I didn’t get nearly as far on my closet project this past weekend as I had hoped. The weather turned rainy and cold, and I didn’t want to stand out in the cold while cutting molding. But I did get a lot of priming done, and I also selected six different blue paint colors to test out for the cabinets. Before this project even got started, I had my heart set on a pink closet, but the more I looked at walk-in closet paint color ideas, the more excited I got about the idea of a light blue (or light blue-green) closet.
Five of these paint colors are new. I haven’t tested them out before. The reason I went with new colors is because the previous colors I tested just didn’t look right to me. I had previously tested out Behr Clear Vista and Behr Tahoe Blue (which you can see here), but when I looked at those again against the wallpaper in natural light, they didn’t seem to work at all. I had also previously tested out three Sherwin Williams colors — Annabelle, Matt on Monday, and Soft Shore (which you can see here). But I chose those when I was planning to use tile on the walls around the washer and dryer area. And now that I’m not planning on using that tile, those colors didn’t really seem to work, either.
So back to the drawing board I went. I selected five new colors and tested those out on the actual cabinet.
From top to bottom, these are: (1) Behr Drip, (2) PPG Paints Sonata, (3) Behr Air Blue, (4) PPG Paints Midsummer’s Dream, (5) PPG Paints Blue Bows, and (6) Sherwin Williams Matt on Monday. I went ahead and tested out the Matt on Monday again, even though I was pretty sure it wouldn’t work, just because I love the name and hoped that it might possibly work.
Since I’m no longer trying to make that blue tile work in the room, I decided to stick with colors that weren’t quite so gray and leaned more towards a clearer blue-green.
Picking out a blue paint color can be tricky because the last thing I want is for my closet to read “baby boy’s room”. And some of those blues in the wallpaper, if used on all of the cabinets, could very easily look like a room intended for a child.
I also have to consider that I’m trying to bridge the dark blue wallpaper and appliances in the closet with the dark teal grasscloth wallpaper that will be predominant in the foyer just outside of the closet, as well as our bedroom. All of these areas will be clearly visible at the same time, so while they don’t need to match, they do need to coordinate and play nicely with each other. So I unrolled the grasscloth wallpaper and draped it on the other cabinet to see how all of these colors work together.
I took most of these pictures last night after it was dark outside, so there’s no natural light coming in through the window. And since I still only have the single light on the ceiling fan in this room, I brought in extra light. The room will have more light when it’s finished. I’ll be adding at least five recessed lights in the room, as well as swapping out the ceiling fan for a chandelier and adding two sconces to the wallpapered section.
I took this photo this morning after the sun came up, so this is a truer representation of these colors with both natural light coming through the window as well as the additional light inside the room.
Sadly, I immediately ruled out Matt on Monday, the color on the very bottom. It’s way too gray for the wallpaper. And I ruled out Blue Bows, the color just above it, because it reads to purple. I also immediately ruled out the first color, Drip, because I think it’s just too much color. I think I also have to rule out the forth one, Midsummer’s Dream, because it seems too green for the wallpaper. So that leaves these two colors — PPG Paints Sonata on top and Behr Air Blue on bottom.
Of those two, I really like Air Blue, the lighter of the two. It seems to go with the wallpaper better, and I do like that it’s lighter. I think the lighter color will let the wallpaper be the star rather than trying to compete with the wallpaper for attention.
Based on those marketing images, I definitely like the Behr Air Blue better. The PPG Sonata is really teetering on the edge of that kid’s room blue, in my opinion. And the Air Blue seems to have more green in it, which I find preferable, especially considering that this color need to coordinate with my teal grasscloth wallpaper.
So that’s the direction I’m leaning right now. Behr Air Blue seems to be my pick. But I’m going to continue priming the rest of the cabinets today, and I’ll keep an eye on these colors to see what they look like at different times throughout the day with the wallpaper. But as of this moment, my money’s on Behr Air Blue. Do you agree? Which one would you choose?
The A2D Daily:
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
