Decorating and Design - Need the match a name to a shade

I see the shade everywhere - on TV shows, sitcoms, etc. but I can't find it, or what I think it is, in the stores.

On that show "Sell This House" they used a color that looked real close - it was called "Terra Cotta Iced Tea". I can't find that in either big box (& I've seen Tanya Memme using Behr from time to time) or the Sherwin Williams store.

It's a goldish/brown type of shade and I've seen it on the Bernie Mac show and George Lopez show and countless others. I'm going nuts trying to find the right shading and have stacks of paint cards and more qt. cans of paint than I've ever owned in my life. Nothing is right.

Does anyone have any idea of what I'm talking about (as far as the shade of paint...). [insert smiley of guy banging his head against the brick wall HERE]

I don't watch those shows, so I have no idea what the colo is called nor who makes it.

However, don't try to pick a color off the tv. Go into any electronics store and look at the banks of tvs. Do any two have the same shades? There are too many varables effecting the true color.

There are other paint stores. You should have stores that sell Benjamin Moore, Pratt & Lambert, perhaps MAB.

the odds of "Terra Cotta Iced Tea" being the perfect color for your room are slim! if you have an "idea" of what this color is, great. do as you've done, with the paint cards & samples. you know what the color is that you want. figure out what the problem is with the closest-to-being-right one. too yellow? too brown? too peachy? keep at it, you'll get it right eventually. it needs to go with YOUR wood tones & carpet & anything else you have. not the stuff the person on the tv show had.

it might help to ask at a paint store for The Big Book of paint chips. i saw one once at Home Depot. it was like a bible of every color under the rainbow, with pure shades & tints of each color. maybe you can find it that way. then buy the smallest amount & paint a big poster board or even a wall. it has to look right in the light that particular room gets. the same paint won't look the same in a north room of your home as it does in a south room.

Behr has a color called "iced tea".....is that it? or is the name really "terra cotta iced tea"? did they say that specifically??

most TV show websites give details about the products used.

I understand about matching a "shown on TV" color and also the aspects of staging, lighting, etc. Most of those shows have enhancement lighting scattered about.

As far as matching what I already have - I'm willing to work around the color, if need be. I like it that much! You know how it is, looking at chip after chip of colors - you can get batty after awhile.

I just wish they would sell something less than quarts. A pint would work out - dollar-wise.

I'm dealing with the Sherm-Will store now and at least they're willing to knock the price down to a more reasonable amount. I'm sure it's from knowing that I'm planning a whole-house paint job. I'm getting color-closer with them, so far.

I think my biggest handicap is not using proper terminology with the paint guy in trying to describe my needs, when it comes to shifting shades, etc. . And then, of course, I get a bit batty from all the shades I try.

But like you said - keep at it and it'll show up.

Oh - Annette - yes, "Terra Cotta Ice(d) Tea" was the color they called it.

In my kitchen, the P.O. had a ragged on looking finish and the color combo was great but the technique was terrible - uneven, splotchy, etc. I've just about given up on trying to find a compromising one-color shade for that re-do. Just as well as I think I would like that Tuscan style finish in there.

So much to learn...

there are a couple of paint stores that sell tiny little samples for about 3 bucks each. i think one is Benjamin Moore. another is Ace Hardware.

good luck.

you might take a look at www.behr.com " Iced Tea 230D-6"

hope this helps