36: Paint Color Test

Paint companies and magazines recommend testing paint colors before committing to gallons of paint. Most paint companies sell sample pots of paint, or you can always buy a quart of paint in any color you choose. Most recommendations are to paint a large square (or squares of different shades) on the wall of the room where you're planning to use it. I tried a different method for a very good reason.

I bought several sheets of foam-core poster board. You can find them in most places that sell art supplies, even some pharmacies. They're thicker than regular poster board, so they won't warp as much as regular poster board when you apply the wet paint.














The benefit of foam-core is that you can paint it and then move it around the room to see how the paint looks in different light. And, trust me, it will definitely look different in a corner of the room, next to a window and opposite a window. I went a step further and painted a wide border on one side to get an idea of what the trim color would look like, too.

It's a great trick for fine tuning your color choice. I even placed them in different rooms so that I could get an idea of what it look like seeing the color of one room against the color of another room through doorways. Again, I looked at these samples in various lights: bright daylight, twilight, even with electric light in the construction site.