whether we liked that new paint color or not~~Actually, that verdict is still not in but we're getting closer. We like it when we're in the room and when we're looking at it from the door on the living room side of the room but, when we're looking in from the kitchen? Well, that's the view we're not quite sure works.
That first day of painting, we all loved the color despite its being a bit deeper then it had looked in the can. But the next day, after the walls were covered with their second coat, is when the uncertainty started creeping its way in. I knew immediately that it was that dark green bead board ceiling that was causing the issue but no way was I repainting that thing a different color, so we had to figure out how to make the wall color work or change it.
You can just glimpse the dark green bead board ceiling that is causing the issue with the paint color. The ceiling is visible from the kitchen but from the living room, you don't see it until you actually enter the office.
I knew we'd hit that point in decorating that you sometimes see on those HGTV shows....you know...when the homeowner says "I hate it" and the designer says "wait till it all comes together"....and so that's what I told the family while I secretly crossed my fingers behind my back. While the boys went off to Marching Band Camp and David went to work, I'd sit and stare at the room from the kitchen table convincing myself that I was right ... it would all come together...somehow...because I loved that wall color and knew it would look fantastic next to the wood of the bookcases, Papa's chair and my desk....and no way was I going through all the work required to paint that ceiling a different color.
I went ahead with the trim painting and it started to look better once the light green (that I've never really been happy with) was all covered with the new reddish one but still I was starting to think I may just have to sand down that bead board ceiling and paint it a much lighter color after all because no way was I losing that wall color.
And then, I moved into the kitchen and started painting the trim in there with that new reddish one and it started to work. And it hit me...the walls in the kitchen are Benjamin Moore White Sands and that was what was needed in the office to tie it all in, and I didn't need to spend days on that ceiling. We'll have to frame in all four corners of the office and put crown molding along the ceiling to cover up all the joins - when that goes in painted White Sands, it will break up the currently overwhelming color in that office; add in the ceiling fan blades and the blinds that are nearly an identical match to the White Sands paint, and we'd be fine. But I still knew that it would need another step to make it really work because of the view from the kitchen - it was just too jarring to the eye when you came in the house through the mudroom door and entered the kitchen.
Still sitting at the kitchen table, staring into the room while imagining the trim painted White Sands, the ceiling fan blades back up along with the blinds, flipping through magazines for inspiration, I made a decision. I decided that painting below the chair rail in the mudroom the same color as the walls in the office, will tie the mudroom, kitchen and office together for the eye of the beholder and avoid that "wow, you painted the office and I'm not sure I like it" look from those who enter our house. (And even better, it will serve to hide the evidence of the rough treatment the mudroom walls get from tossed shoes, backpacks, and dogs who shake off rain....).
Two years ago, I ran out of ideas for the mudroom walls and just painted them the same White Sands as the kitchen, but with the chair rail and moldings all going red. I tried to do a faux bead board look below the chair rail but it didn't work out; I'm glad that the office Reno actually helped me decide just what to do with those walls. (Let's hope it works out and I can tell the family that it "see...(it) all came together" - and uncross those fingers!)
And so, with the ceiling given a fresh coat of its dark green paint, with the walls painted and the trim painted, David started to frame out the floor in preparation for the new hardwood floor.
There's now insulation between those boards; before this renovation, the floor was the original wood flooring of the old front porch - no insulation at all...made for very cold winter days and a vast supply of slipper socks.
Which brings us to where we are with the room today. The floor is stained and drying; the finishing was supposed to take place yesterday but the rain put it off and now, today, I'm not in the mood to work in that office. So tomorrow the finishing touches begin on the flooring and then in two weeks, we'll get on the trim. We're hoping for a November finish to the room...but I'm not holding my breath...just as long as its done by Thanksgiving, I'll be happy~
This photo was taken after dark on Friday so the coloring is not quite right and the image is a bit blurry - but imagine White Sands trim up the corners....big baseboards (not the cheap modern ones that were in the room before) and lovely bookcases and soft lighting...that's what I'm doing anyway. Here's to being done by Thanksgiving!
You can just glimpse the dark green bead board ceiling that is causing the issue with the paint color. The ceiling is visible from the kitchen but from the living room, you don't see it until you actually enter the office.
I knew we'd hit that point in decorating that you sometimes see on those HGTV shows....you know...when the homeowner says "I hate it" and the designer says "wait till it all comes together"....and so that's what I told the family while I secretly crossed my fingers behind my back. While the boys went off to Marching Band Camp and David went to work, I'd sit and stare at the room from the kitchen table convincing myself that I was right ... it would all come together...somehow...because I loved that wall color and knew it would look fantastic next to the wood of the bookcases, Papa's chair and my desk....and no way was I going through all the work required to paint that ceiling a different color.
I went ahead with the trim painting and it started to look better once the light green (that I've never really been happy with) was all covered with the new reddish one but still I was starting to think I may just have to sand down that bead board ceiling and paint it a much lighter color after all because no way was I losing that wall color.
And then, I moved into the kitchen and started painting the trim in there with that new reddish one and it started to work. And it hit me...the walls in the kitchen are Benjamin Moore White Sands and that was what was needed in the office to tie it all in, and I didn't need to spend days on that ceiling. We'll have to frame in all four corners of the office and put crown molding along the ceiling to cover up all the joins - when that goes in painted White Sands, it will break up the currently overwhelming color in that office; add in the ceiling fan blades and the blinds that are nearly an identical match to the White Sands paint, and we'd be fine. But I still knew that it would need another step to make it really work because of the view from the kitchen - it was just too jarring to the eye when you came in the house through the mudroom door and entered the kitchen.
Still sitting at the kitchen table, staring into the room while imagining the trim painted White Sands, the ceiling fan blades back up along with the blinds, flipping through magazines for inspiration, I made a decision. I decided that painting below the chair rail in the mudroom the same color as the walls in the office, will tie the mudroom, kitchen and office together for the eye of the beholder and avoid that "wow, you painted the office and I'm not sure I like it" look from those who enter our house. (And even better, it will serve to hide the evidence of the rough treatment the mudroom walls get from tossed shoes, backpacks, and dogs who shake off rain....).
Two years ago, I ran out of ideas for the mudroom walls and just painted them the same White Sands as the kitchen, but with the chair rail and moldings all going red. I tried to do a faux bead board look below the chair rail but it didn't work out; I'm glad that the office Reno actually helped me decide just what to do with those walls. (Let's hope it works out and I can tell the family that it "see...(it) all came together" - and uncross those fingers!)
And so, with the ceiling given a fresh coat of its dark green paint, with the walls painted and the trim painted, David started to frame out the floor in preparation for the new hardwood floor.
There's now insulation between those boards; before this renovation, the floor was the original wood flooring of the old front porch - no insulation at all...made for very cold winter days and a vast supply of slipper socks.
Which brings us to where we are with the room today. The floor is stained and drying; the finishing was supposed to take place yesterday but the rain put it off and now, today, I'm not in the mood to work in that office. So tomorrow the finishing touches begin on the flooring and then in two weeks, we'll get on the trim. We're hoping for a November finish to the room...but I'm not holding my breath...just as long as its done by Thanksgiving, I'll be happy~
This photo was taken after dark on Friday so the coloring is not quite right and the image is a bit blurry - but imagine White Sands trim up the corners....big baseboards (not the cheap modern ones that were in the room before) and lovely bookcases and soft lighting...that's what I'm doing anyway. Here's to being done by Thanksgiving!
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