The Biggest Mistake I’ll Never Make Again When Picking a New Paint Color

My favorite room in my old Victorian house is the dining room. It’s formal, but it has this serene energy thanks to a palette of calming blue-greens. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked for the paint color (Benjamin Moore Stratton Blue, for the record). 

But the pièce de résistance of the room is the mural that adorns the wall behind the dining table. I knew from day one I would choose a mural for the room — in fact, in my dream world, I would have wrapped the entire room in the mural! I don’t live in my dream world, of course, and we have 16 separate walls in this room thanks to the nooks, crannies, and alcoves that Victorian architects loved. That means a mural that would look fabulous in a normal four-walled room would be totally lost in translation here.

So before choosing my mural, I focused on the paint color I’d use for the surrounding walls. I put paint samples on my wall, and carefully watched them evolve through the time of day and the weather. I realized we couldn’t go too vibrant or too pale. I considered whether I wanted blue or green to come across as the dominant color. I selected Stratton Blue as if a final exam depended on it.

But all of that was a mistake. If I were to do this again, I would go about it differently. Here’s how.

I put so much energy into selecting the paint color and promptly had the room painted top to bottom. The ceiling is lovely light blue-green, which perfectly accents the wall color. I love how it turned out. 

Once it was done, I thought, “Fabulous, now let’s start thinking about the mural that will go on the large wall.”

I looked up murals, and quickly my grave mistake came to light. I was staring at a computer screen, looking at murals, wondering what might go with the color that was now covering my walls. I was limited in what I could consider, and, at $15 to $20 per sample for the murals I was considering on Etsy, the cost was going to add up quickly — but I also couldn’t take the chance of ordering without a preview!

So I did what I had to and ordered multiple samples of murals that looked like they just might complement the wall color. I crossed my fingers that the computer resolution might come close to reality.

Thankfully, my second round order of samples produced a sample that came close enough to picking up the wall color that I decided it just might work. I knew there might be a chance of variation in dye lots, but I decided to take the risk and place the full order. Thankfully, it worked out, but it left me with a good lesson.

If you’re planning on hanging wallpaper or a single-wall mural, always pick that first and install it before you even begin to think about the paint. 

It’s far easier to choose a paint to complement a print than it is a print to complement a paint. And, getting the mural in hand and on the wall lets you see what it actually looks like in your space rather than wondering if there will be a variation in the dye lot or if the light will reflect differently once it’s vertical. 

In the end, everything worked out in my space, and I love how it looks! But I spent a lot more more money and time than I would have if I’d just ordered the mural first, then focused on finding a paint color — and the same goes for any situation where you’re combining both wallpaper and paint in a room. Take a lesson from my mistake, and let the print inform the paint, not the other way around.