THAT'S NOT YELLOW!!!

Today is a short post.  Yeah, I know.  None of my posts are EVER short.  Well, mark this date on your calendar because it will be of historical significance as being the day I wrote a short piece for my blog!  Hahahaha  Now onto more important things.

Have you ever shopped from a catalog or online and found the most perfect (insert name of item here)?? For the sake of argument, let's say a comforter set like the one pictured below.

Nice shade of yellow and gorgeous brown accents.  Love it right?  So you order it.  Not wanting to waste time, you begin the room transformation before the comforter gets to you.

You've painted your walls a wonderful shade of brown that according to the picture above, will match the set perfectly.  While you wait for your comforter to arrive, you've picked up a few accessory items to really make that yellow pop.  Maybe even a brown shag area rug and some fun yellow throw pillows!!  You are ALL ready!  All you have to do is wait until the comforter set arrives and then throw it on the bed for a finished, polished and extraordinarily marvellous bedroom!

Well, not so fast.......because when you finally get the comforter set you notice the "yellow" is actually a gold and the "brown" is actually more of a burgundy mixed with brown.  Nothing about this comforter set matches anything that you either bought or painted in your room.  As a matter of fact, it kinda clashes....sigh....

The fun part begins when you have to figure out exactly how on earth the people working at the factory ever got this huge comforter, bed skirt and shams crammed into this obviously too small plastic envelope.

Then you ship it back and begin the search for the perfect yellow and brown comforter set - all over again.

My point to all of this?  Pictures whether they be in print or on the internet, almost never reflect the actual colors.  Paint chips almost never reflect the actual colors.  Paint chips come pretty darn close and sometimes pictures - but never exactly.  That's why it's always better to shop in person - but if you can't - get a sample of the fabric if possible, before you order the comforter set or curtains or throw.  It's always better to get a sample jar of the paint before you splurge for enough to paint the entire room.

There are many things that will alter the color.  The way the light reflects onto it.  The way the item reflects the light.  The amount of light in the room.  The items sitting next to it will alter the shade.  That's why I always tell folks to never ever have an all white bathroom because no matter how hard you try, there will always be varying shades of white in that room.  The toilet will never ever be exactly the shade of white that the tub is and the tub will never ever be exactly the same shade of white that the tiles are and when you mix those varying shades of white together what you get is dull, dingy and sometimes even a dirty look.

My advice is to always (in the case of paint) get a sample jar.  Go home and put some paint on all 4 sides of the room.  Use every last drop in the sample jar.  Then live with it for a few days taking note as to how it looks at different times of the day/night and with different lighting.

Do the same with fabric if possible.  Tack a sample of the fabric up in the room as close to the area in which it will be used as possible and then see what it looks like.

What to do in order to prevent all this chaos from happening?  Buy your comforter set first.  Before you even think about the paint for the walls or the accessories or the curtains.  Then take one of the shams with you when you go to pick out your paint color and accessories.  Then you will know that once you are finished, your room will be perfection.

But that's just me.