So Many Paint Choices, So Little Walls

We have officially entered the world of paint samples.  It is quite entertaining to pull colors and discover the descriptive names like baked sconce, shark fin, pensive sky that some "professional" came up with. (I wonder what that job actually pays?)  It is absolutely amazing how many choices are out there and completely daunting to narrow it down to that one perfect color.  Yes, I know that paint colors can always be changed and that doing so is the easiest way to transform a space.  I also know that the mere mention of this would put Mike in a tailspin over the thought of even more housework down the road.  For us to actually agree on a color is a task in itself, but to then make sure it looks right on the walls- in every light, at every angle- well, its a bit overwhelming.  We have collected quite a few paint chips over the past few months, excited that this time was nearing. We went back and forth between colors for the walls and coordinating whites for the trim.  Did this one have a gray tint to it?  Did this white have an underlying pink hue or is it the reflection off of your bright red shirt?  Did this color have too much yellow?  Did this one not have enough yellow?  At 11pm the other night I came to the conclusion we had to make a decision, now.  We put the samples next to a cabinet, stood back and did the squinting, head tilting thing that at the time seemed like the perfect way to tell you exactly how a 3x5 chip would translate to an entire room.  We went in and out to the freezing cold sunroom to check the color against the couch (before we realized we could simply bring a cushion inside and stay warm).  We second and third guessed ourselves and then threw more options into the mix to make it more complicated.  But, we finally did it.  We actually decided on a color for the kitchen and living room which makes up the entire entry level of the house.  And what is the exciting, luminous name of this perfect color?  Lightweight beige.  Yes, Mike and I somehow managed to pick the color with the single most boring name in the spectrum.  Anyway, I picked up samples of the color and trim and went to town painting squares all over the house to make sure it was indeed what we wanted.  To Mike's delight, it turned out a bit lighter than we expected, but it works.  The trim color, however, did not.  Polar Bear did indeed dry with that pinkish hue that we attributed to the reflection of Mike's shirt.  Ok, back to the drawing board, or more accurately, back to the store.  Despite all of the variations of white in the entire Behr line at Home Depot, I did not like a single one.  We tried out Lowe's to look into Valspar's whites where we happened to get a lesson in paint variations and mixing by the "expert" behind the counter.  It actually was pretty informative and he took the time to tell us the formula differences between the shades we were looking at.  It literally came down to a white base with 6 drops of brown versus one with 4 drops of brown.  At that point I realized how ridiculous the entire thing was, quickly made a decision and left the store with the little sample size paint in hand.  (We went with the one with 4 drops.  Luckily it had a more exciting name than the Lightweight Beige wall color- Du Jour. Fascinating, I know.)  We added squares of the new white to our increasingly splotchy walls and determined it was the one we were going with.  So, you heard it here first, (hopefully) soon enough, our kitchen and living room will be Lightweight Beige with Du Jour trim.  I think we'll give ourselves a little break before moving onto the bedroom colors.