Lori, does this site match by formula or by “eyeball”? I know the brothers behind My Perfect Color. Jason and Dana Shaw. (altho we haven't spoken in years) They own a large Benjamin Moore/Hunter Douglas retail store in New Jersey and My Perfect Color is their online business. You would have to call My Perfect Color and ask if they rely on computer matching alone or if they have colorists to qualify color matches. It's a great question to ask! A little bit about formulas and computer matches... Paint stores can buy libraries of paint color data values - they can actually choose which brands. Some stores have every brand available while others select what they consider "top" brands. Of course, the more brands you include the more expensive the library is to purchase. These libraries of colors that the stores use are available from different vendors. Where the libraries come from is the vendors get fandecks and scan/measure the colors with spectrophotometers according to color measurement standards. The result is spectral data for each paint color. They take the spectral data and transform it mathematically into various color data value formats. Most notably, CIE L*a*b*. The CIE L*a*b* value is essentially the color's DNA, or fingerprint. That's the data value that's used to find color matches and compare how well they match. How well they match is qualified using a Delta E scale. As I pointed out above. Whenever there is a post on here about paint color formulas - how to use individual colorants to define a color, or tweak them by 25%, 50% etc., I'm sitting here at The Land of Color rolling my eyes and trying not to bang my head on my keyboard. Because conversations about formulas and individual colorants are stupid. And I can tell you why it's stupid...... and a waste of time. The formula is not the genesis of the paint color. The formula is just a recipe of ingredients that alter and change each other as they are blended; their individual characteristics literally get blended away into the base and each other. Rendering the formula, the list of individual colorants, useless. The CIE L*a*b* value is what is used to figure out everything about a paint color -- including the formula. There isn't a team of elves with a special 'gift for color' and extra-special artistic talents somewhere in an annex to Santa's workshop tinkering with colorants and creating thousands of paint colors manually using their little elfin' eyeballs. The question no one asks -- but needs to -- is where do the paint color formulas come from? And the answer is CIE L*a*b* values. If you have the CIE L*a*b* value for a paint color, you can manage color like a boss and figure out a bunch of stuff. Like a hue/value/chroma notation. Which is why I say if you understand hue/value/chroma and LRV you can rule the world. (the world of color). I call hue, value, chroma and LRV The Four Pillars of Color. But it's the formula, not the CIE L*a*b* value or hue/value/chroma notation, that's stuck on to the side of every paint can. So, that's why people glom on to the formula and why so many believe there is some secret code to decipher in the formula - some kind of code that's going to describe and define the paint color. And, again, the ultimate *code* that defines and describes a paint color is the CIE L*a*b* value. The "undertones" bullsh1t is just as stupid if not stupider than believing there's a *code* to crack with the colorants and formula. There is a more direct and much easier path. If you want to truly master color, then learn how we measure and quantify how we see and experience color. Stepping down off my soap box now.

Hello! I would appreciate the help of anyone who understands paint colors, undertones, lighting, and all that good stuff. We recently closed on our home and moving in soon. Painters are coming in Monday to begin work and I only have a couple days to pick paint colors. I am most concerned about the family room. The pictures I have posted show the color the previous owners had (along with their furniture). We are keeping the shelves on the wall and the shelving unit under the JOY sign will be in the room as well. Our couch and overall color of the room will be on the beige/cream/brown scheme of things, with possibly some pops of jade or dark navy. Anyways, I currently HATE the green color (green undertone?) that is currently in the room. I want a beige/neutral color. I spoke with a design consultant where I am purchasing paint from and she recommended BJ Muslin or Moccasin for the room. I initially liked the Muslin color but keep reading online that there is a definite "pink" undertone to it which scares me. I definitely don't want that. I am trying to learn more about BM Moccasin but sadly cannot find much information about it online. Does anyone know what kind of an undertone it has? For reference, it is a north facing room with lots of windows as well as sky lights. I am not sure what the natural lighting is like because, unfortunately, we are moving states, so I will not be able to be back in the house until AFTER painting is done and we move in. Double whammy, I know! That is what's making this process so difficult. I went and got paint samples today to see the colors in real light, but unfortunately I cannot see them in the actual room. Please help! Oh, and the kitchen is open to the family room, which is BJ Revere Pewter... if that helps? Also, there are areas of clear discoloration in the hardwood flooring where rugs were placed so this tells me that the room must have a lot of natural sun light even though it is north facing? Just an assumption but don't really know for sure.

Hi, please recommend an off white paint color that would go well with our carpet and brighten up the space. I really love revere pewter and light pewter but I’m not sure if that will fit with the color of carpet. Maybe winds breath or baby fawn would work? Open to suggestions!

Our local Benjamin Moore store has a decorator who will come out to your house and help choose colors for you, based on the light in adjacent rooms. But not sure that is offered by other BM stores. Worth checking with your local store, though.