Thinking about color…

The first thing I did when I bought my house 2 years ago was paint. The upstairs bedrooms and bathrooms needed the most help, but I did have one hideous bathroom downstairs to tackle. Once again, I implore the home decorators of the world to put down the wallpaper. You’ll regret it. Trust me, it will go out of style no matter how good you think your taste is. Plus, it’s a bitch to get down. Also, carpeted bathrooms are completely disgusting and unhygenic. Just say no. Unless you love the smell of moldy mildewed carpet, in which case, knock yourself out.

I tend to gravitate towards bolder richer colors, so the first thing I did was paint the second bedroom which was a baby’s nursery in a previous life. Now, I love blue as much as the next person, but this was too much for me. It burned my retinas. How could my guests sleep surrounded by day-glo baby blue? Let me tell you, this was a real chore. I had the help of some awesome friends and together we put down 3 coats of Kilz before the blue was gone. I knew right away that I wanted brown walls, but I agonized over the precise shade. I think it took 4 tries before I found one I loved - this is called “Shutter Brown” by American Tradition/Valspar from Lowe’s. I believe I used an eggshell finish, but this might be matte… Oh, and I put in new carpet as well, so that’s another difference you’ll notice.

Then it was on to my bedroom which is where my current problem lies. You see, my bedroom was a very very light shade of yellow when I moved in. Not offensive, just boring. As I mentioned, I love bold colors and with brown in the guest room I thought a bright shade of turquoise would be fun. Think Tiffany’s box blue. So I started collecting paint chips and after a week or so decided on this color called “Tropical Island” or something - the specific names escapes me. But it’s also American Tradition from Lowe’s. My idea for the bedroom was tone on tone - darker shade on the walls and a lighter shade of the same color for bedding and accents. Well. I think I was about one shade off. It is so dark that that my light turquoise bedding looks almost white. I like it, don’t get me wrong, but I was thinking it would turn out lighter. These photos are deceiving, it’s not this light.

So my thoughts these days are that I need to consider a change. My main concern is that when I sell this house, the master bedroom looking like a Tiffany’s box is going to hurt me if 1) it’s a male buyer or 2) it’s a conservative couple. Of course they can paint it how they like it, but first impressions can make or break a sale in real estate. Some people don’t have that vision for seeing a room’s potential and I’m worried that this is going to be too jarring for most people and will turn them off. So this is what I’ve been thinking about -

If you haven’t discovered Desire To Inspire, you have to check it out. That’s where I found this picture. I actually like this color, even though it doesn’t have that punch that I typically go for. It matches my curtains and bedding, so I wouldn’t have to change anything, maybe just add some colorful pillows or a blanket on my bed. It’s neutral (but bright) and could easily match anyone’s furniture/bedding/stuff. Now. Who will paint this for me? I’ve vowed never to pick up a brush again after working on this house for the better part of a year. Plus I’m a lousy painter, so there’s that. My bathrooms, which is a blog for another day, desperately need repainting due to my less than stellar mudding “technique”, so I suppose it’s worth hiring professionals. We’ll see when I cave and make this project a reality.

~ by Clare on 02.13.08..