Shopping for Paint - The Warm Mahagonany was very similar to my red so I went with the Gray Marble to replace it.

Shopping for Paint – I went with the Gray Marble to replace it. My goal was to only repaint the accent walls and not the whole living room.

I’ve lived in my home since 1988 and I’ve painted every wall in the house many times. Nothing makes a house feel fresher than a new coat of paint. Still, sometimes it’s hard to pick a color knowing that we’ll have to live with it for a few years. Even worse, colors come and go out of style and one that we once loved is now an eyesore and a constant reminder that it’s time to update.

That’s where I’ve been with my living room colors for a few years. When we painted it gold and burgundy it was “the” color. Faintly reminiscent of a winery in Italy, it wasn’t unusual that the colors were applied with a decorative finish as well. While I’ve loved the deep, rich colors, what I didn’t love was how dark our living room was. My husband tried to counter the darkness by adding more lights than one would think would fit in there and yes, while it looked ridiculous, it never got brighter than dim.

Out with the red and in with the gray. I had a little help from Sam. Now I'll need to replace the lampshades and art, but I'm looking forward to it!

Out with the red and in with the gray. I had a little help from Sam. Now I’ll need to replace the lampshades, cushions, and art, but I’m looking forward to it!

So when PPG Pittsburgh Paints asked me to participate in their The Voice of Color “Refresh Your Space” challenge, I gladly agreed! Granted, they were looking for people ready to embrace bold colors in 2013, and for a few moments I toyed with choosing the bright teal, but then I reminded myself  that I was on a mission to get rid of them. But luckily for me, picking a color was easy because color experts from The Voice of Color had already done the hard work. They identified key trend colors for the PPG Pittsburgh Paints brand and put together five-color palette cards. I matched my existing paint to the cards and came up with a coordinating color that could brighten up my dark world.

The Color Minded trends for this year have been given fun names like Everyday Hero, Elusion, Artful Expression, Discreet Luxury and Modern is Tech. In all there are 25 colors that any homeowner could love. From bold and dynamic hues to subtle neutral.

Before/After Living Room as part of the PPG Pittsburgh Paints The Voice of Color “Refresh Your Space” challenge

PPG Pittsburgh Paints sent me a painting kit and I took care of the rest by visiting my local paint store and picking up two gallons of my new color called Gray Marble. My original thought was to cover the two deep red accent walls in our living room and dining room, but once I saw how great the color looked I used it in our upstairs hallway to cover a color called Sunken Pool that I hadn’t loved since I painted it (read: Helping a Small Hallway Feel More Like a Room and Less Like a Pass Through). I was going for a beachy vibe in there, but my son said it looked like a nursery. Plus now the gray carries from the living room to the upper hallway which carries into our master bedroom which we painted silver a few months ago.

Updating a hallway with paint as part of the PPG Pittsburgh Paints The Voice of Color “Refresh Your Space” challenge

Updating a hallway with paint as part of the PPG Pittsburgh Paints The Voice of Color “Refresh Your Space” challenge

Pitsburg Paints – No VOC and One-Coat Cover

Hallway Update - PPG Pittsburgh Paints The Voice of Color “Refresh Your Space” challenge

Hallway Update – PPG Pittsburgh Paints The Voice of Color “Refresh Your Space” challenge

What I loved about the paint was first that it covered the red in one coat. Seriously!  I ended up painting a gold wall in the dining room as well and it covered it beautifully too. It also covered the Sunken Pool in one coat.

I did all three areas with one gallon of paint! I’m thoroughly impressed with the quality of the paint – no drips or splatters! Plus, it’s NO VOC! In fact, it’s so odor-free  that my son came home 1 hr after I put away the ladder and not only didn’t notice the paint color change, but when I pointed it out to him and asked him if he’d smelled fresh paint, he was surprised that I’d just finished. He couldn’t smell it at all.

No VOC is very important to me and I only use paint that doesn’t contain harmful fumes in my home now. The whole experience was great. Who knows how many more painting jobs this 51-year old body has in it, but the PPG Pittsburg Paint certainly made it as easy as can be!

So which color would you choose?

Win a PPG PPG Pittsburgh Paints Color Deck

Win two PPG color Decks from Pittsburgh Paints

Want to check out the bold colors in your own home? Pittsburgh Paint is giving five of our readers a Harmony and Atmospheric color deck. These make choosing colors a breeze and they’re great to take along when shopping for coordinating items.

:giveaways:


I’ve partnered with PPG Pittsburgh Paints and received product, coupons, premium items and reader giveaway items as part of my participation. However, no payment was given or expected for posting about the program, and as always, all opinions given here are fully my own.