I had been looking at paint chips for a couple of weeks and even had a nice patchwork of colors painted on some of the walls, but I couldn't make up my mind. In my furry of needing it to be done now I just picked one and said "oh well, I'm sure it will be fine."
But it was not fine.
After 11 hours of painting, (it takes that long when you have three kids at home with you and one of them steps in the paint tray and then falls against the wall you just painted.) I looked at all of my hard work and thought "if I looked up blah in the dictionary this is what I would find. No words, just a picture of my walls."
I wanted something neutral so that I could bring in more accent colors with fun fabrics and because there is a good possibility that we will be selling our house in about 18 months. I just didn't love it though and I think a combination of exhaustion and frustration led me to make a rash decision.
I let my friend Danielle (I still love you Danielle!) talk me into painting two of the walls a different color. I had thought about doing an accent wall already and she found this bluish green glass bottle I have and was inspired by the color. I knew right away that it wasn't really my color, but I wanted to branch out a little bit and try something different. So, we stayed up late with six cranky kids and painted away.
The next morning I loaded up all three kids and marched myself down to Lowe's to buy a new paint color.
Danielle came over and we painted away again. This time a light blue color that had been one of my samples. We both loved it.
The next morning I looked at it and thought "hmm, I don't know if I love it as much as I thought I did. It's pretty bright."
So, after three days of feeling like I was in the Caribbean, I pulled the couch away from the wall one more time, pulled out the ladder because it's a high ceiling and went to work again! ps. Danielle doesn't know that I re re-painted so could you please not tell her?!
Anyway, it's finally done and I am not touching it again. A few people asked to see pictures right after it all happened, but my feelings about the whole ordeal were still very raw and I wasn't quite ready. Today I can laugh about it though, so here is the story in pictures of my wall that was painted four times in less than one week.
To start it off, here is a quick reminder of the lovely gold color.
Next came the blah beige.
After that came the lovely sea creature green. As a side note. It really was a cool color, just not on my walls!
After that was the almost winner. Paradise island.
And the final color is....
Well, let me just refer you back to picture number 2. Yep, after all that I just painted it the same blah beige that it was to Begin with.
Now you understand the tears!
12 comments:
Whew, that was a lot of work. That is why after3 years in this house, I still haven't painted! Well, I love the beige wall. Very light and airy feel. Matches anything.
I can't believe you painted it that many times. You are crazy!! I have to repaint the boys room just one more time and I have been putting that off. I can't imagine doing it over and over again. At least you can say you finished what you started. I think you need a break from redecorating for a little while.
Yeah, that sea creature green had to go! I have to say I am a fan of "paradise island". I don't think the beige is blah at all. Now you can go crazy with fabrics and other colorful things. I bet you are glad to be done with painting for a while.
Yikes! That is an ordeal. I have never put a single drop of paint on my walls. Seth is in charge of that. I would cry if I had to do it just once so I can't imagine painting 4 times.
I may be boring but I like beige, especially if you may be selling the house.
If anyone needed a Chick-fil-a day it was you crazy lady! I hate painting so much that I left big paint swatches on my LR wall for months. I finally just repainted it the same color. I don't make decisions like that easily.
That has happened to me so many times. How can you tell the color of the sample & what it will look like on your walls? It's hard. I think I would do the beige if I were you, also. When we built our house, we went to lots of home shows and asked the builders (who were there) the name of the colors on the walls that we liked. It worked great. Just for the future, that is really a great way to go. :)
Oh my gosh. I'm at work. I'm reading your blog. I'm looking at the pictures. I'm laughing as my customers calls me. I'm having to mute my customers while I continue to choke and gafaw at how funny you are.
Danielle, gotta love her, but oh my, the loch ness monster color was ATROCIOUS.
Sally, Oh my gosh. That is quite a story. I am sorry for your ordeal and happy that the walls are painted and dry even if they are blah beige
Oh Sally I'm sorry. You are such a go getter. I would have given up long before then. You can't go wrong with beige.
Once you put things up on the walls it won't be so blah. Most people have a "blah" color. It's just hard to pick a non blah color that looks good. You'll have fun bringing color into the room in other ways.
Oh Sally - Remember that you repainted the ceiling several times when you first moved into the house. I personally think that you just have a thing for painting living rooms. And if that is true - I have one that needs some paint. I like the beige but then I'm into that early American tradion paint color right now. Whatever you do, I know that it will look great - cuz you just know how to do it!
Yup! I've been there! I painted my entire living room about 6 different colors in about a month! Finally I painted it the red that I wanted in the first place, but we had to go through the whole journey so that my husband would like the red (who didn't want my red in the beginning but converted after seeing some of the awful colors we tried). I don't think I've painted since even though there are a few rooms that really need it!
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