I paint a swatch of Sweet Rhapsody on my bedroom wall. Too blue. Too bright. Too too.
10:00am Sunday morning:
I visit two hardware stores and a paint store clutching paint chips in search of The One.
10:20am Sunday morning:
I sort through the chips and tape a bunch to the wall. None seem right. I reconsider Sweet Rhapsody.
10:50 Sunday morning:
Amy comes over and we discuss the options. Several lighter colors are discussed, but all would entail going back to the paint store and actually buying more paint. For some reason, this seems like far more work than painting the wrong color on all four walls.
5:00pm Sunday evening:
I begin painting. The first wall, in daylight seems reasonable. I carry on. Second wall is done.
Such a bright and playful color.
8:00pm Sunday night:
I finish up painting just as darkness falls.
I realize that my room is almost the exact shade of a Port-o-John.
9:pm Sunday night:
I begin instant messaging Amy. I compare choosing this color to having an illicit affair and contracting a venereal disease. Such is the panic and shame I am having about this color.
It is now 9:44 pm on Sunday night. This color is...well...I don't really have words to describe it. It's very green in the artificial light. I think it's definitely robin's egg blue, though I may have overestimated my affection for a color which can change so radically from a delightful burst of joy into depressing fair ground port o john over the course of a day.
Tomorrow will bring one of two things:
1. I will learn to love this color.
2. I will return to the paint store.
The only thing I know for sure is that there will be chocolate. It never disappoints.
8 comments:
I hope you have better luck in the morning light of tomorrow with your color..The anticipation is killing me..Will she return to the store and get another color or will she go for broke and stay with the porta potty color she thought she would love..I am hoping I don't have nightmares about this color on my bedroom walls..LOL..Seriously good luck with whatever you decide I am sure it will be lovely..You have a beautiful home and whatever you decide will look great..Your fan in Pa..Love your blog and humor..
I've been to the paint store, too. Did you know Home Depot has little bottles with brushes inside like nail polish? You can dab a bit on and think. I have made many painting mistakes. One year, when our oldest was graduating, we painted the WHOLE house (why did we keep going?) a cheery (?) Chinese restaurant yellow with red trim. Cars slowed down. Then, we proceeded to cover it all up with white again. I have a picture of it because I could have lived with it, but my family still teases. I'm painting tomorrow, too. More later. OH! Come on over and see my sister-in-law's lipstick red cupboards. You might like them, Red Girl.
I understand your pain. My first single apartment (yeah no roommates) I wanted to paint the living room a sagey green. I was car-less at the time and bummed a ride from a friend to the paint store. Lime Sherbert was what I ended up with. I still cringe with dismay.
You might try sponge painting white over the blue - it will look like the sky with clouds - or, a porta-potty with clouds. LOL But really- sponge painting over a color really does wonders. I'm sure there are lots of places on the internet to give you directions to do this. Basically it is dabbing a sponge in the paint - then dabbing it all over the wal - maybe you've already done this before - but if not - it is really fun - you can maybe get the girls to dab too. Get big sea sponges and dab away - it could be cheaper and faster than repainting the whole thing.
This certainly qualifies for a "I told you so, Idiot." Tough love is tough. OK
Sweet Rhapsody is pretty green in the pallet book (P.40). Rivers Edge (P.102)(510C-3U) tones down the green without going red. It still has some green. Rapture Blue (P. 103) is a neutral blue and Winsome Hue (P. 104) begins to pick up some red.
Now you may have romanticized robins egg blue. Here is a picture of Port-o-Johns next to robins eggs.
http://leavecincy.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/portoegg.jpg
They were shot in the same spectrum of light. Robins eggs are pretty much the color of Port-o-Johns.
Judging by the pictures of your house, you like your colors on the warm side.
Go with Winsome Hue and tell everyone it's Robins egg.
Sounds like another battleship gray experience... xoxo...Mom
Ahem...Exhibit A
Cheryl said...
This is frightening. I can't see that particular color on every wall without thinking I've fallen into a city swimming pool and I'm drowning. 10 shades lighter? Oh yeah.
Did you know this is how things went terribly wrong with Memere's bedroom? It started with a shade similar to this then got darker and more poolish each time she chose a new color. Be careful out there.
July 28, 2010 5:33 AM
Yes, I said that and I wasn't joking one bit. I was channeling my dad and he knew his paint. Now saddle up and trot on back to the paint store and ask 'em to make it 10-20 shades lighter. Pulease? If not for you, then for the sake of your family's sanity?
I think you should take Michael up on his color swatch book...it may save you a lot of time and panic attacks.
While Danny is away this summer I am opting to repaint the interior of my house too...going back to plain old white! Boring I know, but I cannot live with the color I have and nothing is screaming at me, "bring me home and put me on your walls".
Post a Comment