Yesterday, I shared the process of painting our master bathroom pink.  First, I started with Pink Sea Salt by Martha Stewart.

The color was pale.  I didn’t realize I wanted something as high contrast as the original green color.  So, added 1 test can of Market Flower by Valspar and added 3/4 cups of the large basement bedroom color, to help mellow the bright colors.

We’ve lived with this color for a week, and I’m still not sold.  It’s still too sweet baby girl, not as much dark and moody adult pink as I’d like to see.  I searched my favorite blogs for pink paint colors and found Wild Aster in Nicole’s living room and Proposal in Sherry and John’s baby girl’s bedroom.

Here in Montana, we don’t have Benjamin Moore stores, but Ace Hardware does carry Ben Moore paint.  Luckily, an Ace Hardware recently opened up a few blocks from our house, so I took the boys pink paint swatch shopping.  We pulled nearly every pink pain swatch Ace had, including Proposal and Wild Aster.  Oddly enough, the colors are very similar.  No, nearly identical.  I liked how the colors showed in the pictures, but I also liked a few other colors.  Namely Desert Rose and Odessa Pink.

Proposal is a single swatch card, but Wild Aster is the lightest of seven paint colors.   I also liked Sonoma Clay, which is the third color down on the Wild Aster slip.  And, I liked the online description: A darker, never-fail neutral, this intriguing shade is a modern marriage of pink and gray. Rich and reliable, it has a sleek and sophisticated sensibility.  It had me at a marriage of pink and gray.  That’s exactly what I needed.  I taped the three swatches up on the wall in the bathroom to see what they looked like in the right lighting.

Almost immediately, I eliminated Odessa Pink because it has a heavy orange undertone.  After looking at Desert Rose, I decided the color might be overwhelming on the walls, and it might look too red.

Before I could get too excited by my single paint choice, I compared the pink and the bedroom green.

I like that the colors have a similar value.  And, I like that Sonoma Clay reads as a muddled pink.  Hopefully we won’t repeat the baby pink look with this color.  It seems Sonoma Clay is the winner.

Truth be told, I don’t know if or when I’ll repaint the bathroom.  Ben thinks I should leave the color as it is.  I’m guessing just because he doesn’t want to spend more money on pink paint.  We’ve had this color on the walls for a week and I’m still not happy with it.  I don’t think I ever will be.  I just don’t want to spend more money and my time on something if I’m not going to love it.  And, I’m starting to doubt my pink paint selecting abilities.

But, the helpful Ace paint man showed me Ben Moore 1 pint paint samples which cost about 7 smackeroos.  I just searched online to see what the coverage is.  It seems each 16 ounce can can cover two 4 foot by 4 foot walls with two coats.  So, if my math is right (which I know is a stretch) each can will cover 64 square feet with one coat.  Good news, I just measured the bathroom walls.  The wall behind the toilet is five feet tall and three feet wide or 15 square feet.  To the left of the vanity, the wall is 4 feet tall and three feet wide for 12 square feet.  The right side of the vanity is three feet by three feet, making it nine square feet.  Total that up, and it’s only 36 square feet.  I just might be able to use one small sample can for the entire bathroom.  Does this seem right?  Or am I off my rocker?

Perhaps I should live with the current color for a few more days?  Maybe I could use a sample can to paint the entire bathroom?  That would keep the cost around $20 for both paint colors, which I can handle.

Aghh, it sounds like I’ve already convinced myself to repaint, doesn’t it?  What do you think of the swatches?  Do you have a favorite?

That is the question I kept asking myself.

As you know, our master bedroom has green walls with pink accents.

Originally, I wanted the master bathroom to have pink walls with green accents.  You know, to keep it cohesive but differentiate each room.  The reason our bathroom is green is because I chose an awful pink.  I mean seriously awful.  It looked pretty and pale on the swatch, but turned to bubble gum on the walls.  Anyway, we’ve lived with the bathroom as it is for three years and I’d like a change.

Last week, while my parents were visiting, I decided I had enough of the green paint.  Not that there was anything wrong with the green, I just wanted a change.  So, on a trip to Wal-Mart, I bought a gallon of satin paint, color matched to Martha Stewart’s Pink Sea Salt.  Based on my earlier pink paint experience, I thought it would be best to choose a color that looked lighter on the swatch.  I figured the paint would look darker once on the walls.

Before I could add color to the walls, I had to touch up the white trim paint.

Easy enough.  Now, bring on the (very pale) pink!

Because I had only three small walls, I decided to cut in with a brush, skipping the annoyance of taping.  I’m not going to lie, it kind of sucked to cut in along the mirror, going around the lights.

The back wall was the easiest.  A rectangle with two hook supports.

I finished painting as the sun set, so here’s a glimpse of the color at night.

And during the day.

Honestly, the color was fine.  Definitely better than bubble gum.  But, I didn’t love it.  Going from the high contrast green and white combo to the lot contrast pale pink and white didn’t tickle my fancy.  And, it was a more sweet baby girl pink than I had hoped for.  Maybe I didn’t want a pale pink after all.

Then, I realized I had a sample can of Valspar’s Market Flower, a bright pink.  I added the whole thing to my gallon of Pink Sea Salt.

It still wasn’t quite what I had in mind.  Way too bright pink.  I trekked back to the basement to dig out a gallon of grey/beige left over from the large basement bedroom.

I added roughly three-quarter cups, hoping it would give the bright pink are slightly more aged look.  The test swatch I painted seemed better, so I painted the walls.  Again.

Definitely brighter, but I’m still not in love.  As for Ben’s opinion?  He said he feels like a natural woman in there.

This picture most accurately shows the color.

I might try to add a grey wash, just to tone own the color.  Or I thought about going into Wal-Mart to ask for just the colorants for a paint formula to add to my mixed up pink gallon.  Do you think they’ll do it?  If those options fail, because I don’t want to spend more money on a failure, I’ll probably be painting the bathroom green again.  Gotta cut my losses.  I’m my own worst enemy.  I knew I should  have gone with a pink I had seen in use somewhere.

I wonder how many pink paint colors Nicole has gone through?  Wild Aster, as seen in Nicole’s living room, is a pretty color.

And the pink Young House Love used in Clara’s nursery seems somewhat moody.

Based solely on the online samples, I’m also liking Odessa Pink and Chippendale Rosetone.

Do you have any pink paint experience?  Was it good or bad?  Have you ever gotten just the colorants from a paint store?  What’s your favorite pink paint color?