The final step:
When you get home, lay your chips on top of the duvet cover or sofa etc. in a well-lit room. Look at them in daylight and artificial light. It is amazing how much the colour appears to change in different lights. Do this for a day or two and start discarding. Keep the only colours that enhance the colours in your room. If you are not sure whether to keep it or discard it then discard it, you obviously have better choices remaining. When you have it narrowed down to at least half of your original choices, go to the next step.
Your chips could be single colour chips or graduated colour chips. Cut the graduated chips into single colours. Choose a colour that you like on a graduated chip to put on the wall to start with. Keep the others for making the final choice. Mount each chip on a separate piece of 8-1/2×11 piece of white paper to neutralize the existing paint colour. Tape the papers to the wall randomly around the room with low tac painter’s tape.
Live with them in all lights for a few days to a week, removing even more of the ones that don’t work. Narrow it down to two or three chips. Take as long as you need for this step.
For your final decision it is best actually put a 12”-18” square of colour on the wall.
q If the paint company sells extra large chips as Benjamin Moore does for its Designer Classics Collection (they are 18”square) buy a couple of your final choices and put them up on the wall.
q The most foolproof way is to purchase a tester sold by some big box stores for as little as $4.00 or a small can (1 litre) and paint a square on the wall at least 1 ft (30cm) square. This way you will know for sure if its perfect or if you need to get a lighter tint of the paint colour or if you need to go back to the drawing board. This step costs a little extra money but is well worth it to get the colour right.
q Take down a picture or mirror and paint the wall behind it with your trial colours. You can then re-hang the picture to cover your experiments until you are ready to paint
Next: Things to take into consideration
