the promised pictures...

Let's start off with photos of the offending green. The first is my favorite. I'm standing in the foyer and the chartreuse on the left and green to the right of it are the same wall, same number of coats of paint, same paint color, same room. Weird. The green is lovely, the chartreuse is not.


This is the same green looking up to the balcony. Looks more olive green. But this is in a darker region of a room. I think the olive is fine. At least it's green! Don't mind the paneling. It's just primed. It'll be beautiful when it's done.



This is looking toward the kitchen and it's yet another green, but still green. Again, it's in a darker portion of the room. But I can't keep the room dark! I need light! And light means chartreuse. *sigh* It makes me so sad.

I'm so exhausted and the green is making it worse. But I must get the paint color pinned down this week. This week the kitchen flooring is going in (which has already started out with drama and added money) and my painter is off doing another job. So I supposedly have time to pick out a new paint. But let me talk about the BM dill pickle. It's the magical morphing color!

I made my paint sample on poster board, painted blocks on all 4 of the walls and looked at it in all kinds of light situations. When the painter first put it on, I was so excited, because it was covering blah white walls, and it was the evening (which is when it looks best). I also knew that it took me 3 coats of paint on my samples to bring it up to full color. So I was forgiving.

I walked in the next morning and it was glowing! and not in a good way. You saw the picture. 2nd coat didn't make it glow any less. I asked for a 3rd coat, due to my testing experience. Now remember, this is benjamin moore paint. It's not cheap. and it takes 1+ gallons to do 1 coat. yeah, you can add that up.

So fast forward to current day. I've got three test coats of new greens on. One is one suggested by the BM guy and two are what I picked from Sherwin Williams. I do not love or even like them. The BM guy suggested a sage. But it looks brownish gold. The SW sage I chose is bluish gray, and the other SW color is bluish green and kinda childish looking. *sigh* The BM guy felt bad for me, so that sample didn't cost, but the 2 SW samples set me back $12. Oh, and these colors did look green on the sample boards.

I went home for Thanksgiving and my parents gave me 3 gallons of the paint they use in their home. (They went all yellow, one is a yellowish cream) So I'm used to looking at an all yellow house. Yellow goes with everything. Tonight I got the big rollers out and rolled on some honkin big swatches of the two yellows. I vetoed the cream when I saw the posterboard sample I painted. Too bland. yellow is a safe choice. But is it enough color? I've had all the 70's wood paneling painted white, is there enough contrast? It is cheerful, that is for sure and that is what I want. Sage is too stately, formal and somber. But in the back of my mind I really believe that green is the color for that room. I came close with the dill pickle, when the color/lighting cooperates. *sigh*

Why does this have to be so hard??

Back to the dill pickle and all the details, and I'll never talk about it again (the story is getting so old). The painter swiped a small stroke of the paint he was using on my poster sample and when it dried, I swear you can see yellow that is not on the sample. Yes, you have to hold it in the sunlight, but it's there. The guy at the store said it's probably the difference in mixing a pint and a gallon. *sigh* How are we supposed to trust the sample if it's not the same as the gallon? This is a huge deal! I'd like answers from the powers-that-be at Benjamin Moore. And not the corporate "it's a close approximation" disclaimer. Really. How are we supposed to make a decision on false premises? Seems like a reasonable question to me.

I'm not sure if I'm ready to post about the kitchen flooring - especially since it's still in the demo mode. Maybe after it's all laid and I'm smiling again...

sneak peek on a paint problem

It's late and this thing is driving me crazy!

Anyway, I'll just give you a teaser as to my problems with green. The photo will be the tell-all. Does this look green to you? Not to me!

It's Benjamin Moore Dill Pickle. let this be a warning... I'll post more tomorrow. It's simply too late to write any more, but it involves lighting and a color challenged room...

Fast Forward...

to two days before Thanksgiving. We have bought a house, but have not moved in. I'm so stressed. This house should have come with a user's manual - we are always discovering something new. Guess what? Our sprinkler system is working off a well. That's what that odd 3 spigot thing is. Guess what? The little dog run has a disabled eletric fence. Guess what? There's a sprinkler system, but where did they plug it in and how do you make it work?? These are all things that should have been disclosed. The eletrical in the house is weird - and I'm no expert.

This house also will not let you rest. Not for a moment. There is ivy all over the back yard, and there was a vine growing all over a wall in the front. (we eradicated that, almost, need to get the roots out) I'll post pictures later. There is the pool, which naturally needs attention. The trees and bushes are wild. The man who did the landscaping put in some nice plants, but he left his wife and she just could not take care of it all on her own. He also did a lot of DIY (and it shows) and did the addition all by himself. I kinda wish I knew that little tidbit. The exterior of the house is covered in mildew, so it needs a good scrubdown. The deck was slick with mildew, which Gary powerwash. So it needs to be sanded and sealed now. Plus there are a few rotten planks that need replacing.

Well, I don't want to make this an all downer post. I think the house has potential, but it'll take a LOT of sweat equity. I also think I hugely underestimated the amount of work and money required. But the work is made more difficult because we are not living there. The driving back and forth is tough, plus not being able to work on supper throughout the day means I have to prepare quickie meals when I'm the most exhausted and hungry and cRANKY! Cleaning two places is hard, and laundry is hard too. And don't let me start on the lack of exercise.

The house is large, on a large lot with a pool (albeit ugly-ish, it could use a prettier liner and some more creative decking), the wood deck is amazing and there are some beautiful trees. There is an amazing large master on the main floor, a master upstairs (which we will use as a rec room because it has a pool table which we negotiated into the deal), two other bedrooms, a FROG and an office upstairs. The kitchen is disappointingly small - (why did I choose this house?) The house is in a sweet neighborhood, not the ritzy-est, and is probably one of the bigger houses in this 'hood (so probably not a smart buy). It's near the school the boys are attending, so it's good they don't have to transition again. A boy in their class lives 2 houses down, so this is a huge plus. He seems to be a good kid.

right now we are going to change the kitchen floors from vinyl to tile and the cabinets are being painted white. All the carpet is being changed to fresh carpet. So painting is happening. Painting, don't get me started on that. The living room is giving me fits. I'll make my next post about it.

I'll post pictures.