How long does it take paint to show its 'true' color?

[baymom]

I'm painting DC's room. It used to be a very pale sage green and the new color is a pale aqua (bluish-green). I've painted one wall and it looks cold blue, not at all like it does in the can! Will it change in 24 hrs or with a 2nd coat? Is it because of the green underneath? I'm not fond of the cold blue...do I go buy a new color before investing any more time in this project? Has this happened to anyone else? I'm so disappointed--I loved the color it was 'supposed' to be!

[mikala]

Yeah, I have definitely seen paint change over the course of a day or two. Your perception of the shade might also be influenced by the remaining green. We had one blue that looked totally different and too green against the neighboring old ugly beige wall than it did on its own when we covered the beige. I would try to focus just on the wall you painted when you look at it and put any accent pieces near the wall so you can see it in context.

[mikala]

You should also look at your painted wall in various lighting at different times of day. Natural vs artificial light makes a huge difference.

[sarahsthreads]

Well, the second coat *might* help. I wouldn't expect, though, that aqua would look more blue on top of a green undercoat - if anything it would look more green, which a second coat would definitely cure. I have found that paint can look vastly different on the wall than on the paint chip, between covering a larger area, the differences in sheen (most paint chips are flat), the differences in how the light strikes the wall and what kind of light (daylight, tungsten, fluorescent, etc.) you're viewing it in. I've taken to buying a brand of paint that you can get small sample jars and painting a biggish swath of wall and living with it for a few days because I've been disappointed in (and had to live with) bad paint color choices!

The one thing I have noticed is that paint looks entirely different when still wet than when completely dry. But completely dry usually doesn't take more than 2-4 hours (really, whenever the can says you can re-coat.)

Is it possible to test a small area with the second coat before giving up?

Sarah :)

[crl]

I'd do a second coat in a big patch to see if that helps. And I'd definitely wait a full day to let it cure and to see it in different lights.

Catherine

[sarahsthreads]

Your perception of the shade might also be influenced by the remaining green.

This is a really good point as well! Aqua *next to* green will look more blue by comparison. We tend to paint the whole room in one go so I didn't catch the part where you'd only done the one wall.

Sarah :)

[baymom]

Thanks guys! I'll give it one more coat in the am and see what happens. I would have expected it to look more green than blue because of the color underneath, as well. Hadn't thought of my perception being influenced by the adjacent green walls.... The kids both like it (even though I don't, right now) so the other option is to power through it no matter what, since it's their room and they like it! :tongue5: