In the summer of 2020, I made a bold change to our dining room. It was the wrong paint color, and I regretted my color choice as soon as I was done. Here’s how I handled it, and how you can move on from making a bad point color choice. Because let’s face it – it happens!

After much deliberation over what color to paint my dining room, I chose Evening Dove by Benjamin Moore – a deep, bold, almost indigo blue.

Once I was done … I hated it.

I put in so much work and pumped it up on social media, so I didn’t want to admit I hated it. It got so much positive feedback on social media! How could it be wrong?

But it was wrong. It made the room feel cave-like. It competed with the wood furniture and doors. And I just didn’t love the color itself.

The good news: it’s relatively easy to fix. Of all the things you can do to your home, . Picking the wrong paint color sucks, but of all the “home decor” mistakes you can make, this is a relatively easy one to fix.

It’s also easier to admit you’re wrong if you did the painting yourself. If you outsourced to a painter (or even your partner or spouse), then you might be tempted to live with your mistake.

But don’t! Get some more samples and try, try again.

Picking a new color

Our new color had to complement the dark green main hall’s Peale Green. I considered some weird colors: light purples, aqua, even some taupes and browns.

I finally landed on sage green. It would allow me to stay with a warm green monotone color scheme, while adding contrast between the two spaces.

These days, I order paint samples from Samplize. I used to get sample cans from my local store, but at $10 a pop, it gets expensive. Peel and stick Samplize samples make it idiot-proof to see color swatches IRL.

Here’s the full list of warm, sage greens from Benjamin Moore I ordered :

• Croquet (AF-455)
• Guilford Green (HC-116)
• Saybrook Sage (HC-114)
• Louisburg Green (HC-113)
• Cypress Green (509)
• Tree Moss (508)

The winner: Tree Moss by Benjamin Moore

Saybrook Sage and Croquet were too blue-toned and cool. Guilford Green was too bright and saturated. Cypress Green and Louisburg Green were too dark. Our winner was Tree Moss by Benjamin Moore – a warm, slightly olive-leaning sage green.

Because I had previously painted the dining room in a flat finish, repainting was a breeze. Flat paint looks nice and is easy to work with, but it scuffs terribly and isn’t easy to clean. Since we have a toddler, a flat finish isn’t a good choice for us anymore.

Painting over a dark color

I always buy paint from a local store, Purcell’s Paints, which carries Benjamin Moore products. Based on their recommendation, I used Benjamin Moore Regal Select paint in an eggshell finish.

The Regal Select delivered full coverage over Evening Dove (which is very dark) in two coats and was a dream to work with. I’m a novice painter and I think it came out looking great.

Last time, I painted dark blue over white. It was difficult to tell where the wall ended and the ceiling began, so cutting in was difficult.

My previous paint job served as a guide for cutting in, so I found it much easier. And since I had bought high-quality paint, I covered most of it on the first pass. I cut in twice to cover some patchiness, but I expected that since I was covering such a dark color.

My preferred painting method

While some people freehand, I prefer to use painter’s tape. Frog Tape (the green one) is a must for me.

I cut in first, and then roll the color on.

This room (which is approximately 12 ft. x 12 ft.) needed two cans of paint: cutting in twice, and rolling twice.

The final result

I took these photos on a partly cloudy day, so the lighting changed as I took photos.

Lessons learned from choosing the wrong paint color

• I prefer using colors in familiar, comforting palettes I know and love already. A sage green dining room is a basic choice, I know. But that’s okay – it makes me happy and I finally feel at ease in this room.
• Paint is NOT easy or cheap to change. You need both time and money to paint – don’t let influencers convince you that it’s “cheap.” Perhaps compared to buying tile or renovating, but in this economy, we need to be realistic. One can of the Benjamin Moore Regal Select runs at about $80. I needed two cans of paint (good paint) and two days of time to do this job.
• I’m not going to repaint my dining room again anytime soon because I am a normal person that doesn’t get paid to do things to my house for content. Tree Moss is here to stay.
• But … using the wrong paint color is not the end of the world! On the spectrum of home design and renovation mistakes, paint color is relatively easy to change.

And just for funzies: an unedited photo. If you look closely, you’ll see the state of our other rooms due to our pantry/kitchen renovation project.

Until next time …