Remember all that talk about me reading up on design rules in an effort to make myself have a better eye? Well, it obviously failed.
I have been looking for the perfect paint color for my bedroom for over two months now. I started first with placing various paint chips on the wall. After going through every brand of paint and tons of chips, I finally decided to try out Valspar's La Fonda Mirage.
Knowing that colors shouldn't be judged by their paint chips, I bought a sample and put it on my wall only to realize that it was more sea foam green than beautiful, relaxing spa-like green. It was not what I wanted.
So, I decided to switch from green to blues, thinking that would be a safer bet. This time I grabbed three paint samples and slapped them on the wall.
After living with these for a week, Landon and I finally decided that we liked the bottom color best - Martha Stewart's "Heavenly Blue." And, we spent several hours on Labor Day painting on our Heavenly Blue. Two gallons of it, to be exact.
Well, all I can say is that it is anything but "heavenly." It looked so great on the little 8 x 12 swatch I painted on the wall, but in mass quantity, it is just too much.
At first, I thought it would look better when all the furniture was moved back in place. When that didn't make me feel better about it, I thought perhaps a good night's sleep would help. Not so much.
I will say, when I got home from work Tuesday, I realized I might be making it worse in my head than it actually is, but it still hasn't grown on me. I don't expect it will.
Before I show you a pic, let me paint you a word picture. Think blue cotton candy. Landon said it reminds him of baby blue. Regardless, it's got to go.
Here's the before.
It's amazing what lighting can do, because in this first picture I took, I didn't think it looked too bad.
But then I took some others and this "Heavenly Blue" showed its true colors ...
It's funny, because when I first started looking at paint colors, I told Landon I wanted something "lighter" than our original green. Well, what I got was something brighter. Lighter does not mean brighter. Also, I went from a warm color to a cool color, and I determined that is one of the reasons I don't like this color.
I can't believe I made such a huge mistake. I know everyone always says that painting is the easiest way to update a room, but I do not believe painting is easy. I think it's a lot of work, and it's not something I enjoy. But, I guess if I'm going to make a major mistake, this is the one to make because it is, at least, fixable.
So, I'm back on the hunt for the perfect paint color, and I'm open to any suggestions you might have. I am most drawn to warm blues and greens. I've been searching on Favorite Paint Colors for a few ideas. I'd like to make a decision by the weekend so I can remedy this mistake quickly. But, if I can't make it by Saturday, then I'll have to wait two weeks because I'm out of town for work next weekend. I really don't think I can live with "Heavenly Blue" for that long, but we'll see.
5 comments:
That happened with the paint color I brought home for my master bedroom, I'm positive the guy didn't mix it right. It came out like a glowing ice cube, NOT relaxing. I knew from the first roll on the wall that the color was not going to work, I had to custom mix the color with other paints I had on hand to get the right color. I agree with you, painting it not always easy, and it is a TON of work.
I have to suggest "Reticent" by Sherwin Williams. It is a nice warm neutral beige-y, but not too light. I have seen it with red accents, green accents, brown, blue, or any color you can imagine, and it just looks beautiful. You won't think much of it on a little color sample. It takes a big room to get the full effect. I painted my huge living room with 12' ceilings a lovely "chestnut," which on the color sample looked tan. It is the yellow-est ugly color EVER now that it is on the walls. Tall ceilings make it hard to repair, too.
Oh, I need to explain that the "Reticent" comment is totally separate from the "chestnut" comment! They were two different projects, in fact, two different houses!
Aww, that stinks! It really does look nice in that one picture. We are wanting to paint our bedroom and living room, and I am just terrified that I'm going to pick the wrong colors, so I've picked nothing. I really don't have an eye for design at ALL, but I've loved all the stuff you've been doing to your house!
The walls look nice in the pictures, but I know real life can look really different! Paint is so overwhelming to me. I've also chosen the wrong color more than once even though I follow all those "rules" about examining the swatch in different light, etc. I think it's a conspiracy against DIYers everywhere to make us support the paint industry with our hard-earned cash...
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