You’re at the hardware store, 8 gray paint samples in hand, trying to decide which one is going to look the best once you actually put it on your wall. You finally decide on one, grab the supplies and head home to start painting. 45 minutes later you realize this shade of gray looks purple with the lighting in your kitchen. BACK TO THE HARDWARE STORE!

Sound familiar? Picking the right paint color can feel downright impossible and it never seems to look like the Pinterest photo you based it on. Well I’m here to help with a little trick I learned so you can spend more time poolside and less time in the paint aisle. Here’s my *perfect paint color* hack!

First, pickup a white poster board. Narrow down those 8 paint colors to your top 2 or 3. Then ask to purchase a small sample size of each. When you get home, paint a few shades of each color on the poster board. Check how they look compared to the rest of the room, the light at different times of day and see how they look at different angles.

Once you’ve been able to see the paint color at different times of day, in natural light and in the light given off from light fixtures after dark, you’ll be able to see which shade is going to look best in your space! Have you tried this before? Do you have any painting tips you’ve learned over the years? Tell me in the comments!