A New Shade

Yesterday I mentioned the staircase needing a paintjob, so I figured I’d update you on the hallway and living room’s new dyejob.

Living Room January 2009

I know I’ve mentioned it before how much I HATED the original paint in our house. Brown Paper Bag!! I thought the name was cute, but it did not make me feel light and happy.  It was such a dark color, that it made me consider adding more windows in my house!

Considering adding windows to make the room lighter

I got over that expensive idea and settled with a new paint color. I went to my paint swatch stash and went hunting for a lighter shade of tan.

I’ll let you in on a secret... My method for selecting color is to go one shade lighter than the color I am drawn to. I did it when I selected my two bathroom colors. I really liked a color, but chose the shade lighter. The shade lighter worked out perfect!!

The color I chose for the living room was Fairmont Penthouse Stone.

This color just caught my eye and I kept going back to it.

The living room has a vaulted ceiling. Luckily, the whole room is the same shade, so there was no ceiling I had to avoid painting. I borrowed my neighbor’s ten foot ladder along with an extension pole and painted away.

Immediately I was questioning my judgment. The color had a green hue to it. I didn’t notice it before and couldn’t figure out if it was because I was comparing it to “Brown Paper Bag” or because I had a green couch that the light was bouncing off of. I was so nervous!

But I kept on painting and the paint color turned out fine. It really was the shock of having the walls unfinished that was throwing me off. It does have a green hue to it, but what can I say… I love green!

Before Painting

After Painting - same window

So, when it came time for painting the hallway, I chose a different color tan. Originally, I was going to make the living room and hallway all the same color. All my rooms were different colors, and I didn’t want the house to start looking disconnected. A difference shade of tan, without the green, was all I needed.

Hallway as the old color. New color is so much brighter!

That’s when I settled on Sherwin Williams “Portico.” It was so similar, minus the green. I loved it! It made me so happy. I wish my whole house had been painted this color. However, I still don’t think that would have stopped me from painting every single room.

This just proves what a coat of paint will do! Amazing!!