One Down, Five (or Six, or Seven) To Go!

We finally finished painting the first room; it's the smallest bedroom, the one we've jokingly referred to as "the library" because that's where all of our books landed on moving day (and where they'll probably stay). The color before wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't us. Anyone who's been reading this blog for a while knows by now that I love color. I'm just not a beige kind of person.

We tried five different colors before settling on Blue Danube by Benjamin Moore (it's the sample on the top left). It's a gorgeous, rich, bluish teal. These photos don't do it justice. Also, you can see that it looks much lighter in the can and dries darker, as most paints do.

I tried to show here how it looks in different lighting, but again, it's much prettier in person.

I think a lot of people might shy away from painting a darker color in a small room. There's a misconception that dark colors "will make you feel like you're in a coffin." I can't tell you how many times I've heard that, but it's just not true. We've all taken color theory and know that certain colors do "advance" and others "recede." But a rich, beautiful color on the walls will make a space feel so much better to be in. You will want to spend time in that room, get cozy, and never leave.

The most important factor in deciding on a paint color is not how dark or light it is, but rather the tone (cool, warm) and color. Paint as many swatches as it takes to feel sure you've made the right choice because painting is hard work, and there's nothing worse than spending your entire weekend painting to end up with a color you don't love. I asked the guy at the paint store how many samples people usually buy (for the record, we've bought eight so far for different rooms), and he said some people will buy as many as 30 or 40 samples! I don't think I'd ever need that many, but it doesn't hurt to be sure...especially if you're paying someone else to paint because that's expensive!

Oh, and if anyone's curious, the bookcase you can see the corner of there was handmade by my dad years ago. It's made it through three different moves so far, and needless to say, I'll keep it forever. Even if it starts falling apart. And even if it clashes with every other piece of furniture I own. ;)

And one more thing: last night, in a moment of spontaneous enthusiasm, I signed up for NaBloPoMo. I've never participated before, and honestly, now is probably not the best time to do it because we're crazy busy these days. But I'm just gonna go for it anyway! I think it's good to push yourself sometimes, if for no other reason than to remind yourself that you still can. Anyone else want to join me?