Never trust a paint sample
by Maryanne Schloss
In a few weeks, spring will finally be upon us. You know what that means?
Elections and home improvement. This year I think I have found a way to
combine the two of them.
The candidate that can tell me the name of the person that invented those
tiny paint sample cards will get my vote and support forever. Why? Well
just take a look at my Sunkist orange living room.
Recently, armed with an idea of what my living room could look like after
a fresh coat of color, I made my way to the paint store.
Years ago I remember it to be a place of not too many choices, so I was
expecting very little room for error. This is not the case in this day
and age. The counter person is a young teenage lad who never manned a
brush. I’m not assuming, I asked him.
He directed me to a wall of small colored slips of paper that contained
every shade of color on this earth, then some.
Before making my final choice, I was advised to take home the colors
which would go with the furniture to do “research.”
Good plan, so I thought. Once home I taped them on the wall and began
to stare endlessly. This went on for days until one day the decision was
made. Confident, with paint cards in hand, the journey to the store began.
With the color decided, everything else should be a piece of cake and
the room, after all that research, should turn out perfect, right? Guess
again!
First, I am confronted with the unending problem of what kind of paint
will be used. We never had a choice years ago, it was simply flat, gloss
paint. My little lad behind the counter had at least seven different finishes.
When asked what I should do, his answer was a half smile and a shake of
the head. I closed my eyes and randomly picked one.
Two days of preparing the room and we were ready to paint. A few hours
later and one wall done, it was evident that the paint chips were wrong,
horribly wrong. Beware my fellow home-improver’s, these paint samples
are lighter than the real paint. Standing back and looking at the wall
all I could think about is: Sunkist orange. This is the color it came
to be. The initial reaction was to redo the wall, but no way, I thought.
It stays. Onward to the other walls we went.
Believe it or not, the room came out beautiful. Everyone that has seen
it says that is it very unique. Maybe a nice way of saying it’s
hideous, but I like it.
This is not my last project of the spring, there is still the primaries.
And I will, someday, find the paint sample man, with or without the help
of politicians. The FBI may be hiding him out from me in the witness protection
program, but my orange room, despite its beauty, is a constant reminder.
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