apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

we have chit chat on our walls. c2 low-vo paints are great

It kind of works backwards. I picked CIL's Bright Sun for my kitchen and thought it was sort of a drag the name wasn't more interesting.

I don't normally pick paint based on the name, but if it has the word "french" in it, the odds are that I'll want it. I'm a victim of marketing.

I just chose painted turtle for my exterior... and have to admit... I like saying the name...

Windswept
Daystar
Reckless Red
Sandy Feet
Martian Skies

OK, maybe sometimes.

I won't choose a color according to it's name, and I won't choose a color just because I saw it someplace else and thought I liked it...

...but I'll certainly avoid a color saddled with a name I can't stand.

I too would like to meet someone who names paint colors some day. Just today I got a good chuckle out of Dutch Boy's "Sir Moss-a-Lot." I mean, really?

I can be swayed by the color name if I have a couple of shades that are very close to each other. And occasionally the name will give a hint as to how the color will turn out, e.g. despite how it looks on the card, 'lemon ice' is probably not going to be the sunny buttercup color I'm looking for.

I painted my bedroom with Behr's 'Lagoon' partly because of the name. Usually I'll have it narrowed down to four or so close colours, and the name helps me hammer in the nail.

We painted the office 'Mountain Haze' because of the name, too.

Ha I've definitely let the name of a color sway my vote on what to spec. Just last year I was designing a toy store in CT and found myself torn between Yellow Rain Coat and another boring named yellow. rain coat was the clear winner

I recently picked a lovely color for post-break-up fix up to my apartment even though it had an awful saccharine name, I even chop the name parts of the samples off. I figure I can call it whatever I want once I pick it. My current color has a name I don't believe I can post here.

we recently used elephant skin. I have to say, the name helped because that's what exactly what I was going for...elephant skin! haha. I think subconciously we all do it. i mean come on...who's going to pick a color that's called 'stinky' for instance. probably my five year old neice. :D lol

I always liked Ben Moore paints for not having names, and then they went and named them all! I had a new home to lay out a color scheme around and the client wanted a true cobalt blue. I gathered a bunch of swatches form several different lines and threw out ones for being too dark, too light, too purple, or whatever. Finally I was down to 3 colors. At that point, I looked at the names-the Benjamin Moore color was just one word-Blue. Because it didn't make me think of anything else, Blue won. It's still a fantastic true blue.

its a good tiebreaker... thats how i ended up with "sensual silver" in the bedroom ;)

Looking for a light cream to paint my spare room, I eventually settled on a colour called 'Sunnydale' purely because of its association with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Agreed that it can be a tiebreaker if I'm wavering between two similar shades, but it isn't the primary consideration.

Also agreed that a good name won't necessarily make me choose a color, but a bad one will certainly drive me away.

Coming up with paint color names would be an interesting job, I think.

I'm amused by some and bemused by others...but no, would not choose a color based on the name.

....I've also thought it would be a fun aspect of a job.

I would never buy paint based on the name, but I would like a one-on-one meeting with anyone who wants to use "taupe" in a color description.

I've certainly been dissuaded from paint colors based on their names!

I used to work at a store that sold paint - watching customers giggling over the paint colours was one of my favourite parts. I love paint colour names!

And, like most people here, I use it as a tiebreaker. When torn between Carnivale and some other generic yellow name, I went with Carnivale.

My brother has a wall in his room painted Self Destruct. He's an odd one.

A few years ago I read an article about how Pantone selects new colors for its collection, and names them. I've always thought that would be a totally cool job.

I always try to be logical- set up a more objective parameter like 'which one best matches object a- and have others help confirm the decision too.

However, it does seem that the chosen color usually has the best name... :) Just picked a chartreuse to paint my kitchen door & matched it to some of my Russel Wright pottery. Color was "extra virgin olive oil," which I thought approapritr since it was a kitchen... and I use a lot of olive oil. :)

dangerous robot. from benjamin moore, a beautiful soft gray-lilac.

Nope. Our living room is 'Cotton Fluff' and our entrance hallway is 'Bicycle Yellow', both by Behr. I always manage to pinpoint exactly what paint colour I want, without resorting to such things. But I do greatly enjoy the names - when we were painting our hallway, we were listening to Queen. But of course, what should come on, but the bicycle song? I forget the actual name, but every time I walk through the hallway, I get "bicycle! bicycle! bicycle! I want to ride my bicycle..." stuck in my head, and often end up humming it.

Amused by simple things, I realize... but at least it always makes me smile! I quite like the Mustache paint name, it's cute. Dangerous Robot sounds awesome, but to me it should be a darker, more dramatic gray.

I have to admit that in the past I would be (unconsciously) affected by the name of a paint, and my colour choices would be disastrous as a result.

I really, really, appreciate that Donald Kaufman has chosen to number his paints instead of name them -- the perception of a colour should be your own, and not guided by some marketing whiz.

I cant tell you how many times Swiss Coffee has helped me in a pinch picking a client's color palette. Its one of those whites that miraculously looks good with any accent color.

I chose the paint colours for my study despite their names... 3 of the 4 walls are done in Dulux's "Self-Destruct"!

I was looking for a color to paint a ceiling medallion in my house. I had tried four or five different raspberry colors and none worked. I decided to go with something more purple and saw a sample pot at the store that looked lovely from afar. When I picked it up and saw that the name of the color was "erica" (my name, and the word for "heather" in Italian), I knew it was meant to be. The medallion looks great now!

Like many others here, I've long thought that paint-color-namer would be a dreamy job. (Also, lipstick-color-namer and nailpolish-color-namer.) I really love looking at what these people come up with. And yes, I have been swayed, both towards and away from, a particular color because of its name.

I hate paint color names. I think it would be much easier if they were all numbered. But then, I'm a graphic designer and all my color swatches are numbered so maybe that's just what I'm used to.

I do have to say that "dangerous robot" is a pretty awesome name though.

I recently eliminated Grout and Vancouver day (both cool greys) because Grout sounds ugly and Vancouver Day is just sad- especially here in Ontario where we have had a Vancouver winter for a summer!

I like the Labrador a lot, but would choose a similar shade with a name that actually embodies the color. Since when, unless you are looking at the poached salmon on the table, is anything in Labrador peachy?

I want a name that I think embodies the color, and a name that describes what I want to be surrounded by. Canvas, Fig, Raspberry jam, Chutney, Quartz, and Jade are all colors I have fallen for based on their name. Canvas and Quartz were both whites that seemed interesting based on their names.

The color name so doesn't matter. I never remember the color name after it's been up for a while anyway.

Oooh ... Dangerous Robot! I think I'd buy that from the name too!

I don't usually pick from names, but once I was torn between 3 or 4 very similar baby blue swatches for my hallway, and I did pick the final one - Old Pickup Truck - because the name sounded sweet.

The name was a tiebreaker for us...our basement carpet color is "Morningside," which is also the name of our neighborhood.

A name will sway me. Given the choice between two similar colors, I'll always choose the one with what I perceive to be a better name.

Same goes for my taste in women and vegetables.

No, I completely ignore them because if I did look down the swatch and look at the name it would influence my decision. I am also able to see the name and not let the marketing persuade me, at least I try.

i once worked on a project where we had to reselect the exterior paint colors because the developer refused to stand up in a public meeting and say that the building would be painted "frivolous fawn".

I have before. A few years back, I bought paint called "Conga Line" to paint a bookshelf. It was this awesome red color.

I live in a studio, and painted most of it a baby blue called Weathered Glass. When it came time to do some accent walls, I chose January Frost and Northern Star, mostly because of their names and how they fit with my Easteren Seaboard in the Winter theme I had going on.....the closet is painted Winter's Night also.

That being said, I decided to section off my bedroom with a pink color and I found an amazing rosey-pink-orange. However it is called Two-Lips and I HATE the name so much the paint chip is just taped on the wall because I cannot bring myself to buy it.

I have always thought about this when I'm choosing colors! I hate that I let names influence me -- it sort of annoys me -- but I totally do!

Then, to top it all off, I never even remember the name of the paint I ended up choosing...

http://tearinguphouses.blogspot.com

I just finished painting the master bath this gorgeous deep blue "Restless Sea" and I feel as though the name reflects more about my feelings than I initially thought. Might be time to move!