The crummy weather this weekend got Kelly and me thinking about doing the indoor jobs that need doing. A large number of jobs involve painting rooms, so we headed down to our local hardware store for some paint samples.
Whenever I walk up to that wall of paint samples, my mind goes blank. I just can’t pick out any colors for a project – they all start to look the same! Fortunately, there was a couple behind us who were staring at a newly-installed kiosk. They were painting their house in pixels using Lowe’s Virtual Painter. This tool is the answer to my painting funk. I bought the last CD in the rack for $6.
The software lets you overlay a picture of your existing room with whatever paint you’d like to experiment with. You can then see what your room will look like in the shade you’ve chosen. Nothing makes choosing paint easier than seeing that color in your room with your things in it.
In our last house we wound up painting one room twice because we changed our mind about the color. You can do this instantly using the software. You can click through the rainbow. Very cool.
Its an impressive way to test-drive colors without the work, and a truly practical use for “Photoshop”-type technology. If you’re thinking of doing any painting, get this CD and check out the finished product before you lift a brush.
Now we just need to upgrade to the Pro version, which does the actual painting. I guess that version was sold out.