Painting whole of house - help with colours

[NickiC]

We are about to commence painting our whole house and am stuck between two colours - Grand Piano and Hogs Bristle both half strength. We have also chosen Vivid White for the architraves. Has anybody painted their house with either colours and can show me what they look like on a wall or give me some tips? At the moment we have about 8 different patches on our wall but we have narrowed it down to these two. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated 😀😀

[MitchellMc]

Hi @NickiC. Thanks for your question, I'd be happy to start the discussion.

Even at half strength Grand Piano and Hogs Bristle have a lot of ocre (brownish) undertones, especially when contrasted with Vivid white. I used a similar colour Antique White USA half strength on the walls and vivid white on my architraves. Looking at it now I think I would have dropped it to quarter strength as with the contrast to Vivid White the walls look almost cream coloured. 

My number one tip with colour samples is to make up a board to paint them on. This allows you to move the samples around your house to all locations. Colours behave differently depending on what is surrounding them including lighting, furniture, drapes and accessories. It's not just the colour absorbing those around it, but the way our brains interpret the room as a whole. What may look good in one room, could look completely different in another.

Take for example this cube. The two squares highlighted are the exact same colour, but our brains interpret them as different colours due to the surrounding environment. 

I look forward to hearing what our helpful community suggest and what colours you go with. If you have further questions or need advice, please let me know.

Mitchell