Paint issues...

Does ANYONE have as much problems picking a paint color as we do?? Seriously, how do people pick paint colors without getting a sample can (some places will only do a quart as the smallest...)? First of all, we picked the (hideous) yellow almost 3 years ago, and now we've been trying to find a new paint color since last summer. After my LAST attempt last night (Sea Gull Grey and Fossil Grey by ICI Paints), we're going back to my original selection, Portobello by Sico Paints.  Here is a sample of what one of our walls currently looks like. And I'm telling you, no paint color looks the same on ANY wall it is on (about 6 places throughout the house).  As Portobello looks the MOST similar on every wall, and looks decent in almost every type of light, we're done...we've had it with paint selection, and we're making a decision (when I first picked it up - from a friend who put it in their basement - my hubby thought it was too 'bleh' and bland).  I wanted something neutral and soft (and I do like greys, but nothing actually looked "grey" on the wall (they were either shades of purple, or blue, or green.... nothing like what the paint swatches looked like). It's amazing how lighting can change a paint color, isn't it? At first, my hubby thought it was the brand of paint we were using (General Paint - as I can get a discount there), but after trying a variety of brands (Para, Sico, ICI, Cloverdale, etc), he finally had to accept that it wasn't the paint, but the lighting in our house...

{image via my iPhone -- the colors are SLIGHTLY distorted due to the flash} 

{image via Sico}