See Everything

See Everything

Saturday, May 16, 2015

What colors YOUR world?


What colors YOUR world?

I have to admit, I fell in love with the new paint color on my old house. I bought that house in 2007 when it was brand spanking new. And ALL khaki. Mind you, khaki is a nice neutral color, I just happen to not like it EVERYWHERE. So the girls and I bought paint. LOTS of paint. And we painted. The kitchen. It wasn't for several more years that we painted again. The dining room. Then, a few years later, after my oldest went away to college and my youngest moved into the 'big' bedroom, I painted a bedroom. A year later, I was preparing my house to put on the market. So everything got painted. All one color. Sherwin Williams Perfect Greige. Awesome color!



That started what I was looking for in my new house. Except, a little different. I like color. I LOVE color. I needed more than one color. There is a little limit to what/how many colors you can paint your house. There is a bit more leeway now then when I was growing up but still, there's a limit. For example, you really shouldn't do something like this:

Bedroom,aka Brittani's room (BEFORE repainting)

Seriously, THAT was on the walls AND ceiling in one of the bedrooms of my new house. My favorite color happens to be purple. I almost had to change my mind after seeing this. Since this is the second largest bedroom (with a walk-in closet) and since Alex is living with his dad and Brittani is a girl, this is Brittani's room. Even if the design was what she had in mind, Brittani is not a purple fan. Her pallet was easy: Grey, Red, Black. The design was determined (hint: it wasn't sponge paint) and they painted. It looks amazing! (pics to follow).

As my daughter did her thing in her room, I poured over paint colors online, collected paint chips, purchased many paint samples (please, do not skip this step...more on paint products coming up). After this drawn out search, I knew one thing: I love purple. 

Okay, I knew two THREE things: I had to have a warm, coordinated color scheme that flowed from room to room and I wanted gray grey light black in there somewhere. In addition, I love purple. 

I did discover some difficulty keeping track of which paint goes in which room. Of course I wrote which room it was going in on the back of each paint chip, but that didn't help much when I had to keep flipping the cards over (simplicity rules). 

I tried putting all my paint chips as my house is laid out but I couldn't keep track very well with everything written on the back and how was I going to do the upstairs? 
1st floor layout
 I ended up getting a piece of cardboard and laying the paint chips out kinda in room order. I covered the entire front with packing tape to keep them in place, then wrote which room on each chip. I ended up with this:

All of the paint is Behr Ultra or Premium Plus, in either an eggshell or satin finish (unless noted). Some of the color names are either difficult to read or covered up, so I'll list them in the order they appear on the cardboard:
Left Side
(top to bottom)
Porpoise
Gulf Winds
Gentle Rain
Weathered Sandstone
Only Natural
Toasted Wheat
Shale Gray
Crepe

Right Side
(top to bottom)
Ancient Stone
Country Club
Silvery Moonlight (Glidden)
Stone Fence
Gray Timber Wolf
French Lilac
*Custom Color based off Old Amethyst
                          Lilac Mauve & an older (unopened) Valspar paint I had left over from TN (bottom 2 colors)                                                                        

The one color that misfired on the walls was the Ancient Stone. On the chip, it was perfect for the hallways. On the walls, it was an odd purple. While I believe we have established I love purple, I did not love purple for my hallway. I was going for an awesome grey gray light black (one of these days I'll figure out how exactly GREY is spelled). Back to the local Big Orange...I ended up with Winds Breath, which turned out perfect. I also ended up using Pewter Mug in the Master bedroom instead of the Gray Timberwolf. Since I never replaced those on the cardboard, here they are:

 
Winds Breath
Pewter Mug

Overall, I think they all turned out quite nicely. I can't wait to show you the finished Before & After's!!!

*** EDIT: A few things I learned with the whole house painting project -
                                 
                                    1) NEVER pay someone to do something you think you can do yourself. I paid for painting services and regret it in every room of my house.
                                    2) If you do pay someone - watch everything they do
                                    3) Don't be afraid to experiment or change your mind
                                 











Friday, May 1, 2015

The Right Write

Is there a wrong write? A left write? Should you write? Will you be left?

The whole situation of suddenly finding myself without future purpose has these questions being tossed about in my mind. There's a whole lot of life that has been lived in my life. A whole lot of love. A whole lot of tears. Many have suggested I write my story. A story. Anyone's story. Everyone's story.

A gaze further at that thought and I'm wondering...should I? What would I say? Would anyone buy it? I mean, would they buy it...as in, believe it?

If you were to pick up a book, what would you be looking to read? Romance? Suspense? Mystery? Sci-Fi? Self help? Famous memoir? The story of someone else's life that you don't know?

That's what I thought...I need a life...

Nevertheless, I decided to write. It starts here: I Walk