I had the opportunity to attend a color workshop sponsored by Benjamin Moore and held in our local West Elm store.  Sure, when I say it that way, it makes me sound super important.  Reality:  all West Elm subscribers got the invite and could go.
The store event was pretty full and we arrived a few minutes late (oops).  Into the window display for seating we went.  Care to buy a lovely leather chair?  For the next hour only, it comes with a delightful red head young lady.  Can she just finish listening to the presentation before you check out though?

The workshop was all about how to use color in your home and when decorating.  A lot of the information is stuff you probably already know but it was neat to see some of the design boards they had created.  Oh, and the free gallon of paint was a pretty sweet offering too!

Some highlights:

• Find your inspiration first.  This could come from fabric, nature, etc.  Use these items to help guide you to a paint color versus the other way around.  The presentation initially centered around this pillow (from West Elm)

• Take your inspiration items with you to the store when shopping for paint.  Having the piece(s) with you will help narrow down colors versus standing in front of a 1000 gray paint swatches and trying to remember the “right” one.
• Ask for help.  While the presentation focused on the services offered in many Benjamin Moore stores, so many stores (including West Elm!) offer consulting services that are almost always free. 
• Use samples!  Paint samples of the colors you are considering onto boards (not walls!) and put them in the middle of the room you plan to paint.  This eliminates the current wall coloring/decorations potentially influencing the color of your new paint.  Seeing the paint in the room where it will live will also allow you to view the colors in all the lighting specific to your house.
• Take lighting into account.  Paint is going to look different in different types of light (duh!).  It is a well known but often forgotten fact so remember this when shopping for paint.

There was a small sales pitchy part of the presentation where the presenter went over the different levels of BM paint.  One thing of note: BM has no VOC colorants so, even for darker colors, the VOC of the paint doesn’t go up from the added colorants.  Pretty cool.

After the presentation, we shopped around a bit and I fell in love!  If I can get my kids to stop banging on my table with their flatware, this baby is mine!

Swoon!

If you have an opportunity to attend the Benjamin Moore class at West Elm, there were some benefits (besides the obv free paint).  She briefly discusses different types of paint finishes and the design boards were very beautiful.