Paint. When you hear/see that word, what do you think of? An endless possibility of color? A total pain? Overwhelming options? Excitement over the next project you've got planned?
According to industry professionals, you should pick a paint color based on your inspiration for a room, not based on what looks best under the {amazing} lighting at your local Lowe's. Also, there is a general recommendation that you pick a color based on an item that you plan to put into the room- if you have selected fabric for your new sofa, build your paint color around it! If the idea of choosing color leaves you with lots of anxiety and you have the resources to do so, you can also hire a professional colorist... they exist!!
Anyway, I digress. I had the opportunity to go through the color conundrum myself while picking colors for the den. When our house was built, wood paneling was IN, IN, IN and honey, it is everywhere in that house!! Thankfully, the paneling is beautiful and sophisticated and adds a ton of unique detail and depth to what might have been an otherwise boring room. For 34 years not one speck of paint was put on these gorgeous wood details, and trust me when I say that I had a panic attack or two over covering the walls with paint. What if the paint goes against the personality of the house? What if I hate it? What if I spend all of these resources covering this gorgeous wood with paint... and want WOOD again? *cue panic attack and all sorts of doubt!!!* Just to give you a visual of what I'm talking about, this is the den at selling time.
Wood paneling, EVERYWHERE. So beautiful, but so BROWN! I knew, deep in my heart, it had to be painted. I couldn't live with it like this forever. I wanted to be able to, but just couldn't. So... after several weeks of living in the brown just to be absolutely sure... I took the plunge. I told my amazing father-in-law, who has done ALL of the painting in our home, to go for it. Prime a wall and let's get some color in here! yeek!
I knew I made the right choice when I saw the primer going up. The wood details were still there, but the room exploded with opportunity for personality.
The magnificent painter himself!!
Tester colors
So, here's where I reveal that I am completely human and not in any way perfect when it comes to choosing color. I made my father-in-law (FIL) give me a few testers. Four, to be exact. He painted them in nice healthy swatches on a wall and gave me time to make my carefully thought out selection. I asked friends. I asked my husband. I asked my mom. I asked my dog. I asked myself! And finally, I PICKED A COLOR. Benjamin Moore- Silver Gray. I was so excited to see it on the wall... it was going to be perfect and beautiful and make my life complete. Right?? Below is what I came home to.
Wait... what?
See that prominent glass of wine in the picture? (Love me some CB2, ya'll!!) I needed it. I walked into the house and my heart sank. The color is gorgeous, but I want this room to be a place where I welcome friends and family and I wanted the color to encourage them to sit, relax and take a load off. The first thing I thought when I walked into the room and saw this color was... nursery. Beautiful, but just not the message I wanted this room to send.
So, I cried, texted a confidant, asked her opinion, talked to my sweet husband, figured out a plan B, and picked a new color. This time, we went with a color called Rockport Gray. I saw it on the color chart and said to myself, "This is the color. You will like it. It will be THE color you wished for."
I told my FIL and he, of course, made my second dream a reality. As a result, this is what we ended up with. This is an iphone picture that does not do the color justice... to me it looks like army green in this picture. In reality, it is a rich color that makes you just stop a little when you walk into the room. I've gotten several questions asking: "Is it gray? Is it sage? What color IS it?"
Let's keep it real- this was two months after being in the house!
The beauty of paint is that it really does look very different under different lighting. This color changes personality with the time of day and with the amount of lighting placed on it. It has this quality of making you feel a bit enveloped in it- calm and serene during the day and warm and inviting at night.
In the interest of keeping it real, I'll be showing you in-progress pictures as we go- none of our rooms are fully complete with decor and accessories and I want you to see the work in progress! So, there it is- our den as it stands. Till next time...
Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment