As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, Molly M. from Charlotte emailed me a while ago with the following question -

Hi Traci,
I read a post you had written about paint color, specifically how the iPhone has an app allowing you to color match by simply taking a picture of a paint color. My question is this... I'm trying to figure out the exact paint and trim color that B.D. Jeffries used in their new Morrison Blvd. store in Charlotte. When I asked, even the store clerks said they didn't know. So, would using this app be the best way to determine this? If not, any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

After some exhaustive research, here’s my answer to Molly!

Thanks so much for writing, Molly!  I love getting questions from my blog readers, so I really appreciate your email.  Unfortunately, you inadvertently gave a great example of an instance in which the iPhone applications (either Ben Color Capture or Sherwin-Williams Color Snap) really do not work at all!  As anyone who has visited the B.D. Jeffries store in the Shops at Morrison can attest, the main wall color is very unique shade that seems to vary between blue, green and gray depending on the light.  The iPhone applications only work to the extent that the photograph you use in the application accurately represents the color you are trying to achieve.  I found it impossible to take a photograph – either on my iPhone or using a good quality digital camera (and then importing that photo into my iPhone) – that accurately reflected the wall color in a way that would allow either of the iPhone applications to give an accurate color match.  I also tried using my Benjamin Moore Pocket Palette – a portable spectrophotometer (the more sophisticated and non-portable versions of which are used in Lowe’s, Home Depot and every major paint chain to match colors to an existing sample) that has generally given me very accurate results.  As you can imagine, the advantage of the Pocket Palette is that it works directly from the surface of the wall, fabric, or other material.  That means you don’t have to worry about a color being “lost in translation” when photographed.  Interestingly, however, the Pocket Palette did not give me an accurate result either … which meant to me that the B.D. Jeffries wall color was not a standard Benjamin Moore color.  That left three options – that the wall color was custom-mixed by Benjamin Moore, was a standard color from another paint manufacturer/brand, or was custom-mixed by another paint manufacturer/brand.   

Now I was curious … and maybe a teensy bit frustrated.  So I decided to “impersonate” the Designer Detective and see what I could find out.  Let me add here that the “real” Designer Detective is one of my blogger friends Shay Sampson – and she’s just as beautiful in person as her picture – and I highly recommend you add her Designer Detective blog to your must-read list!

At this point, Molly and I emailed back and forth a little more, and she shared with me that the wall color in the previous B.D. Jeffries store – which was located in Phillips Place – was a custom-mixed Duron color.  That piece of information immediately made me think about the Millenium Collection, a wonderful color collection used by Duron years ago and since discontinued.  Now here is where it gets confusing …  Duron sold the Millenium Collection to California Paints … so it became the California Paints Millenium Collection.  California Paints also discontinued the Millenium Collection … so you cannot get sample paint chips anywhere.  If you have a Millenium Collection fan deck (either Duron or California Paints, because they are identical), however, you can ask to have a specific color made.  Of course, the original Duron Millenium Collection was mixed using Duron colorants … which, because Sherwin-Williams acquired Duron – are no longer available.  So, even if you have the color made up – by Duron, California Paints, or any other paint retailer – it may still vary slightly from the “original” Duron version because the colorants used are different.  Whew.  I’m exhausted already.  Still following me??  These facts also mean that the formula for the wall color in the previous B.D. Jeffries store is meaningless, as the “new” Duron has no way to translate a formula using the old colorants to a formula using its current (Sherwin-Williams) colorants.  In other words, to all of those folks who got the paint formula for the previous B.D. Jeffries store (and I know there were a lot of you), I hope you’ve already had it mixed up … because, if you haven’t, you are out of luck. 

Fortunately, I am the proud owner of a California Paints Millenium fan deck … which, now that I own one after seriously a year of perusing eBay, I intend to never let out of my possession!  So I took both of my Benjamin Moore fan decks (Color Preview and Classic Colors), my California Paints Millenium Collection fan deck, and my Sherwin-Williams fan deck to B.D. Jeffries to see what I could come up with. Yes, I’m pretty sure the B.D. Jeffries staff thought I was insane.  I think I was in yoga clothes at this point, so it was hardly an impressive sight. 

OK, to fast-forward this painfully long process just a bit, I had a quart of each of the closest matches made up over at Eastway Paint, painted sample boards (I do them basically like Maria at Colour Me Happy does), and hauled them back to B.D. Jeffries.  At this point, I had nailed the trim color, but I still wasn’t completely satisfied with the wall color.  So I marched myself back to Eastway Paint and asked Frank to tweak my existing colors – making one a little bluer, one a little grayer, and then mixing the two colors 50-50.  I painted sample boards again and went back to B.D. Jeffries.  Fortunately, they still had not called security to deal with the crazy stalker lady.  Ha ha ha!  And, after all of that, finally I was happy.  So here’s the rest of my answer to Molly. 

Molly, the trim color is almost certainly California Paints 8775D, Metal Shavings.  The wall color is still not exact, which might be due to the unavailability of the old Duron colorants.  That being said, I think I’ve gotten really close, so I hope you are happy!  The best approximation of the wall color that I was able to find seems to be California Paints 8613M (Shenandoah) made a little bit grayer by the addition of 1/2 BV.  (Don’t worry, Frank knows what that means.)  Benjamin Moore 472 (Aganthus Green) is also pretty close, so Molly, I’m going to send you all three of these sample boards so you can judge for yourself.  Happy painting … and I’d love to see a photo if you use these colors in your own home!   

Do you have a burning design question?  Email me; I’d love to do more question-and-answer posts.  Heck, I’ll take your non-design questions, too, but no guarantees that you’ll get a high quality answer to those!  Ha ha!   

Photo from the B.D. Jeffries Facebook fan page

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I absolutely love it when I see fabric, wallcovering, accessories, whatever in a high end setting that I can identify as not being from a high end source.  Don't get me wrong - I don't care about the price tag.  If you have an eye for design, you can find fabulous things at any price level.  It's just that - when I've spotted something inexpensive or widely available that is placed in a pricey or exclusive room - I feel as though I am in on a little secret!  I blogged earlier about the Southern Spring Home and Garden Show.  What I didn't tell you is that I went to the show with The Bachelorette.  We still have a few things to do to "finish" her renovation, but we are taking our time, mainly due to budget considerations.  Anyway, in one of the designer rooms, The Bachelorette spotted a couple of green recycled glass jugs ... just what she'd been looking for to add some color to her kitchen.  Well, I'm not shy about these sorts of things, so I just picked those jugs right up and flipped them over ... where I found the item tag and SKU.  Where were they from, you ask?  The tag proclaimed them to be Tar-jay circa 2009!  I thought that was hilarious.  Again, I couldn't care less that the jugs are from Target.  Target has done as much or more to democratize design as any mass retailer ... and you'll find many a Target item in my own home.  But seriously why didn't the designer take the tags off?   In my mind, that is a shameful lack of attention to detail.  But maybe I'm the only one who cares about that sort of thing.  

Well, that's not the only "secret" I've busted in the last few days.  The Bachelorette was at B.D. Jeffries, one of my favorite stores, to purchase some lamps that I had selected for her console.  The lamps are totally fantastic - I'll share a photo soon!   Anyway, while she was there, she saw a large swath of fabric laid out ... identical to the fabric I chose for her dining room chair cushions.  Well, B.D. Jeffries is not an inexpensive store ... but the fabric we bought came from Robyn's Fabrics and cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 per yard.  How about that!  It really is a fabulous fabric - if we hadn't bought the last of it, I think I would have bought some just to keep on hand - but isn't that funny. 

To digress for a minute, I really am a fan of Robyn's Fabrics.  It is a large store, open to the public, with nice fabrics in stock at reasonable prices.  While I love to shop the huge selection at the trade-only showrooms that I frequent, Robyn's is great for a client on a budget and in a hurry!  

But I can even top that B.D. Jeffries story ... I was reading the April issue of Elle Decor last night.  It was a good one, and I will definitely have more to say about it.

I'll often give my shelter mags a quick read when they first arrive, and then wait until later to really pore over and break down every detail.  So as I was flipping through, an advertisement for Julian Chichester caught my attention.  I've never specified any Julian Chichester pieces, but I hope to do so soon because they really do have great style.  But what caught my attention was the fabric on the chair.  Darned if that chair is not covered in another fabric that I also picked up at Robyn's Fabrics for The Bachelorette!  Check it out below on the Julian Chichester chair.  

Isn't that beyond hilarious?  We didn't end up choosing that fabric - it just didn't work with what we have - but it is really very sharp.  So here's the morale of these stories. 

(1) Remove all tags. 

(2) If you need an in-stock fabric with a high end feel sans the high end price tag, head to Robyn's.

(3) I am very, very observant.       

PS - Sorry, the green recycled glass jugs aren't available online or I'd provide the link, but they are currently in Charlotte area Target stores in the home accessories section (the one that changes seasonally, near the picture frames and floral items).  Oh, and Julian Chichester has some great items on closeout right now.  I'm lusting after the faux shagreen bedside table.  Yum.  Email me if you'd like more info!