premium C2 paint this weekend. Buffalo and Parchment. (Will be using Slinky - a light steel blue later this week). The colour is rich and deep. The paint is thick and the coverage is right on. I was totally impressed by the paint. And it does look different in different lights. (I didn't really believe it would). Turned out EXACTLY like the paint chip. C2 definitely holds 5 out of 5 in my books. :) (Oh, and I have to add that it was actually better to have fewer colours to choose from. The colours I chose are beautiful, but I couldn't imagine sorting through 100's of creams and blues to find one great colour. I like C2's theory whereby they only make colours that will look good in a very large area - this ensures they look spectacular in a small room, large room, accent wall...whatever. :) RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Nada, DH is painting the guest room - the test room - right now with C2's Limon (lemon-yogurt yellow). I'm totally agreeing with you! There's only one coat up now, over a coat of Kilz stainkilling primer because the walls were kind of nasty, and it STILL looks absolutely smashing. I had been a bit worried about it looking washed out because it's so pale but it's not, even though it's a pastel that color has _oomph_! DH doesn't hate painting as much as I do but it's still not one of his favorite tasks by a longshot, and he says this stuff is much nicer to work with compared to the Sherwin Williams we always used and the Sears paint his mom always used. (I wish I had known about these paints before she died, she'd have gone bonkers for them. She was a painter and was probably more obsessed with color than anyone else I've ever known. She'd spend several whole days doing color studies and mixing paints for one tiny area of a painting, and go completely ballistic if a color cured "off".) The paint store talked me into the Premium - I had planned to go with the Pro Series which is supposed to be close to odorless - and it is as stinky as the average latex paint, so I can only go in the room very briefly to check color and coverage. Harrumph. :-( RE: Full-spectrum paint brands johnmari - Your right :) His Mum would have LOVED this paint. We used Benjamin Moore Premium in the rest of our house and that paint was amazing as well. But I have to admit, the C2 was thicker. I was actually very tempted to dip my finger into both - they both looked like chocolate and vanilla ice cream! *L* Oh yeah...the Pro Series you could BARELY smell,(sorry, that's the one I used...I just assumed it was called premium...I just asked for their best line) it was great! There is a slight 'new paint' smell, but not bad at all considering I had the windows closed all weekend due to weather. Harrumph to the paint store. *L* Next time, try the pro series! :) It works out to a few dollars extra a room, but I think it'd be worth it. Mind you, I haven't tried the premium (why on EARTH do they call that one premium?)...how was the coverage? Why did the paint store talk you into premium? RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Actually, the Pro Series is the contractor-grade paint, the Premium is the fancy-schmancy one. What may have happened was that the paint store gave you their best LINE, C2, but the slightly-lesser product within that line, or like davevt they thought it was just as good and would save you a few bucks. Premium costs about $8-10 more a gallon here; I wasn't too worried about that part as the difference would have been like $20 per room, I'll make up the $20 somewhere else. Both the paint store guy and the independent painting contractor who happened to be in the store at the time (also buying C2, by the 5-gallon bucket) thought the difference in quality between the products was significant, so I coughed up the extra bucks to see. The C2 Limon is also very tempting to dabble one's fingers in! In the bucket it looked almost like creme Anglaise (a to-die-for custard sauce) - I helped clean up and kept wanting to play with it. It was very thick but wasn't a pasty-thick like the Kilz Casual Colors, it leveled out nicely rather than leaving nasty brushmarks, it cleaned out of the brush very quickly, and the coverage is quite good considering what's underneath it. (Started out this horrible BRIGHT easter-egg purple - note purple is my favorite color but this is awful! - which primed became a light lavender. First yellow coat has a very faint greenish tinge because of the blue from the purple intruding, but in a few spots where it got put on a bit thick it's dead on to the chip.) Happily, the cheap and poorly-finished pine molding actually looks a LOT nicer next to the yellow than it did next to the purple. Since it's pouring today the paint isn't drying fast enough to get a second coat up (normal recoat is 2-4 hours). While I wish DH could get the second coat done after work during the week (we're having dinner guests Saturday and I would love to be able to show off the room) I think it'll be next Sunday before it gets done. Grumble. Maybe the next weekend after we can start getting the Aspen up in the MB - I'll get the Pro Series for that room and see if there's a difference. Happily we're going over off-white in there so it should be much easier. If the odor's minimal enough I can help with the fiddly bits, which I am sure DH would appreciate. DH is going to a "painting party" (I always thought that was kind of tacky, but that's beside the point) in a few weeks. I know after successive weekends working with C2 he's going to be seriously annoyed with the paint they'll use, because this particular person tends to be penny-wise and pound-foolish. I'll be shocked if they get anything but the cheapest stuff they can find. I also doubt they'll have prepped properly or primed anything... let's not even begin to talk color! (Which, BTW, I offered to help with by bringing over my fan books and so on...no answer) I'm not going because I wouldn't be much good for the brute labor part and I wouldn't be able to keep my big mouf shut. :-) (Besides, the same people have been saying for months that they'll come over and help US with OUR painting, but surprise surprise, their schedules are always full up.) Oh, I'm ranting, better stop now! :-) RE: Full-spectrum paint brands *LMAO* Okay...you're going to think I'm crazy here...I did buy the premium series. It was the 'fancy-schmancy' one...as you put it. *L*. I've always figured the same thing you mentioned - I'll make up the difference somewhere else the room. I just called it premium because I always call top of the line paint premium. (d-uh on me) and then you said they talked you out of the pro-series...I assumed that would be the higher quality paint. Funny though...I really thought the premium didn't smell that bad. Are you saying the proseries is supposed to smell even less? That's crazy. ANYWAY...glad to have that cleared up...because I was thinking...WHY would they call the 'fancy-schmancy' stuff pro series, and the one below premium? Glad to have that cleared before I went to buy the paint for my spare room. *L* I would have asked for the cheaper paint. Hee hee. I'm in Canada over here, so the premium C2 paint runs anywhere from $45-$55. 'Buffalo', the dark brown, ran $55, but with the 20% off sale was $44. (yay!). Funny, the difference between pro and premium is $8-$10 over here as well. Are you in Canada? Anyway, wanted to let you know I used the Premium, so I have NO idea what the pro-series works like. Sorry for the miscommunication. :) I'm in the same boat as you with the dinner guests! *L* Except I have an extra week. Hopefully enough time to paint my blue accents and get some artwork in there. :) The artwork I'm not so rushed on, but I would like to get my candle holders in there. ACK! I still have so much to do! *L* But the room looks scrumptious. I almost feel compelled to add in some pink and make a neopolitan room. *L* That lasted for a good 1 second and I was snapped back to reality. Hee. Your Limon sounds good too, I would love to see a picture of it. Sounds MUCH better than Easter Egg purple! *shudder* :) If you do get the pro-series, let me know if there is any difference. I mean, $8 is worth the extra quality to me, but if there is no difference, it would be nice to know. :) WHAT is a painting party? Oh...and just have to add that the same thing happened to me when I helped some friends paint AND move...they offered to help when it was our turn...funny how their schedules filled up as well. Ah well...live and learn. And shame on them...a full offer for a colour book and no acceptance? *L* I wouldn't have let you finish your sentance before saying 'yes!' *LOL* RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I'm in the US, northeast coast. About 8 hours from Montreal. :-) I paid US$35 a gallon for the Premium, the Pro is US$25-28. The reason the Pro is lower odor, according to the C2 website, is that it's intended for use in places like business environments and apartment houses where the entire building can't be vacated for one part to be painted, but the rest of the occupants don't want to be gagging on paint smell for days. They also make a big deal about better scrubbability (helpful in my house, we're klutzy) and less visible touch-ups (same). I actually _love_ the idea of a Neapolitan room - but add the pink with just a few accessories, like candles or flowers or a little pillow here and there, rather than making it any more obvious. It can be a little private joke all of your own. (Soft pink actually IS a very pretty accent with chocolate brown and creamy white. I like it MUCH better than the addition of yellow that is so trendy right now. I do NOT get why people do that, it looks like a dog yard in winter.) I forgot to take "before" pix of the Easter-egg purple room, I think I subconsciously wanted to forget it, but I will take pix as soon as it's done. I still need to decide on a quilt and figure out some accessories. Actually a little hard to do blue/yellow/white without venturing into French Country, which is VERY much not my thing, or beachy which isn't quite so bad for the New England coastline. A painting party is when you invite all your friends to your house and make them paint it. Yes, you heard me right. You don't take up volunteers on their offers to _help_ and work with their schedule, you TELL people - who haven't necessarily actually offered to help in that capacity - when to show up and then THEY do all the work because you're playing host and supervising! So basically you get your house painted and all it might cost you is some pizza and beer on top of the paint, and if you start it bright and early in the morning everyone will be tired out and leaving before it's a reasonable time for beer. *eyeroll* I have even heard it described straight out as "why bother with do-it-yourself when you can get your friends to do-it-for-you"! Isn't that a slick little scam? It would be one thing if all the people involved had _offered_ to help paint and the "party" was coordinated with everyone's schedules, but this is a completely different animal. Oh, and they expect the whole gang to show up the NEXT weekend and move them, too. =:-0 (BTW, I have never, ever _asked_ my friends for help with moving and the like, I always happily and gratefully accepted help if offered but I thought it was terribly rude to impose on one's friends that way except in the direst emergency.) I think it's the combination of calling it a "party" and the presumption of others' generosity that bothers me. And oh, it wasn't just ONE color book I'd have brought over - I have four different companies' books! (Saves me running back and forth to the paint store.) A few other people who have seen my work-in-progress house and whose rooms I've rearranged (or rather directed while they moved furniture :-)) have told me I'm getting pretty good at this stuff, certainly not "professional" good but good enough for a raw amateur. I'd have cheerfully spent an entire afternoon with the stuff from their old house (they're going to reuse their furniture and such), checking out the light in the new place, organizing color progressions through the house, etc. I'd probably even have run to the paint store and gotten sample pots and posterboard for test swatches, because if I do something I'm going to do it right. *shrug* Their loss, and as my oh so colorful father would have said "it's no skin off my @$$"! :-) RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Has anyone used Ellen's Classic Cream? I received her samples, they are wonderful colors - unfortunately, there is no light tan. At the current moment we are aiming for C2s Potsticker at 50% - it is a light tan color with no yellow undertones. The best selection from Ellen's colors would be classic cream, the buttercream is a bit too yellow and white opal too white. Was wondering if the classic cream actually looked liked it gave the wall some color or not and did it have the changing with the light effect. Some C2 info - I just came back from the distributor to get a sample of sage at 50%. When I asked the woman at the store how many pigments go into each paint, she said normally 3-4, sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the color. I don't know if this qualifies as full spectrum. I do agree their colors are great, but I have not had the opportunity to actually put them on the wall other than some test boards since we are still in the deciding phase. I would like to go with all Ellen Kennon or all C2 - since I had C2 colors in mind, it is a little difficult in transitioning over to the Ellen Kennon colors but her colors seem to be truly full spectrum and that is a great attribute. This thread has been great in helping to make that decision. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Nigal, I have Ellens Classic Cream sample in front of me,
When I put it up against my tim color (BM Country White)it seems
to be lighter in color than my trim, it does seen to be a true
cream.You said you want some actual color or am I misunderstanding
your post. Here is a link that might be useful: Ellens web site RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Njgal -- Did you see Ellen's Terracotta Sand? It is a tan color, maybe not as light as you want though. We were considering it for our family room/kitchen but it's a little too light, we want more contrast with our white-wash cabinets. Her colors are wonderful aren't they? Jen RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Nigal, to me the terracotta sand is a light tan. I love the mushroom too, but its a mushroom and not a tan. Maybe you need some of Incolorado's "Craupe"...(see in thread above) which Ellen mixed up specially. It's a mixture of cream and taupe. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Riverrat1 and Jen - thanks for the quick response. I did take a long look at the mushroom and the terracotta sand, they are a little darker than I would like to go. Personaly, I like color - however my husband is an all white kind of guy. I am trying to convert him. Our house is a very open floor plan - this color will go from the foyer up the two story walls that surround the exposed staircase to the second floor, into the kitchen that sets to the left side of the open staircase and then potentially in the family room which is beyond the kitchen and separated by a half wall. The kitchen cabinetry is natural cherry/mocha cherry. Trim in the house is a stained wood, a honey cherry color. I am having a hard time deciding where I can and cannot start and stop different colors, but the majority of the area will be the one color and, I have to give him this one, I think a lighter color may be way to go but I do want the space to have some warmth and character. I think I will take your suggestion and e-mail Ellen, she seems very helpful. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Nigal, Incolorado had a really similar set up with 2 storeys/stained timber etc. She ended up having Ellen mix a special combo which sounded lovely - a creamy neutral with just a hint of color - hence the memorable name of "craupe". Her comment on this is about halfway down the thread. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands NJgal - I had the exact same situation! Natural cherry w/chocolate
glaze, alder wood trim, two stories, open etc! Found the colors
to be the same as you did - classic cream is a true cream (have
it in bathroom and sons room) - terracotta sand is a tan, the
buttercream and honeysuckle are beautiful, but too yellow. Ellen
had me go to the ICI store and I looked at their color pallette
and over the phone, we picked a color together. It is on the
walls and ceiling. It is tannish and creamish but has a hint
of the natural cherry to it (almost peach or blush-) Again, it
depends on the lighting and shadows as to what color it is! I
took my wood trim in and made sure the color went with it. Ellen
had a test gallon mixed and I tried and thought it was just right.
The color is amazing with the wood in the house! I urge you to
call her! She is kind and patient and will help you anyway she
can. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Brown w/ pink accents is exactly what I'm doing in my LR/office & DH has agreed to it in our MBR. Yeah!!!! I love a range of pink and the brown walls seems to make the pink a bit more grown up. I can't wait to talk w/ Ellen! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Incolorado and riverrat1 - thanks for the inspiring feedback. Incolorado, your colors sound great. Do you find the classic cream to change colors with the light as well and have that full spectrum feel? I was considering the lichen for our dining room, but for some reason any lighter type green/blue color that I have tested so far (fava in C2 which is very similar to lichen although not one of Ellen's colors) in there seems so washed out - I geuss because there is alot of light. However, I have not had the benefit of the whole room being done so it may end up darker than the test boards show. The more I think about it, I may just do the classic cream in the foyer/two story area (I figure it will go with any color trim/wood) and then just expand the wall area in the kitchen/family room that I was going to do in cream/light tan to be done in another color - maybe camelhair or something similar. With the crispness of the cream, it may make the other colors in the same open space pop more. Although the nearest distributor is 45 minutes away I would still like to take a look at the color boards. My plan, which seems to be everchanging, is to e-mail Ellen, order a sample of the classic cream to see it on the walls and when when I pick it up at the distributor, I will take a look at the color boards and see if something looks interesting. If so, I'll get back in touch with Ellen. Of all the decisions I have had to make so far with the house, piant is proving to be the most challenging - pretty soon I'll be needing some "paint" to cover the grey hairs! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands johnmari - I feel like I'm talking to myself when I write to you! *L* I TOTALLY agree with your position on yellow and definitely had a good chuckle with your 'dog pee in winter' metaphor. *L* I'm really excited about this room and the rest of my house for that matter, because I completed it in a way where the accents are bold, but easily changed if I get sick of the colour pallett. I am actually so excited to use the brown and cream again in the spare room, but accent with a light green (pistachio green in C2 I think) instead of the steel/baby blue. :) We might end up doing the office in it because my SO ended up loving the dark brown wall. :) The painting party thing totally cracks me up. And really...the cheek of them to have a painting party for one weekend and then a moving party for the next? And interesting how if you start early enough you don't have to worry about everyone hanging out for beer afterwards. Sheesh. No wonder you don't offer...it really seems odd, at least in this case as it doesn't seem like it is appreciated. Funny how they call it a 'party'. We were helped by friends but in a fashion where when they were available they would stop by and help for however long they felt like, plus, they actually offered. Too bad your husband got sucked into that one! :) RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Nada, when I was about 10 my parents rented a house that was yellow with brown shutters. One of my friends called it "The Toilet". *gag* These "painting party" people have enough cheek for six or eight, we're finding, and older friends of theirs say this is normal behavior. I DID offer the color help and the information about paint and design that I had learned here - I'm not physically up to painting even my own home much less someone else's (although another friend of ours in need of some ready cash is going to come help finish the guest room this weekend, hurrah... she won't accept a gift or a loan so we're putting her to work instead LOL), and they KNOW that, but it was rude of them not to acknowledge the offer of what I _could_ do. My DH is participating in this debacle because a) he's still somehow under the delusion that they'll help us in return and b) he's an incredibly wonderful, generous person who doesn't seem to understand when he's being used. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands bump RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I had a SW color (Fame Orange) all picked out for my DR, but after following this thread I called Ellen Kennon, who said she could add some tints to this to make it full spectrum (she was incredibly nice, had to send for the color chip and after getting it told me it was so pretty that she thought I might just want to go with it). What do you all think?-- SW Fame Orange, or Ellen's full-spectrum version? RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I think that Ellen's knowledge and advice is what I would go by. This is an incredibly talented woman that knows her stuff about color. I know that in her full spectrum color pallette, she has some incredable orange colors. Carnelian is probably my favorite color ever!! I don't have a SW fan deck, but trust what Ellen says, you will be happy with the end result! Take pictures, we would love to see. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I just received my color samples from Ellen Kennon and they are beautiful. I'm checking them out in different lights and am noticing considerable difference from one to the other. I will have to eventually put what I like up on the wall next to other, similar colors from different sources to see what I like best. I can't shake the feeling that I won't like the walls changing color on me. What I am liking best right now for various rooms throughout the house and the woodwork: Classic Cream I can't shake the question of whether or not to do a truer yellow vice a cream. hmmmmmm. We shall see. Best, Ivette RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I decided, after talking with Ellen, to paint my laundry room:
Terracotta Sand - so will go pick up that paint hopefully today.
Discussed a lot of ideas with Ellen - Like I initially wanted to go with Citrine for the foyer - and she said she usually uses that in bedrooms and steered me toward the Mustard Seed. I also emailed her pictures of my home so she could walk through with me my concerns. I'm sure we'll be on the phone again after I get the test pouches on the walls. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Help! Quick recap (above messages posted) - we have a very open floor plan, received Ellen's colors, they are great. Was planning on using at lease three colors - one in dining room (not sure which color - hoping she can match a C2 color ), light color (prob. clasic cream) for the majority of the foyer/two story entry/kithcen and family room/ and accent color (maybe camel hair) on one or two walls in family room/kitchen. This weekend my husband (also builder) was doing the sheetrock/spackling. Unbeknownst to me, the plans called for all of the doorways/entryways to have rounded courners (the house is Frank Lloyd Wright inspired- rounded courners? Go figure) making painting different rooms/walls different colors a horror. He is steadfast on keeping it that way - but will leave the color selection to me although he woudl prefer everything light. It almost dictates that everything has to be done in one color. Has anyone ever dealt with rounded corners and breaking the color between the rooms? The real problem spot is the dining room - my heart was set on a sage type of green but the foyer area outside the dining room was to be classic cream. I spoke to Ellen and she suggested possibly fading the paints together if they were closer in color. She was so nice and helpful. Any suggestions? RE: Full-spectrum paint brands bump RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Fabulous thread......Thx SO much!.......Keep-'em-coming bump! :) RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Hi All! Could those of you who have put Ellen's paint up, or other full spectrum brands, and are loving them elaborate further on the color changes? I guess I am trying to understand how dramatic a change we are talking about here. Also, is the change uniform throughout the room at a given time of day, or do you have one bluish wall, and one greenish wall or something along those lines from the same paint color on different areas of the same room? Are you finding that you love the color differently at different times of day? Sort of an enhancement of an already loved color? Or do you find that you love your room in the morning and hate it in the evening. The latter situation (in reverse) was what I experienced with Benjamin Moore Salisbury Green in my previous house and I'd like to avoid it again. I am hoping that full spectrum paint will be the answer to my shaded house, and my only liking rooms at certain times of the day. Thanks! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I got my paint from Ellen Kennon, and hope to get it on the walls soon--will keep everyone updated about how it looks. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I just posted this on another thread, but I decided to put it here too.Here is my story. I have a small (~1,000 square feet) 1916 Bungalow in Portland, Oregon, and I am in the process of re-doing it completely. I just got a new, expanded kitchen, and I plan to have the dingy basement finished next. I also want to paint the upstairs rooms. In the living room, I have a large (8x10 or 10x12) oriental area rug with a sky blue field and a fair amount of tan in the edge trim and swirling around small amounts of pink flowers (about 4-5 inches across) and some green leaves and tendrils. The pink and green are not very intense; the focus is the blue and tan. I have a brand new light tan sofa in an interesting diamond-shaped pattern (Sklar Peppler style no. 380 upholstered, I think, in Ditsy F871-73 with two large throw pillows in a complementary damask and two in a gorgeous, brightly colored floral with a white background that picks up the pink, green, and blue of the rug perfectly, plus a bit of yellow/gold. I am getting an old "easy chair" re-upholstered in a smaller floral with the same pink/green/blue/white colors. The living room faces west with high, small windows on the south on each side of a fireplace and large windows on the west, although I have a full-width front porch that shades that side of the house, so the light is not intense until sunset. I also have an oak upright piano up against the wall opposite the fireplace. The dining room is between the living room and the kitchen, separated from the living room by half-walls about 3 feet wide and 4 feet tall and an archway with architectural details. In short, the two rooms are "connected." There is a large bank of windows facing south, a door to the kitchen on the east wall next to a build-in hutch with glass upper covers, and a door on the north side entering the hallway. I have a large dhurrie rug in there that has a white field with deep, dark blue edging and lighter blues, pinks, and greens in the design. They are lively, almost primary colors, not the usual muted tones that one sees in most dhurries. The room also has wainscoting up about 5 feet that is topped with a plate rack. I have a round oak table and chairs stained sort of medium walnut and a darker stained hutch along the north wall next to the door going to the hallway. The window coverings in both rooms are plain pleated shades that I rarely use; only during the hottest weather. Just never felt WCs were necessary, and the windows are prairie-style (architecturally detailed), so I don't want to cover them. The hall connects two bedrooms at the west and east sides of the house with a bath in the middle (one window on the north side). The hall is visible from the dining room (as is the bathroom when both the bathroom and hallway doors are open, which is most of the time). The basement is not finished yet, but it will be mostly open with areas for TV, sewing/scrap booking, laundry, and hanging out. It has only small windows above ground level. I will be adding a bathroom, but that is the only thing that will be walled off. The fabrics down there will be (surprise!) white, cheerful blues, pinks, greens, and yellows. Although my house has many delightful bungalow details, it is not a true Craftsman, and I am disinclined to use the deep, dark colors of that look. Plus, all of the woodwork was painted white ages ago, and I seriously doubt that I will ever strip it down to its natural wood. The floors are polished oak in the living and dining rooms and refinished fir in the hallway and bedrooms. My taste runs towards an uncluttered English country cottage look with lots of light and cheeriness. I don't like the fussy, cluttered "country" look of the Country Living magazines, but I love the comfortable, worn feeling of old European homes and the colors of an English garden. I lived in England for several years, and I would move to Surrey in a heartbeat if I could afford to live in a grand house with a sweeping view of the countryside and a huge garden. I love the green trees and grass, delphiniums, roses, hydrangeas, azaleas, sweet peas, etc.---many of which are the same colors as here in Portland, except that our hot, dry summers bring the colors to an early end. Perhaps that sums up my color preferences and desired "look"---late spring/early summer in the Pacific Northwest and all summer in England. I recently hired a consultant from Devine Paints, as I was told by several people that the consultants do a terrific job, and people love the colors they chose. So, the consultant visited my house, surveyed my fabric swatches, and for $200 and in 20-30 minutes, she came up with a color palette for me. However, I am not entirely happy with it. She suggested two different shades for living and dining rooms (Spray for the dining room and either Current or Pool for the living room). After trying some wet samples, I (and others) think Spray is lovely but that Current and Pool are too intense and bright for the living room. The new kitchen is already done in a lovely soft yellow (Pratt & Lambert) with pale, creamy off-white on the molding and cabinets. The Devine consultant recommended that I do the hall in Butter, the bathroom in Cream, and the entire basement in Butter. I tried the Cream in the bathroom, but both my daughter and I found it to be too bright, so I bought some pale green by Benjamin Moore after trying a couple of their "wet samples." It will go on the upper walls with creamy white on the lower walls below a chair rail. There is a white claw foot tub with a clear plastic shower curtain brightly colored in green, pink, and yellow flowers and birds. The consultant chose Blade for my bedroom, but after using a wet sample, I decided it was too pale, so I am going a shade darker (Cypress) and may use Blade on the ceiling. Devine included Filbert in my palette without specifying any place for it. I think Filbert is supposed to represent the tan of the couch and the Oriental carpet. I tried it in the hall, but it looked like dog poop, so I may end up going with pale yellow afterall. The fabrics that I will be using in the basement look great against Devine's Butter, but I just don't know if I want to see quite so much yellow everywhere I look in my house. I am not averse to using Devine's Spray for the dining room; it is quite pretty. I thought about using it in both rooms or reversing the proposed palette and using Spray in the living room and a darker blue in the dining room, but when combined with the blue Oriental,I fear that may be too much blue in such a small area. I thought about using Devine's one and only pink (Berries or Grapes--I don't recall), and someone even suggested Honey or Maple, but that means even more yellow tones. I have been in touch with Ellen re. her full spectrum paints (see that other thread), and she suggested Sky Blue, Cameo, or Buttercream in both the LR and DR. Sky Blue doesn't seem like the right color, although I do like her Violet. My daugher thinks Cameo is too pale, so I'm wondering if anyone has used it and can report how it looks on the walls. (We went to a political even last night in a house similar to ours, and they had lots of dark, muted colors, so now my daughter likes tan, but I still prefer the beachy look over the woodsy look). So, does anyone have any suggestions or words of advice for me? I am inclined to use the full spectrum paints, even if I have to ask Ellen to mix something up from someone else's color palette. BTW, there is no C2 outlet anywhere near here; Seattle is the closest, and I'm not going to drive up there to get paint. Miller Paint, SW, BM, and ICI Dulux are all easily accessible to me. Thanks. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Shelley, you can buy small samples from Ellen and try them out in your home. I am testing Buttercream which is a beautiful light yellow, no green whatsoever. Ellen says there is a slight hint of pink in it thought it is barely detectable -- probably just enough to make it a warm color. I love it. Jen RE: Full-spectrum paint brands How does Ellen Kennon get paid? Just by buying her swatches, samples, and a proportion of the paint she sells through ICI? Or do you pay her for her time when she color consults? Thx, Donna RE: Full-spectrum paint brands KitchenOb. - You pay Ellen directly for the paint. She has
an agreement with ICI headquarters. So the store mixes it for
you but bills her for it and you pay her. Good luck! Ellen mixed a full-spectrum color for me based
on the colors from ICI and it turned out well. In my opinion,
her color consulting over the phone is fantastic - and she won't
charge you $200 for it!! :) RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I finally got my DR painted this weekend with Ellen Kennon's paint. I hate to paint, and sometimes think I'm the worst painter in the world. But, the DR looks fabulous and the paint was very easy to work with. Haven't really noticed the color changes yet but will keep an eye out--I'll post pictures when I get my chairs back from the upholsterer. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands nadd2 -- What color did you paint the DR? I washed the walls of our DR this weekend and we should be able to paint it in about a week after hubby sands. The color will be Light Terracotta. Jen RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Jenn-let me know how Light Terracotta turns out. I painted mine a custom color that is basically a very dark terracotta. It looks great! Martha's colors - Fine Paints of Europe Hi All!! I have to tell you, I just received the "Colors of the Garden" paint samples from the Martha's color collection from Fine Paints of Europe. These colors are amazing!! They're beautiful and some of them are really unique. More colors to choose from, such fun!! Best, RE: Full-spectrum paint brands Jen: I am thinking about Buttercream for the hall, so I'm
glad you tested it for me! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands I hope to be able to add pictures (if I can successfully do so in the next few weeks) of rooms after they have been painted with Ellen Kennon paints. The colors we are going with (and this was after many emails and phone calls with Ellen who was very helpful) are as follows: Foyer: Buttercream These rooms are all fairly open to each other and these colors seemed to go well together. I can't wait to get these on the walls. Another awesome color is the seafoam that we are going to put in our master bath - it is beautiful. RE: Full-spectrum paint brands incolorado: What kind of soapstone do you have? I just rec'd Ellen's colors. Before I ordered, I knew I was interested in Lichen -- for my cabinets. Thought it would go with soapstone, although I'm planning on Mariana, which is charcoal and not a greener one. incolorado and sbp59: What other colors do you have going on in your kitchens and adjacent rooms other than Lichen and Classic Cream and Buttercream, respectively? I am now kicking myself for buying white appliances because I didn't want to deal with fingerprints on stainless. I forgot that they might create a problem with finding a good white for walls or backsplash down the road. . .duh! RE: Full-spectrum paint brands sbp59: That's great! I can't wait to see the Buttercream in particular. It is very much the front runner for our living/dining room. Ivette RE: Full-spectrum paint brands The buttercream is just a tad bit darker than what I have now - there is a lot of light in the foyer so will be fun to see. Now keep your fingers crossed when this gets done that I can post pictures! |
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