Choose the color that looks the warmest, or you might end up with a color that looks dirty/dingy. I would judge by how the color looks in the evening. ;o)

I pick colors as if I was going to wear them. If I look good in a certain shade, then I'll look good in the room, and will be happy with my choice.

Which color of brown would you wear as a sweater?

Do you like them all? Post a picture so we can help you choose. I would pick the one you like the best in the daytime. You can always change the light bulbs at night to change the color some, you cant change the sunlight.

No, Laurie, you are not alone!

In professional situations I can decide very quickly, but when it comes to this interior decorating stuff I'm a card carrying, tufts-of-hair in hands, crazed, one more to check out, driving friends and family to drink, founding member of the World Association of Indecisive Ladies. WAIL!

Our motto is "Celebrate small victories."

There are thousands of paint colors out there. You've chosen 9 as worthy enough to bring home as samples. Celebrate!

I thought I remembered reading a recent post of yours and went looking for it. I believe you have a new loveseat and couch for this area? How do they work with these colors?

There are probably several colors among your top choices that will be fantastic. Take two of your choices ... any two ... and decide which you like best. List the pros and cons of each. If you like both the same, fine. Rank them as "same". Then compare the top contender with another color from the pile.

If they all seem the same to you, choose one or more of the following:
> Call the painter and reschedule.
> No, seriously, run over to a BM store and see if someone will help you think this through.
> Or, my personal favorite, choose the one with the coolest name.

No help at all, but hope you are smiling.

Welcome to the club! I am in the process of choosing a color for my DD's room and I have paint chips spread out all over! What I finally did, was process of elimination. Threw aside those that for one reason or another weren't 'it'. Then I went and had samples made of the ones I liked. Just this morning I painted two poster boards with the two finalists. I'll wait til they are completely dry and see what we like. I am always amazed at how some people are able to make decisions so quickly and I drag my feet!

Laurie, I have a terrible time, too. I have finally decided that I need to realize that I can repaint. That said, I have three rooms I need to paint and it has been months. I suspect part of the problem for me is that everyone here has such lovely colors on walls that I keep thinking, "Well, maybe that one would be good" and change my mind regularly-LOL.

One idea is to take your chips/samples and decide between two, then take the next two, decide which you like, work your way through, then start doing the same for the favorites-two by two-etc. until you have reduced the pile to the one you like best. A photographer who has done generations of work for families in our area used to do that with his proofs and it made choosing a favorite so easy.

You are not alone. Put me in any store, flea market, art festival, antique show or fabric store and I know immediately what I want and what will work in my rooms. I am rarely sorry about my choices. When it comes to picking out paint I am reduced to mush. Picking paint colors is pure torture.........

Check the colors against your furniture and such. If you are starting with the walls first then I suggest you do like I did.

After painting my 25"walls by myself, yeah really scary up there, I did the following:

We purchased a rug that had all our favorite colors and put it in our family room as the anchor.

I went to store and picked one of those pallet cards that gives a group of colors that go together. Mine are the Biltmore Estate colors. All my favorites are there with even a few I would never have thought of. And it turns out all the colors in the pallet are actually in the rug we got. It took a few months before we realized that there were colonial blue areas in the rug that actually matched the blue we used in one room. I used the neutral tan for my entry and stairwell, used a lighter version of the tan for my kitchen, family and hallways. I used the red in my livingroom, hunter green in dining and the blue in my upstairs bonus room. I just did my guest bath using the same blue in the rug andthe bonus room and it is actually my unexpected color in the house. It matches all the other colors but you would never really think to see it. But together they all match really well. I carry my colors in my purse and use them all the time when I am out and about and tempted to get something for the house.

So pick that tan and find a pallet that goes with it, it really helped me a lot.

laurie - I just went through the exact same thing! It took me 10 months, 29 tan/gold/brown paint samples, and I still ended up painting my FR TWICE. My ceilings are 25 feet+, so I definitely needed to hire a painter. I too struggled with lighting at different times of the day so when I thought I picked the right color I decided to call my painter. When he was done - I hated it! Two weeks later I picked another color, paid the painter AGAIN, and now I am starting to like it. If I can do it, anyone can do it! Good Luck!

It's not just you, and I feel your pain.

Sometimes having fewer choices and someone to guide you helps. I've used the Ellen Kennon paints a number of times, and the limited choices (as compared to BM or SW) makes things easier.

I look for pictures online of rooms in the colors that I like. Even though it can appear different on everyone's monitor, it helps to see a whole room done as opposed to a small sample. Give us a list of the ones you're considering and maybe we will have some pictures.

BTW, When I was trying to decide on a paint to go with my painted paneling, I started with all of these sample:

Then I went to painting large sections on the wall :)
{{!gwi}}

So, "no", you're not alone.

Laurie

MsRose...LOL!!
and I thought I was alone in my craziness! We need a paint support group. The sad thing is I recognize many of my SW swatches up there. Which did you choose..they all look great.

I agree with Graywings. I think having too many choices is almost worse. That's why I am now trying to choose a Farrow and Ball color or Ellen Kennon. Choosing a paint color is torture for me too.

Paint support group? Can I join???

On living room color #2 now. Much better than living room color #1. And this is after painting BIG swatches on the wall both times...

What I learned - you MUST paint as big a section on the wall yourself as you can manage, and then look at it in all sorts of light. If you can paint an entire corner, even better - the color reflects off itself. Oh, and surround it with neutral (I used white) paper so when you look at it, you're not influenced by the adjacent color(s). A dear friend taught me this trick - very important.

What I did NOT learn - how to spot what kind of undertone a color has. I just don't have that gene. Fortunately, I have friends who do.

scanmike - I ended up going with BM Woodstock Tan. I don't remember if that's one of the ones on the wall above or not. It might be the 2nd from the left, but I'm not sure.

Laurie

LOL....thanks everyone. I don't feel so alone now. I'm just going to go with the one I like th ebest and call the painter and just do it! I'll post pics once done. Thanks again!