The color that looked *absolutely fabulous* in the dining room looked absolutely hideous in the living room when I painted it yesterday. I tried to like it, I really did - I tried to convince myself that maybe with the lampshades up, or with the pictures up, it really wouldn't be so bad. But the denial wore off and I was faced with the ugly truth that I would have to repaint. I had really wanted the living room and dining room to be the same color... but clearly that is not possible, if I want a dark dramatic color in the dining room and and I'm not willing to let the living room look like a dungeon.
So, off I went to Lowes today, and dropped another $86 (that paint is expensive!) on basically the same color I had in the living room before - It's Valspar Signature "Straw Hat". But I am leaving the far wall of the living room in "Wooden Spoon". Here you can see the two colors, although it's hard to tell on the computer. They are very close in tone, but Wooden Spoon is merely a darker shade of Straw Hat. You can see in the picture that the two colors are very different in intensity (the blotch to the left of the window is Straw Hat, the rest of that wall is Wooden Spoon). But to the right of the window, you can see how subtle the difference is when they are on adjacent walls.
7 comments:
I had briefly thought of the 2-colors-in-the-living-room idea yesterday and then clearly forgot to mention it. I hope that works out for you! How frustrating to have to repaint!
The darker far wall was a good idea. It gives me the drama I was looking for, without making the whole room feel closed in. The whole room in Wooden Spoon was too much - but just a touch of it on one wall adds drama, and also ties the living room and dining room together.
I am so sick of painting though..
I'll bet you are! You should be almost finished though, right? Unless you decided to tackle another room....
No way, I'm done painting (for now). Every now and then I get restless and feel like redecorating a room, but the only rooms left are the kitchen and family room - which are in desperate need of a makeover, but that's an expensive project. So those rooms are scheduled for early in 2008.
A timeline! That's good. Are you going to really rip things up then, or just paint?
I am thinking of refacing the cabinets. I dont want to replace the cabinets because we're not changing the configuration, and the original cabinets, built in 1971, are in good condition. But the door style is dated, and just plain icky. So I go back and forth about what I want to do with the cabinets, and I have 9 months to decide anyway. And new countertops of course - some kind of synthetic stone most likely.
We're opening up the wall between the family room and kitchen, possibly having a half-wall to open up the space. The flooring in both rooms will be replaced, though I can see that being a major PITA because the two floors are not exactly the same height right now. We're leaning toward some kind of pergo-type laminate. I'm thinking of refacing the fireplace, maybe with stone. Or maybe not, we'll see how it goes.
As for colors - I have absolutely no idea. No sense in even deciding because since it's so far away, I'll just change my mind a bazillion times before then. But we're also thinking of building in a bookcase on the TV wall, much like the one Dave built in the living room. It would be designed to house a flat-screen TV.
So yeah.. a little more than painting! But who knows how much money we'll have to spend at that time. There is that pesky college tuition creeping up on us..
Refacing makes a lot of sense, I think. We love our Silestone countertops--lots of colors to choose from, you can put hot stuff on it, not as fussy as Corian. And you don't really need to pick colors until all the wall are knocked out and put back in! Can't wait to see what you've done so far.
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