The Kind Home Blog

Paint advice from the pros.

Color guides, honest process explainers, and answers to the questions Denver homeowners actually ask. Written by the team that paints here every day.

A living room painted in Sherwin Williams Universal Khaki SW 6150
Paint Color Help · January 30, 2026

Sherwin Williams 2026 Color of the Year: Universal Khaki SW 6150

Universal Khaki SW 6150 is a grounding, earthy neutral. What its undertone actually does, and where it works inside and out.
A deep blue front door set into a red brick facade
Paint Color Help · March 28, 2025

Most Popular Front Door Colors

The front door colors homeowners are choosing now, from deep reds and moody blues to natural wood, and how to match one to your exterior.
A painted metal railing on a home exterior
Paint Products and Finishes · March 15, 2025

10 Things to Know Before Painting Metal

Metal needs different prep, different primer and different expectations than wood. The ten things worth knowing before you start.
A home exterior painted in neutral tones and staged for sale
Paint Color Help · March 7, 2025

The Best Paint Colors for Staging and Selling Your Home

The right color makes a house feel welcoming to a stranger; the wrong one loses the sale. Room-by-room colors for staging.
Kitchen cabinets painted in Sherwin Williams Iron Ore SW 7069
Cabinet Painting · September 20, 2024

Top Trending Dark Kitchen Cabinet Colors

Dark cabinets have displaced white as the default upgrade. Iron Ore, Dark Night and Shade Grown, and what each one does in a kitchen.
Kitchen cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore White Dove OC-17
Cabinet Painting · August 28, 2024

Top 10 Benjamin Moore Cabinet Colors

The ten Benjamin Moore cabinet colors our in-house Color Designers reach for most, from White Dove to Onyx, and what each one is actually good for.
A renovated kitchen with painted gray cabinets, marble countertops and a small portable island
Cabinet Painting · July 3, 2024

How Cabinet Color Changes a Small vs Large Kitchen

Light cabinets open a small kitchen up; dark ones give a large one depth. How to pick a cabinet color for the room you actually have.
A designer working through a color palette at a desk
Interior Painting · June 5, 2024

Colors and Techniques That Support Wellbeing at Home

Color changes how a room feels more than almost anything else you can do to it. What the psychology says, and how to use it at home.
A room prepared for interior painting with furniture covered and floors protected
Interior Painting · September 21, 2023

How to Protect Furniture and Floors While Painting

Drop cloths, painter's tape and a bit of sequencing are what stand between a fresh coat of paint and a ruined floor. Here is the method.
A Colorado home exterior painted in an HOA friendly neutral scheme
Exterior Painting · April 28, 2023

5 HOA-Friendly Colorado Exterior Color Schemes

Getting exterior colors past an HOA is its own skill. Here is how to submit them, plus five schemes built to clear approval.
A bathroom visualised with Urbane Bronze SW 7048 walls
Interior Painting · April 7, 2023

5 Paint Colors for a Dark, Moody Bathroom

A bathroom is the lowest-risk room to try a dark color in. Five that work, from Urbane Bronze to a near-black green.
A person wiping down a painted interior wall with a sponge
Paint Products and Finishes · March 16, 2023

Flat vs. Matte Paint

Flat and matte are not the same finish. Here is how they actually differ in sheen, durability, and cleaning, and which one belongs in each room.
A living room with a single accent wall in a deeper color
Interior Painting · March 15, 2023

How to Add Accent Colors in Your Home

Accent colors draw the eye where you want it. How to choose one that works with what is already in the room, and where to put it.
Paint cans and brushes laid out before an interior painting project
Paint Products and Finishes · March 15, 2023

The Pros Set the Record Straight on 8 Common Paint Myths

No, essential oils do not belong in your paint. Eight pieces of DIY advice that circulate widely and are wrong.
A fanned rack of paint color samples
Cabinet Painting · March 2, 2023

Best Paint Colors for a Kitchen with Dark Cabinets

Dark cabinets set the tone for the whole kitchen. Here is how to pick a wall color that balances them instead of fighting them.
A gray painted wall with paint swatches of the best Sherwin Williams gray colors arranged across it
Paint Color Help · February 21, 2023

Best Sherwin Williams Gray Colors

Discover Sherwin Williams' popular gray shades, including Agreeable Gray. From light and airy to bold and rich, find the ideal gray to elevate your space.
A person wiping down a wooden kitchen cabinet door with a cloth
Cabinet Painting · February 6, 2023

7 Easy Ways to Protect Your Kitchen Cabinets

Cabinets are the most expensive surface in most kitchens and the easiest to ruin. Seven habits that keep them looking new for years.
Water beading on the surface of a freshly stained wood deck
Decks and Staining · February 6, 2023

Deck Paint vs. Stain: Which is the Best Choice for Your Deck?

Paint or stain your deck? Here are the real pros and cons of each, and why we recommend stain for almost every deck in Colorado.
Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace OC-65 paint color swatch
Paint Color Help · January 20, 2023

Is Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace a Good White Paint?

Chantilly Lace tops every white paint list. At an LRV of 90, it is also the most likely to blind you. Our honest take, and better options.
Exterior paint color swatches fanned out against a home exterior
Paint Color Help · July 12, 2022

Exterior House Colors to Avoid

The exterior colors that fade fastest, clash with a Colorado landscape, or read wrong at scale, and what to choose instead.
A for sale sign outside a freshly painted home
Cost and Hiring · April 26, 2022

How Much Does Interior Paint Increase Home Value?

Fresh interior paint is one of the cheapest ways to lift a home's value before listing. What the research says, and where it pays off most.
A red brick home with white painted trim and siding
Paint Color Help · March 24, 2022

Best Paint Colors That Complement Red Brick

Red brick is a bright, fixed feature you cannot change. These are the whites, grays and greens that work with it instead of against it.
A man holding a sign reading 100 percent satisfaction guaranteed
Cost and Hiring · February 18, 2022

What Does a House Painting Warranty Cover?

Most painting warranties cover far less than homeowners assume. Here is the difference between a manufacturer and a contractor warranty, and what to ask.
Naval SW 6244 paint swatch held against an orange tiled roof
Paint Color Help · October 9, 2021

Best Paint Colors for Houses with Orange Roofs

An orange roof narrows your options fast. These are the blues, browns, greens, creams and warm grays that work with it, and what to avoid.
Warm white Alabaster SW 7008 trim against a warm toned house body
Paint Color Help · September 24, 2021

Best White Paint Colors for Trim from Sherwin Williams

Sherwin Williams has over 48 whites. You need two: one warm, one cool. Here is how to tell which your house wants.
Colonnade Gray SW 7641 paint swatch shown as an exterior body color
Paint Color Help · September 17, 2021

Top Exterior Color Combinations

Ten three-color exterior schemes our color experts reach for, five light and five dark, with body, trim and accent already worked out.
A Highlands Ranch home exterior painted in an HRCA approved neutral scheme
Exterior Painting · August 20, 2021

The Best Approved Highlands Ranch HOA Color Schemes

HRCA offers 42 approved exterior schemes for Highlands Ranch Golf Club homes. These are the ten our color consultants reach for most.
Water beading and pooling on the surface of a stained deck
Decks and Staining · August 13, 2021

Should You Stain Underneath Your Deck?

Staining the underside of a deck sounds like extra protection. It is the opposite, and here is exactly why it traps water and rots the boards.
A white and blue Denver home exterior painted by Kind Home Painting
Cost and Hiring · July 31, 2021

Top Painting Companies in the Denver Metro Area

We are not the only painters in Denver. Here are the other companies worth getting a quote from, and how to compare them properly.
Aerial view of a tan painted stucco home
Exterior Painting · July 9, 2021

Everything You Need to Know About Painting Stucco

Stucco is porous, which changes how you test colors, which sheen to use, and how the paint has to go on. What is different, and why.
Comfort Gray SW 6205 paint swatch shown as a Tallyn's Reach exterior scheme
Exterior Painting · July 3, 2021

Top 10 Sherwin Williams HOA Paint Schemes for Tallyn's Reach

Ten pre-approved Sherwin Williams schemes for Tallyn's Reach in Aurora, all available in Emerald and Emerald Rain Refresh.
A two story brick home painted white
Paint Products and Finishes · June 11, 2021

The 4 Best Paints for Painting Brick

Brick is porous, permanent to paint, and unforgiving of the wrong product. These are the four we trust, and what each one is best at.
A stained wood deck in sunshine with two chairs
Decks and Staining · June 5, 2021

The Best Stain Colors for Decks

Which deck stain type suits your deck's condition, the most popular colors in each, and how often you actually need to restain in Colorado.
A couple holding hands and smiling in front of their yellow painted home
Paint Color Help · May 7, 2021

Best Yellow Exterior House Paint Color

Yellow is the hardest exterior color to get right. Here is which yellows can actually be mixed into a good exterior paint, and which to avoid.
A blue and white Victorian home exterior painted by Kind Home Painting
Paint Products and Finishes · April 16, 2021

How to Pick the Right Paint Sheen

Sheen names are not standardised across brands, which is why the choice is confusing. Here is how to pick one for an exterior, and the one case for flat.
Farrow and Ball Ammonite shown next to its Sherwin Williams dupe, Windfresh White SW 7628
Paint Color Help · March 3, 2021

Top 10 Farrow and Ball Dupes

Farrow and Ball's ten most popular colors, matched to Sherwin Williams equivalents you can get locally for less.
A can of Sherwin Williams Emerald Rain Refresh exterior acrylic latex paint
Paint Products and Finishes · February 27, 2021

Is Sherwin Williams Emerald Rain Refresh a Good Paint?

Emerald Rain Refresh has self-cleaning technology that washes dirt off in the rain. Here is what that actually does and when it is worth it.
A graphic comparing Sherwin Williams Duration and Emerald exterior paints side by side
Paint Products and Finishes · February 19, 2021

Sherwin Williams Emerald vs Duration

Two of Sherwin Williams' best exterior paints, compared on coverage, flexibility, and dirt resistance, and which one we reach for in Colorado.
Sherwin Williams Emerald Designer Edition colors in the Form and Function palette
Paint Products and Finishes · February 1, 2021

Sherwin Williams Emerald Designer Edition Review

200 new colors and purer whites, available only in Sherwin Williams' top interior paint. Our review of the Designer Edition collection.
A Highlands Ranch home exterior in an HOA approved neutral color scheme
Exterior Painting · July 30, 2020

How to Submit Paint Colors to HRCA

Highlands Ranch requires HOA approval to repaint, even if you keep your existing colors. Here is the submission process, step by step.
A homeowner reviewing financing paperwork for a painting project
Cost and Hiring · July 8, 2020

Can You Finance a Paint Job?

Yes, and there are three usual routes: a HELOC, a fixed home equity loan, or contractor financing. How each works, and the trap in same-as-cash terms.
Five Sherwin Williams white paint swatches side by side, labeled Alabaster, Pure White, Natural Choice, Egret White, and Eider White
Paint Color Help · May 28, 2020

What is the Most Popular Sherwin Williams White Paint

Discover the best Sherwin Williams white paint colors. From Alabaster to Pure White, our guide makes choosing the perfect white easy and stress-free.
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