Almost everyone goes through this. Yes, this is because of white wall overload! Yes, you will get used to it. Yes, it will all look much better with the furniture in place. Just settle down and try to relax. It's only paint. The best part is that because you DIY, it you really hate something, you can do it over. But, I would give it some time. I bet you won't be that unhappy when some time has passed. And hey, if you got most of it right and have to repaint a few rooms, you're doin' great!

First of all, strong color after white walls IS a big change, and perhaps a bit overwhelming. Second, since this is a new build, I am guessing you have not a stick of furniture, any lighting, no accessories or floor coverings in the space. That is NOT how you will live in there, or how the walls will be perceived - when the rooms are full they walls will become just one piece of the puzzle.

Relax and wait. I bet you will end up very pleased. There is never just ONE right color or ONE right paint choice.

((((HUGS)))) Building a house is so stressful and there are so many decisions.

First, give yourself time to get used to it and don't be in a rush to change it - wait till you have your furniture etc. in the room and you've lived there awhile to get a sense of the light and space.

Second, and this is a big one, give yourself permission to make some mistakes knowing that you will be able to correct them later. No one makes only perfect decisions building a house. If you don't like a color, remember that you can change it and you needed to get something up on the wall, even if it's temporary. It's okay to have some paint colors that aren't exactly what you pictured in your head.

If you're painting, you must be getting near the end - how exciting.

Sky

WOW, feeling a little better and less stressed. YES, it is quite a change. New build, no cabinets, no floor, no furniture or deco. I was hoping someone would settle me down a bit. Seems like this whole process is becoming a little stressful:O) You know, you have these inspirations and dreams and just want it to be perfect! The reality is there is no perfect, but I do want it to just be DONE. I think we should keep painting, move our stuff in and take it from there. It's only paint, right, dh has nothing better to do (next year). Thank you!

As others have said, calm down and give your eyes a chance to adjust to the colors. And of course, with no furniture or decor, you are just looking at blank walls. It takes me a while to get used to every thing I do. I keep looking at the bathroom and bedroom I just painted - maybe a little too yellow, maybe it should have been a deeper tone, yada, yada. As my husband would say --- any one of a dozen colors would look good. It will be wonderful. Relax and enjoy!!

This stage is called Mid-Project Panic. Breathe, Breathe and Breathe. Then add a large glass of wine and chocolate.

WHEN you decorate the rooms -- the colors will work themselves into your arrangements. Really! Fabrics, artworks, lighting and lamps and even area rugs will make a HUGE difference!

Jan

I remember when my mustard seed went in and it was a shock going from white walls to actual color!! We have lived in so many houses in our 30+ years of marriage and NEVER had color on any of the walls - they were always white. Now I love the color. We are getting ready to have the rest of the house painted and I am AGONIZING over the color selection. We are paying someone to paint so if I hate the color it's not such an easy fix. I am sure it will grow on you - you must have liked the color enough to pick it.

Post pictures when you are finished!

Thanks for all the help. I have; however, decided that I must change the master bath. The rest I'm going to give some time to adjust. I don't think I can live with it as it really looks pink. I don't want a pink bathroom and don't want dh to have one either;) I'm going to start a new thread asking for help with that paint selection. Again, Thanks!

This might not be what happened, but 3 things occur to me - one is... did you bring anything from home with which to match paint to? Second - do you know paint chips in the store can look very different in your room, and third, paint in the can looks very different as well. You have to take all the different lighting into account, of course.

Just wanted to say that I completely empathize with you. We finished our home this past September, and we also wanted the golds and reds for our main living areas. Well, picking those colors (and the others in the house) turned out to be the most challenging part of the entire process. We had dumped our interior designer (long story), and decided to go it on our own.

Here is what I learned:
1) The change from all white walls to colored walls is huge, and it takes some time to adjust. Any color will appear "dark" on the previously all white walls. Give the color a little time before rejecting it. Colors I was initially really apprehensive about ended up being some that I love the most.

2) Get help from someone who knows about paint. Our painter ended up helping us choose a lot of the colors in the house. She had so much experience with paint that she could steer us in the right direction, given what I told her about the colors we wanted. I wanted a warm golden tan throughout the lower level, but the samples I chose all seemed way too bright and yellow, or worse - orange. She knew I had to pick a color that appeared much browner than I thought would be right. Sure enough, when it went up on the walls, the color she chose looked just like what I wanted.

3) It's only paint. Worst case scenario - something has to be repainted. That's okay. One of my boys' rooms needed to be repainted because it turned out to be truly electric blue. By the way, my painter helped me relax and understand that it really is only paint.

Good luck, and please post progress pictures.

Jan

I went through the same thing. It can be very difficult to choose paint if you do not have anything to match it to so just do the best you can. As other's have said, you do not have any furnishings there so all you have to see is the color. Have you choosen any furnishings yet to go in the rooms? Knowing what color fabrics and rugs really helps you zone in on what colors would look best. If you've not choosen these yet, then I would hold off on any repainting until you have. One exception, though would be the kitchen/bath. If you can get the color right before the cabinets/tile go in, it's mcuh better than painting around all the cabinets/tile.

Good idea about changing the pink toned bathroom, this happens with some shades of beiges; no amount of cabinetry or flooring is going to change that.
The rest of your colors sound amazing !!

Just came back to post about the pink tone but see you have already decided. I was going to suggest you change just that one room - LOL. You are right about the fact you can't change the pinkish tone so I think you are right with that decision.

The other rooms will absolutely change with the time of day, the weather, rugs (if you have hardwoods), lighting, type of bulbs used, furniture...

I am my own painter and I love the fact that if after a month or so I don't like a color I can buy a gallon or two of paint and change it. I just consider it a bit more exercise that I can really use.

Enjoy your new home and post pics when able!

I will post pictures when done. Thanks for all your support. I did test paint on the walls, etc. We will be basically starting over with furniture for the main living/family/kitchen area. I did shop for that too, so I knew what I wanted there. I will give it time. It doesn't help when dh keeps second guessing everything I have picked out and says it is awfully yellow. He says this rooms is yellow too?!?! I'm like, yup. Tried explaining to him what is the difference if the house is all tan, all white, all beige or all YELLOW:) So, thanks for the encouragement, now to figure out the masterbath.

mommy, what color did you use in the bath that looks pink? Just asking because I want to stay away from it. :)

It is BM's french manicure and a bad choice by me from the get-go as I remember even asking the gal at the paint store if she thought it looked pink too. Lesson learned...undertones do stay...if it reads pink on the sample it will probably read pink on the wall too. Even the name sounds like it could be pinkish, silly me.

Hey mommyto4boys...guess what? I'll be posting this very thread in a month or two! I am right now hesitating...I have to hand over my color choices to the GC and I keep putting it off trying to make sure every selection will be perfect, when my fear is that none of it will be.

I hope you soon fall in love with everything...I've heard what everyone else suggested...that it takes some getting used to. I've spent over $150 on paint samples in four months and I've driven family and friends crazy by asking for managers at restaurants so that I can find out the paint color they used.

Good luck!

I'm glad I'm not alone Fairytale. Have 20 quarts sitting in the living room right now. Painter keeps calling and asking if I'm ready yet.

Every place I go or TV show I watch...can't get past the colors on the walls.

If you do decide to change colors, I just thought I'd put in a suggestion to look at the Benjamin Moore Historic Collection of paints. There are some lovely tried and true colors there and some neutrals that would go with about any color scheme. If I'd gone that route in my remodel instead of just looking at the whole color spectrum it would've simplified my task amazingly and I'd probably be happier with the results. More choice is not always a good thing. I think the color decks are great from when you've got everything else all picked out and are looking for that perfect color to tie it together--otherwise a much narrower tried and true palate is much easier to work with.

Seconding what valinsv stated about the BM historical colors - they're beautiful. We used BM Wilmington Tan, as well as BM Jackson Tan.

Jan

Another sugestion is to go with the new Aura paint Affinity colors. At first I thought they were kind of blah but used one in my bedroom and am now ready to do my whole house with these colors. They are all supposed to go together and there arn't as many color choices.