Paint is one of the most effective and least expensive ways to change up the look of your favorite rooms. Many of us start in front of hundreds of paint colors at our local big box store, slowly walking up the aisle and collecting our favorite hues by the dozens. Although the tiny chips may help you narrow down your selections, it can be hard to choose a paint color to use in your home without getting some actual paint on the walls. But slapping up a small but thick layer of paint that leaves harsh edges on your walls after it dries is one paint sample mistake contractors are begging you to stop making.
Instead of making a raised edge, you should softly fan out the paint around each side. This technique ensures that once you’ve picked the perfect color, you won’t need to sand down the sharp edges left behind by each of your samples before you start painting. That isn’t the only benefit of using a brush like the Bates-Deck Soft Tip Paint Brush from Amazon to fan out your sample edges. Leaving a harsh line can also impact the way you perceive each color because it can create shadows that make the hues look darker than they actually are.
How to paint the perfect sample
Leaving hard edges around your paint samples isn’t the only mistake everyone makes when choosing a paint color. You probably already know that you should observe your paint color in a variety of different lighting conditions to make sure you love it as much in the bright morning sun as you will when relying on light fixtures at night. But to really understand the full effect of your color choice, apply paint on a large area that’s at least 2 square feet in size. Since glossy and semi-gloss finishes are the most likely to show blemishes, you may want to swap out a paintbrush for a tool like the Mister Rui Foam Paint Roller to get the smoothest possible application if you choose one of those sheens.
To achieve the truest representation of the colors you are sampling, you need to apply more than one coat of paint. This is an important step when you’re painting with dark colors, especially if you are making a major change to your walls. Although it may seem counterintuitive, darker paint bases are more translucent than light ones, so multiple sample coats are an important step in preventing your existing color from bleeding through. Make sure you keep each coat of paint thin to avoid those harsh edges that will stand out once you’ve made your final color decision. Let each one dry thoroughly before building up the next layer. If you want to avoid the hassle of sample painting altogether, consider investing in a few peel-and-stick options from Samplize instead.
