Alternate cheeky title: Gimme Some Moore — yes, a Busta Rhymes nod. That song was my go-to back in junior year. Speaking of jams, our new nail gun has been a favorite around the house lately. John is itching to tackle the crown molding installation this weekend, assuming I don’t hog it first. The tools need to acclimate a bit more to the house, but soon the molding and I will be well acquainted.
While the crown molding gets settled (and while I admire it from afar), we’re excited to share our 2013 Benjamin Moore paint picks. We’re a little late to post them—thanks to everyone who asked!—but we didn’t want to rush. We carefully chose the tones we loved until we landed on the final 32. Think of it as a color wedding: thirty-two matches made in paint heaven.
Some of the hues in this collection are tried-and-true shades we’ve already used, some are long-time favorites we’ve been eyeing, and a few are colors that appeared in our book, so we’ve seen them in real rooms. We’ve been using Benjamin Moore colors for years and started buying their paint in 2011, beginning with our office built-ins, so curating a collection for them was a dream come true. Being asked to select 32 new colors for 2013 was a blast—like a creative side project that also helps pay the bills, only with paint chips instead of spreadsheets.
Our selection process was simple in theory and delightfully intense in practice: we spread out hundreds of paint swatches—yes, hundreds—and narrowed them down to the 32 we felt best represented a balanced, useful palette. Laying swatches on a neutral background made it easier to see how colors relate, so we could be sure the collection included deep tones, bold options, reliable neutrals, and soft serene shades that weren’t too bright or too gray.
The goal of this curated collection is straightforward. If you’re overwhelmed by a wall of endless swatches at the paint store, we hope this smaller set of favorites helps simplify the decision. We also sprinkled a few practical ideas throughout the collection to spark inspiration—ways to use specific colors in rooms, trim, or built-ins—so you’ll have a running start on projects you might actually want to begin right away.
Practical tips from our pick process: cut out individual swatches and lay them on a neutral surface to evaluate how they play together. That method helped us balance the palette and identify undertones that can be easy to miss when colors sit in isolation. If you’ve got a neutral sofa or a calm backdrop, try arranging swatches on it on a quiet afternoon instead of scrolling through TV. It’s a surprisingly satisfying creative session.
We’d love to hear about your own color discoveries. Have you used any paint shades recently that you absolutely adore? Do you save swatches in a folder, pin them to a board, or keep a digital color file? Tell us how you track color ideas and what systems help you finalize your choices.
Finally, a quick note: we recently wrapped up a giveaway and picked a winner. If you’re curious whether it was you, check the giveaway post for the announcement.
Psst—We picked a winner for this week’s giveaway, so you can find out if it’s you by checking the giveaway post.