Thursday, June 5, 2014

Painted Lady

You know how you order new furniture and you realize your new color will clash with the current colors on your walls so you have to paint?

No?

I'm the only one that does that?

Aces.

The last time I painted it was from white to this one color of bluish green I'd been crushing on.  I got a quart of it and painted it on and it didn't look right.  I hated it.  It wasn't what I envisioned.  So went back to the Depot and tried a color that I thought nailed it.

Nope.

I had a micro meltdown that ballooned into a full on meltdown.

Third times a charm right?

Nope...it was this almost deep mossy color that looked NOTHING like the sample.  I just sat and sobbed in the foyer with its third coat of paint and the Mr was getting irritated with me so I settled.  I told him to just go get 2 gallons of it and I would live with it.   Everyone who came over gushed over the color and the more compliments I got on it the more I hated it because it was nowhere near my original vision for the room.  We have very little natural light in this area and even less artificial light so it felt like a hibernation den of a leprechaun or something.

So when the time came to finally get a new sofa and loveseat, I was ready to get rid of that damn moss pit.  I was fairly sure we'd need no more than three gallons and the Mr was pretty insistent on getting four.  I tried to dissuade him.  Guess who won.

Yep, I let him have that one but with an "I told you so" clause at the end because as we all know, they don't take back paint once it's all mixed up.

I was never so happy to see paint slapped up on a wall!



I know it looks white but it's not.  The pic does not accurately depict the green either.  That's the other thing is it always photographs horribly.  It's like the camera doesn't know what to do with some of the pigments and it puts this weird magenta hue in there with every picture so I will NOT miss that.

You'll note it's daylight as the Mr does trim around the mantel...


We didn't finish until 10:35pm.

Didn't even use all of the second gallon.

Mmm hmm.

This is only the beginning and our house is in shambles right now so there's no "after" just a crap bomb that went off.  Twas also a glaring confirmation that the wood tables and armoire pieces we got almost 10 years ago have indeed taken on an orangey tone o'er the years and will need to be painted.  I just don't have the money to go out and replace all of those pieces and we bought them because they were good, strong pieces that were a classic design and we could one day paint if we changed our minds on the color.  I remember the horror on the Mr's face when I suggested that at the time but I think he figures as long as HE'S not the one painting them, he doesn't give a flying poo whether I want to paint them or not.

I am so tired.

I want the living room to magically clean itself.

It will take everything in me tonight to get a workout in since I feel like "little Moe with the gimpy leg" after being up on the ladder and my tip toes most of the day.

Give me strength, yo.

When was the last time you painted?  What colors were your before and after?

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13 comments:

  1. Glad the bulk of the work is behind us now. Time to hit the crown molding and finish up with this first of many projects we have for the summer. It is looking great already though!

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    1. Definitely glad the walls are done. Crown molding is going to be a beeotch having to go back and recaulk with the right paintable caulk on the nail holes and joints. I think we're going to have to sand the whole thing since it was technically "painted" molding so that'll be fun...not. I just want that portion of the painting done then I can do a test on the coffee table to see if I've got what it takes. :-)

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  2. The green looks similar to the color I used in my bathroom at my old house. It has been about 3 years since I painted. I painted our laundry room before we put our house on the market. The walls at my old house had a lot of color. I got tired of it. When we were building our new house, we chose a neutral color for all of the rooms. It may be boring, but it felt like a breath of fresh air. Our new house has higher ceilings, so other than touching up, I don't think I plan on painting again.

    That is interesting that you mentioned the furniture you bought 10 years ago. Once we furnished our house, I told my husband that we are not changing the furniture or wall art for at least 10 years. I don't care if it is breaking down, out-of-style, etc. I'm planning to get my money's worth out of it.

    Isn't it nice that they make paint with primer in it now? Makes things a lot easier.

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    1. The green was my venture into "color" though it was very tame compared to some people. My friend had almost Caribbean colors in her house and while it was good for them, it's not the kind of color I could live with. This is a lightish to medium gray and the color will come from accents so I can change it up when I get bored. Less daunting that way. LOL

      When we were looking at a couch at a local place, he said that most people buy new couches every 8-10 years. When I bought the wood pieces, I bought something that I knew we could use for decades and just change up with paint, hardware and such. I'm just hoping I can pull it off! :)

      YES, paint + primer = awesome! Especially when going from a darkish tone to light. WOO HOO!

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    2. I have had a similar problem with my living room. Painted it prior to moving in. I wanted an earthy sage green, but not too dark. Picked it out, husband got scared, so I picked a lighter shade. On the walls it ended up looking like that pastel green like mint chocolate chip ice cream. Horrible! So a few years later (because that's how I roll), I pick another green, still seeking that same sage green. Thought I nailed it. But no. It's MUCH better, but still not the color I envisioned. It's been a couple years again, but I'm to the point that I will just live with this color. Did I mention how much I despise painting. Especially now that I have new carpeting.

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    3. I think that sage green was kind of the color I was going for too and I could just never get the hue right. Greens are tricky for sure. I don't think I'll be bothering with those anymore. The Mr despises painting as well but this was the first time he DIDN'T suggest hiring someone out to paint so I think he's finally realized unless we have a castle where an extension pole won't reach, it's ain't happenin' because I'm too cheap! ;-)

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  3. I personally haven't painted in a long time as I can't stand doing it. Our bedroom is still the same builder paint from 14 years ago because we've never bothered to paint it the carribbean ocean blue that we bought (again, probably at least 10 years ago). This is all probably because when we did paint, it did not go well. My kitchen was supposed to be more of a paprika red but turned out to have more purple hues. I still say that's because my hubs and his friends refused to use the gray primer paint I bought (specifically because we were going from a very light color to a very dark color. Gray primer works wonders on dark colors...but would they listen? Nope.). Now the gray primer sits next to the blue paint cans. My living room was supposed to have a 'cabin' feel to it. Well, it's more the color of flecked gold from those guilded picture frames. Yeah, ick. My hubs painted the upstairs bathroom the yellow chiffon color I wanted, but he and his friend were drunk at the time (I was not home but quickly figured it out) about 3 years ago so there are all kinds of places were pain is missing (basically the places that should have been edged). He keeps telling me he's going to work on that. Tick.............. tock........... The first year after we bought the house we painted the living room when we took a week off of work. We were almost divorced by the end of it. As you can see, me and paint just have a nasty relationship. snort.

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    1. Yeah perhaps it's best you don't paint together! LOL OR you could have a painting party. Agree to feed people, blast some 80's music and show people how you want it done! ;-)

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  4. I absolutely LOATHE painting...I love the finished product, but sure do hate the work of it. It always takes longer than it seems like it will. Last time we painted, I hired someone because it was the WHOLE HOUSE and there was no way in hell I was going to do it. Best. Decision. EVER! We actually went fairly boring and sedate and chose a tannish color that has a slightly pinkish undertone and for the accent we went with a very dark coffee bean brown.

    I actually have a wall I need to paint right now...we just changed out TV's and decided that now that the flat screen is on the wall having it the same dark coffee bean brown as the other accents would look oh so much better. We bought the paint...oh probably about 6 weeks ago now and I still haven't done it. HA! :-)

    But I have a feeling I will be doing that one of these upcoming Fridays now that I get those off during the summer...*sigh*

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    1. Yeah I think if we had a whole house to paint I'd be tempted but if the Mr taped everything off, I have no problem rollin' dat out! It's almost relaxing to me somehow. If I lived closer, I'd offer to help. But I don't so you'll never know if I'm serious or not. LOL

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  5. It's been years! The last time we painted was in preparation for our "new arrival" We never did get to the kitchen (the arrival was a bit early). Our son in now almost 8. Yeah, probably needs to be done. I have a vision for the bedroom, but it's an awful lot of work so it's probably just not going to happen.

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    1. Yeah, it can be a lot of work. I think you have to envision it done and know the work will be worth it. That's what I told myself with this and I do love it. Now the problem is I see all of the furniture I have to paint and I want to hide.

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  6. omg four year ago we painted two walls red...it's gorgeous now but what a pain in the rump. after that I swore off painting

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