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Wonderwalls

If choosing paint colors doesn’t give you a headache, the fumes probably will—unless you pick from the growing array formulated to be easy on the body, the planet, and not least the eyes.

  • Published on: 04/03/2009
expert clayton hubbard portrait thumbnail

Even if you’ve saved every J. Crew catalog since the dawn of time, it’s unlikely you have as many quirky color names under your bed as the nearest home-improvement store has in its paint aisle. Given the overwhelming process of selecting palettes for interior walls–—how to decide between Kiss of Spring or Frappe Mint—–we’ve often thought it would be faster (and more fun) to weave names into oddball narratives, then see how the corresponding colors match up.

For instance:
A Cool Dude walked into the Corner Cafe and paid for his Bananas Foster with a Shiny Nickel.  The Log Jam near the Hunting Lodge couldn’t keep Intrepid Isabella from arriving at High Noon. Westie White’s Regal Attitude concealed her Secret Dreams of Cocoa Crunch. Heather Glen, a Red Headed Beauty, dreamed of spending an Evening in Venice, but could not Escape the Everyday grind of her Industrial Steel town.

Of course, this could prove dangerous unless you’re willing to have your living room resemble the interior of a circus tent. Fortunately, there are both expert color consultants and an increasing number of online tools to help you pick hues. We asked painter Clayton Hubbard for his opinion on a selection of eco-friendly interior paints and learned in the process that the real pros forgo name games altogether and order paint by number.
 

  • benjamin moore natura

    Benjamin Moore Natura

    Expert Opinion: This is the first time I’ve tried the Natura line and I’m very impressed. The gray sample covers so well it feels like a conspiracy! It took just one coat to cover completely, which is unusually good. I have to hand it to them; this is my favorite of the lot.

    What We Think: We agree with Hubbard that all of the color samples—–even the dark tones—–went on with impressive smoothness and coverage. This is a top choice.

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  • yolo colorhouse paint

    Yolo Colorhouse Paint

    Expert Opinion: The stone color was a covering hero and left minimal brush marks. The darker clay color took two coats to cover sufficiently, but a double coat is standard for almost all paint, so I’d say overall I was quite satisfied. It dried nicely and washed well.

    What We Think: They don’t have as many color choices as some of the others, but they do manage a decent selection of bold and deep tones and offer a special collection of earth colors. We would choose YOLO for a more neutral room but perhaps not for bright trim.

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  • afm safecoat paint

    AFM Safecoat Paint

    Expert Opinion: Dark tones can really vary in quality with the low- and zero-VOC paints because the standard tinting process adds VOCs to the base. The Expresso covers fairly well with one coat, but I’d definitely use two for a professional job.

    What We Think: Testing with a paintbrush instead of a roller, we found that the Expresso went on fairly smoothly for a dark color, but the white and yellow had better adhesion and flow on the first coat (the brush marks weren’t obvious). Applying these with a roller on a large surface would be ideal.

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  • mythic paint

    Mythic Paints

    Expert Opinion: Even with a low-quality brush, it looked great when it went on. I don’t expect much from bright whites but I’d say the coverage here was above average. One thing that stood out about Mythic was the odor: It was the only one with a distinct scent, and while it didn’t smell as toxic as standard latex paint, it wasn’t particularly pleasant.

    What We Think: Mythic comes in a huge array of colors, and our samples—–including a shockingly bright yellow—–had good saturation. We, too, were perplexed by the strong odor, given this is a zero-VOC paint.

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