Saturday, January 17, 2009

The Great Paint Debaucle and an Award

**Warning: bad flash photography ahead!**


Have you ever been so tired of looking at paint and paint samples and colors on your walls that you feel like dumping every quart you own into a big bucket and mixing it up and painting your walls that color? Welcome to my world.


It started off honest enough. "Let's find a wonderful golden neutral" says I. "It will be so easy. I have it narrowed down to 2 colors. No problem." "No, you know this is not how this works" says patient husband. "You know you will go through 15 quarts before you find the right color, and NO, I do not think you should aim for Monday to paint. You will not find a color you like by then." {emphatic and irritated} I say "I will too. I have been doing this for years now and I know what I am doing." After all, I had studied these colors in different types of light, different times of day. I'd googled the heck out of them and discovered very popular colors and looked at oodles of pictures of other people's homes determined I could copy that look into my home. Shouldn't be too hard reasoned I.



Famous last words. Golden and neutral became icky greenish and baby poop and goldenrod and weird orange creamsicle. Then it morphed into bad tan and oatmeal and then one night I declared we should give up on neutrals and paint the room green.



2 quarts of famous green paint {Grassland and Svelte Sage by SW} used by so many infamous bloggers later, and I declared green out. Too dark, too cold, too something. Back to the goldy-neutral-nightmare. Sigh.


So here I sit. I have now custom mixed my own colors, thankyouverymuch. I think I have an idea what color I am going to paint my foyer and living room/dining room. Take a wild guess.
Hmmmm... could it be the color in my family room that I posted about here? O.M.G. Do not tell me I bought 9 quarts of paint and custom mixed those 9 into 23 more colors only to discover that I should have tried the color I had in the neighboring room???

Out of pure spite I am mixing that color with some of the other samples I spent too much $$$ on to make a slightly different shade just so I can say Malton wasn't the answer to my problems after all.


I think Benjamin needs to hook up with Ralph and Martha and Sherwin and step in and do an intervention here and start an HGTV show about paint psychos. For now, any blank spot of white wall is sure to fall victim to a new color concocted by moi, and family members are now blocking my calls, refusing to drive over and give me their opinion anymore. I'll let you know when I am in the clear and out of the scary paint woods.

In other news, I was so happy to receive this darling award from Wendy over at The Shabby Nest. Thank you Wendy, it made my day!!!



23 comments:

Amy said...

OMG I am going through the same thing here. Trying to find that perfect vanilla creamy color that is a great backdrop for everything. Not too yellow, or pink or green or grey. I have been at it for 2 weeks and DH is getting annoyed. I am leaning towards BM Palace White but can't commit. I am surfing tonight trying to get some inspiration too. Oh... Woe is us.... Good Luck!

Kari said...

Hi ShabbyGrace! Thanks for coming to visit and posting on my blog. I know there are lots of terrible things happening to people throughout the world and I should be grateful that my current headache is just picking paint, but it truly is a project and a headache. I wish you well and would love it if you share what you decide upon.

Dianne said...

Try Ben Moore...Bleeker Beige. it's perfect!

Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality said...

Hi, Kari, I totally feel for you. There's nothing harder than picking a paint color sometimes. I've gone through it with greens & blues. Luckily, my main color in my house (Whole Wheat) worked the first time & I didn't have to rethink that one, but the others sure have been harder.

Hope you get it figured out & I'm sure you will. It's amazing how light can change the whole thing from room to room.

Tracy said...

What a nightmare! Well, I like the one above the botanical print, but I'm sure it looks completely different in person. Photographs well though! I was just looking at paint chips the other night at Home Depot, picked up a couple of pretty samples from one display and walked to another - the lighting was different and the samples I thought I really liked looked horrendous! I'm sure I will be buying 20 quarts to try out when the time comes to paint.

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

Oh you are too funny. I've never understood how people can buy paint without buying the sample first and trying it out.

Maisy said...

I like them all...especially the blue/green color.
Good luck with that. I always make such a big deal out of paint color and to be honest...worst case scenario is you don't like it and you paint over it. It's not like hanging wallpaper.
Keep us posted!

Screaming Meme said...

I love it! :) I can't wait to see it all done...One question...Is that a real picture of you on the side bar? Gorgeous! Hi, It's Meme from Screaming Meme...I wanted to personally invite you to a blog I started called Project: {Create A Home}....I started it to bring creative and inspiring women together to help each other reach for our dreams and learn to be the best women we can be....in 2009! I hope to see you there...if you want to contribute as a writer...Let me know! :) And I still have Screaming Meme...It is going to be a DIY 2009 year over there! I look forward to getting to know you! Meme

Kari said...

Hi Meme and thank you for the invitation! I will stop by and check it out for sure. Yes, that is a real picture of me. But it's on my wedding day so naturally I look better than I do every day. I just can't take a decent pic of myself and my husband is inept with the camera. I had that one on file, so I used it. But thank you for the nice compliment!

Scooper said...

I recently saw this post at A Soft Place to Land. Maybe a limited but perfectly selected palette will help.

http://asoftplacetoland-kimba.blogspot.com/2009/01/im-going-to-tell-you-secret-shhhhhhh.html

Good luck! It's a scary paint world out there.

Anonymous said...

Try Martha Stewart's Spun Sugar, available at Lowe's. (MS 120)

My walls looked exactly like yours and that is the color I chose. Not too golden, not too brown, looks good in low light and sunlight...

Good luck!

Inspired Kara said...

This is SOOOOO me :)

Anonymous said...

I am laughing so hard at your post as I have 15 quarts of blue sitting in my basement because I couldn't find one I liked. Love your blog. Tomorrow (1/20) there will be an award for you on my blog.

Renee

Kari said...

Thank you all for yourc comments and support. Here's the funny thing: I think I found a good compromise (hubby wants to paint *everything* green, no way. I found a great tan/gold color in my garage repertoire from the *last* time I went through this (19 months ago when we bought the place) and it turns out it's perfect. I also will be using green to appease hubby. I'll let you know when I decide exactly how and where each color will be used, but I think I am getting rid of my Spicy Cayenne dining wall... time for a change. Thanks again everyone for your input and for laughing along with my self-inflicted melodrama. You're the best!!!

Lisa said...

Hi Kari,

I happened to stumble across your blog while on search for Heather Chadduck inspiration. I love stopping in to see what you are up! I am going through the same thing here in Washington. Trying to find the "Perfect" warm creamy beige color for the inside of my cottage. I currently have Kilz "Muted Gold" in my living room & entry. I want something softer. I will check out a few colors that I see suggested. Good Luck! Your friend In Washington!

Anonymous said...

I had to smile as I read your post. This will be me in a couple of weeks. I start with the paint chips taped up all over the wall and then move onto paint splotches. I think I'll go to Sherwin Williams this time and do the "rent a quart" route. I'll check back to see how it turns out. Sue

Julie said...

I hate hate hate picking out paint colors ...you have my sympathy!!! I am out visiting new blogs today and just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed yours!

Kari said...

Hi Lisa, Bella Shabby & Julie - thanks for taking the time to visit my blog and for posting! Hope to see you back around these parts.

Unknown said...

It may be too late but my recent favorite color is "Hazy Skies" by Benjamin Moore - it is a tanish/blueish/greyish/greenish - got it? Anyway, it would be beautiful in a dining room with that new sentimental table and rockin new chairs!

Kari said...

Jill, it is too late!!! But I will keep that in mind for future painting projects. It sounds awesome, albeit very confusing.
;>")

Free Art Printables said...

I think this is so funny! I went through the same thing about a month ago!

Sherry said...

This post is too funny... and oh-so relatable. We have matching walls!

Janine said...

You are so funny! Loved the post.