Monday, June 20, 2011

Painter Man

Semi-Sweet and Cathedral Stone
It's hot. And sticky. And I hate it when I get all hot and sticky...well, some of the time.
The weekend is over and it seemingly just started. One minute there was a Friday night cocktail, and then it was Monday morning. In the old days that would have been the sign of a really fun weekend, but nowadays it's just a sign of Old Days. But I digress.
I'm on yet another painting binge at Casa Smallville. This time it's the living room. When we moved it, it was painted a very delicate shade of light blue, above a chair rail--do not get me started on chair rails--and then there was some sort of painting technique applied to the wall below the rail. I swear to Ellen, the people who lived here before we bought this house never met a hideous color, or an outdated painting technique, that they didn't slather from stem to stern of the house.
Navy blue sponge-painted kitchen? Yes, we had that.
A flesh colored dining room? Check!
Chair rail and stripes! Ack!
The aforementioned striping below the chair rail--which really just looks like the paint ran, and they called it art. Indeed!
A pineapple wallpaper border in the master bedroom that wasn't actually applied to the wall, but was, instead, stapled, top and bottom, all the way around the room!
Yes, I know you feel my pain.
But, back to the living room. The chair rail was removed, and the walls patched. The crown molding and the baseboards have been sanded and primed, and mostly painted a lovely shade of ivory. Now, comes the time for picking a wall color. And this is where the trouble starts.
Carlos and I never agree on color. I like something a little unusual, a little dramatic. I see the room as a whole; the paint, the art, the furniture. Carlos sees just the color of the wall. And, to be fair, he likes the freaky. He, and I'm biting my tongue here to save you all from a slew of curse words, was thinking of painting the living room lavender.
I know!
La-ven-der.
Oh-em-gee.
Luckily, I was able to persuade him that lavender wasn't really the right color for the room. You know, I said, the furnishings are mostly earth tones, in greens, golds, browns, so lavender would stick out like a sore gay thumb. And it may have been the eloquence of my anti-lavender argument, or it may have been the hammer I kept swinging in my right hand, but the idea of lavender was shelved. Lavender! I mean, we're gay, not queer. I kid. We're queer, too.
The recently painted mantle will soon match all the trim.
Chair rail down, but note the chair rail in the hall!
In The Hall!!!!
I explained that I wanted the neutrality of gray. Gray, with my ivory trim would be lovely, especially when we install carbonized bamboo flooring. But, I also I wanted an accent wall, and I wanted a darker shade of gray there. So we researched grays. Grays with blue. Grays with green. Grays with with brown. Even grays with a hint of purple, that looked, yes, lavender, Those I hid from Carlos.
And we settled on a gray with some blue in it. For about five minutes, and then it was back to the paint store for more samples. And I found it.
Gray. or, as the paint store called it, Cathedral Stone. And the accent wall in Semi-Sweet. it's like a church for chocolate. I bought sample-sized cans and came home and painted splotches on the walls. Carlos, who was working in the yard, came inside, saw the splotches, and promptly made a gurgling, hissing noise and fainted dead away, while muttering, 'Too dark....too dark....too.....'
But I think, on the one wall, covered with our collection of watercolors, the Semi-Sweet is gonna look All-The-Way-Fabulous. I even brought out some of the paintings and held them against the wall.; Gorgeous. I showed him different colors and how they looked against the gray. Wonderful. I even promised that his antique writing desk would look fabulous against a Semi-Sweet wall. But, I also promised to live with it for a few days. 
The first day, I changed my mind, and agreed with Carlos.
Too dark.
Now, I'm not so sure....I could switch the Semi-Sweet for Rugged Suede, which is a shade lighter, and then switch out the Cathedral Stone for something which might be lighter, too. Or, I could go with my gut. or i could go all Rugged Suede Cathedral Stone.
What to do.....what to do.
I hope the room is done before Christmas.
Our tree would look amazing in the Chocolate Church.

9 comments:

  1. LOL! I know this story. The bathroom got painted three times... now will have to be repainted because the new flooring, courtesy of the Great Flood, will not go with the current color. The only question is how many colors will we go thru to be happy with the new flooring....?

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  2. I feel your pain! Our living room and dining room were a lovely shade of jaundiced junkie and the sunroom was a hue I like to call 'Mortician's Make-up.'It was as if the former owners couldn't get enough of sallow skin tones. Plus, they painted over mahogany trim. MAHOGANY.

    I feel faint just thinking about it.

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  3. That does seem a tad dark.

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  4. I get your point about the watercolors against the dark wall, sounds nice, trust your guts.
    In my book, I wouldn't go any lighter, but that's me.

    Chair railing should only be used in conjunction with wainscoting.

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  5. I wouldn't know how to paint a room

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  6. I have vowed never touch a paint brush again....one of my biggest fights w/ over over egg shell vs mat finish. I'm done!

    I feelz your pain!

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  7. Spouse & I rarely agree on paint colors as well. Usually I lean more toward the dramatic colors and him toward the tacky ones. Eventually we compromise on something neither of us loves but both of us can live with.

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  8. I'm with you, I hate chair rails. The devil's decor technique.

    I'm with Wally, I love dark, strong colors.

    I'm with Carlos, I like lavender.

    See how easy I am?

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  9. Anonymous2:30 AM

    Maybe they lived in our house too- we had yellow sponging in the kitchen, blue rag rolling in the sunroom, red (!) in the lounge and blue in the dining room- now its all painted what we call 'Yuppie White'.

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