I’d like to say after throwing every last dollar from the move into removing wallpaper and painting, I’d nailed the paint colors. But I absolutely did not. That’s what happens when you’re hurriedly pulling paint chips by day, and sampling them after dark. (If you want to skip YEARS ahead, here’s our eventual Coastal French Paint Colors article).

I was a little too taken with Benjamin Moore’s Williamsburg collection. At the store, I couldn’t decide if I should bail on my coastal Connecticut – Frenchy dream, and instead create a truly Connecticut colonial (as this house on the edge of the woods might dictate). Blame all the brown still around for my confusion (So.Much.Dark.Trim.) But there was one winner in this first go-round of paint colors … Bruton White.

Let’s clear up any confusion off the bat — Bruton White is a chalky gray. You will pair a true white with it on trim — in our case, Harwood Putty. Bruton white is soft and light. It is also clean and neutral … no undertones. We used it in our young boys’ bathroom and their bedrooms as a counterpoint to bold colors.

Here are the verdicts on all my paint colors in that first round:

Harwood Putty – a limewash-inspired white we’ve used on ALL trim work (and eventually our home’s exterior). I have a lot more to say about it here.

Ludwell White – not a win (way too yellow for the long haul):

Ocean Air – livable, but too minty for our kitchen:

A la Mode – the perfect off-white with lavender undertones for my Provence-inspired (albeit hideous-at-the-time) powder room:

Tucker Orange – LOVED it for our toddler nursery accent wall:

As the years went on, we painted more and more. Here’s the Coastal French Paint Colors palette that emerged. If you want to keep following the makeover in the order we completed it, Painting Over the Wood Paneling is next!