Friday, July 29, 2011

A house update!

I figure it is about time for another house update.  I have gotten a few more areas painted, and only want to repaint one of them, so I figure I am doing pretty well.  Dad moved in (apparently temporarily) so I had to rush to get that room done.  It was painted Pepto and Barbie-puke pink stripes.  First step was to sand the entire room.  When a pattern is painted on a wall it leaves a small ridge of paint that, when painted over will show through (please don’t paint patterns on your walls then try to sell your house, it truly pisses off the new owners).  After it was sanded I had to then wash the walls and trim work to get all the sanding dust off so the tape would adhere.  I got the room taped off, did two coats of primer and two coats of paint and voila!  A pale grey room that will look very nice when Dad moves out and I turn it into a guest room/craft studio.  With touches of coral and some whimsical geometric prints it will fit in nicely with the “Midcentury chic” look I am starting to put together.
BEFORE

AFTER
Some fabric inspirations for this future room design



I painted Spencer’s room one weekend while he was out of town.  I only painted the top half of the wall b/c the bottom half will be getting a treatment of bead board.  I love the look of it and think it will work nicely to protect the walls from a growing boy’s toys and grimy extremities.  I chose a dark grey color that went nicely with a piece of graffiti art I had made for him when he was a baby, and that will grow with him.  I also think it will pop when all the white bead board is in there.
Spencer's Room waiting for bead board and crown molding...

The hallway was a dilemma.  I LOVE the color I put up in the living room and wanted something different and bright because it is what you see right when you walk into the house.  It was early spring when I was choosing the color and I fell in love with the color of the newly growing grass.  SO I went to my Benjamin Moore store (the only place I buy paint) and pulled some paint chips…I taped them to the already painted living room wall and stared at it in all different lights for probably 3 weeks.  I narrowed it down to 3 colors and purchased them in samples so I could paint them on the wall they would go on and see them IRL.  I didn’t like any of them.  So I went back and repeated the paint chip process.  I FINALLY settled on a color and painted it the same weekend I did Spencer’s room.  Let’s just say I am glad it is the hallway and easy to redo.  While I like the color, it just never seemed “right”.  It didn’t flow with the other colors, so while doing a little online browsing I saw a baby’s room that had been done in coral and soft grey.  That’s when I knew that the hall way should have been coral.  It would work well with the honeydew green in the living room and flow well with the grays and blues of the bedrooms.  Now to decide on a shade of coral…to be continued.
It just doesn't work.