That time I repainted my front door 4 times because I kept picking the wrong shade of red

Honestly, I spent like two weeks on this project thinking it'd be a simple afternoon job. I went to Sherwin-Williams in Portland and grabbed a sample of 'Crimson Tide' but it came out looking more like bubblegum on my door. Then I tried 'Racing Red' and it was way too dark, like a black cherry mess. After two more fails I finally settled on 'Fireweed' which is a deep rust red that actually pops in the afternoon sun. What I learned is that those tiny paint chips are total lies - you gotta buy a sample pot and test it on a big piece of cardboard first. Has anyone else had a paint color look totally different once it's actually on the door?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray_martinez821mo ago

Man, that Fireweed sounds like it was totally worth the hassle though! Those sample pots really are the only way to go after you get burned a couple times.

elizabethmason1mo ago

Yeah I gotta disagree with you on that one @ray_martinez82. Sample pots can be a total waste of money too. You buy three of them for like eight bucks each and end up with barely enough to cover a patch of wall. I'd rather just grab a quart and if I hate it, paint a closet or something. Plus a lot of those sample colors don't even dry the same as the full batch. I've been burned more times by samples lying to me than by full cans.

murphy.mason1mo ago

Eight bucks for a sample pot? That's highway robbery right there.