Rosemary Sprig

Whoever names paint colors is not a bachelor. 

I'm painting three rooms in my house this week.  My kitchen has been bright green since I moved in three years ago (no comments please).  And the two main floor bedrooms need some color.  So I swung by Home Depot to pick up some color samples and now my head is spinning. 

For starters, take these three "colors."  Sunset Beige, Smokey Topaz, and Warm Nutmeg.  Sounds like three opposite colors doesn't it?  Wrong!  I can't tell the difference between them.  Why don't the paint people just save us all some confusion and call them what they are; brown? 

Life was more simple when I was in Kindergarten.  If you learned your primary colors you were set for art class.  Red, yellow and blue were the key to creating anything.  But all these free paint swatches complicate things. 

Just try buying blue paint.  What you'll get is a choice between Lake Stream, Teal Mosaic, Silent Tide, Ocean Shadow, Evening Symphony, Yacht Harbor, China Pattern, and Cobalt Flame.  Do any of those sound like blue to you? 

Caramel Latte isn't a color, it's a drink! And right now I'm looking at Ultra Pure White.  For a white that is ultra pure it kind of looks cream. 

My theory is that somebody opened the dictionary and just picked two words at random and stuck them together. 

Fragrant Cherry?  Cherry's don't smell. 

Desert Rose?  Must be a mirage. 

Juicy Fig?  At least if you have some left over you can drink it. 

My suggestion is to simplify the painting process.  Start with your primaries, throw in some secondaries, give it a couple coats and let it dry. 

That's enough ranting for one painter.

Comments

[jr]

ha, ha, I know exactly what you mean. The tough part is trying to find the right color for a patch job.
At work, we use about 200 different colors for our drawings, but instead of names we use numbers. :D
On the other hand, Don't you think colors like Alizarin Crimson, Terre Verte, Chartreuse, etc. make life a bit more interesting? Confusing, yet interesting. :)

[Bethany]

I was planning on going with Salt Fork for my room, but now I'm thinking I'll go for Beige. Thanks. lol

[Brad]

Wow JR, your work deserves my prayers. Numbers are an interesting approach. Alizarin Crimson huh; I actually like that one.