Sunday, April 3, 2011

Teal Zeal

Waaaaay back a long time ago, I wrote a post on this blog about trying to pick a shade of white to paint our whole house interior. There are so many shades of white and they all look very similar when you're just staring at tiny squares of paper. After a while I had a kind of snow blindness and just threw up my hands and picked a color and ran with it. It's turned out fine, but it was stressful.

You know what's worse than that? Way worse than that?? Picking a color to paint the shingles on the outside of your house. Way worse. Especially when your husband is color blind and can't help you at all and the neighbors already hate the current shade of turquoise (which you secretly love even though you know it's a bit too much really) and almost all the other houses on your street are just white even though the rest of your neighborhood town area state looks like an Easter basket.

I'm having a small mid-life crisis about this paint color thing. I know that no matter what color I choose some people are going to love it and some people will inevitably hate it. I know that whether you love turquoise or not, the current paint is chipping and horrible and any color of paint at all will look better merely because it will be clean and new and smooth. I know it's only going to last about 5-7 years (think of it, Maggie's already 4 years old - how time flies!) and we can choose a new shade then if the color isn't awesome. I know terrible things are happening in Libya and I'm fretting about paint. I know, I know!!

My problem is that I hate the idea of going from TURQUOISE!! to *boring* and just choosing a safe color where the house loses all it's fun personality. I hate the idea of settling for something safe just to please the neighbors who all like white. But in my heart of hearts I know that I'm really not that much of a renegade and I don't want people blaming me for their falling property values (as if they aren't bad enough already). And I'm not so brilliant with color and visualization that I feel confident choosing something off beat and having it come out perfectly. What if it ends up looking like a circus tent?

We've driven around looking at houses in the area trying to find one that is painted a color we like. There is a house of nearly every single color you can imagine within 10 miles of ours, but I just can't seem to find exactly the one that makes me feel confident. Some are too green, some are too blue, some are too light, some are too dark, etc...... I really think Mike wishes I would just shut up about it already. You probably wish I would just shut up about it already, and you're only 5 paragraphs into this here (and maybe a couple of several emails if you're related to me).

At any rate, here's where we stand at the moment.



I know, isn't that board hilarious. I asked Mike to paint a largish piece of wood from his basement collection of pieces of wood in a color I'm considering so that I could carry it around outside in different light and see it away from the turquoise. He and his dad cheerfully added this front door and trim to it for me. It's nice to see the contrast with the black (our front door is black) and white, but... it's a little cute. Especially when I'm dragging it around the house taking photos of it. However, Kate loves it.

The color swatches on the house are (above) Narragansett green, Yorktown green, (below) Knoxville gray, Templeton gray, Vanderberg blue, and River blue, all by Benjamin Moore.

The board is painted Knoxville Gray, which is the front runner at the moment. I had really wanted to do a dark teal, hoping to bring down the turquoise a notch or two without giving up the WOW factor of a bold color. Teal on the exterior takes some moxie that maybe I just don't have in the end. (I'm so disappointed in myself.) I like gray, but I felt like it might be too boring and conventional. Knoxville Gray is leading the pack right now because it does have kind of a teal undertone to it. It's a pretty weird color that seems to change shades in different light. Check this blog out to see a designer's photos of it under different light in an interior. I love the fact that it has a chameleon quality to it, even if it is just plain ole gray.















Are you still awake? Did you pass out from the monotony just then? Or do you find this scintillating? Perhaps you're loving this?? Eh, eh?? You are still reading this, you glutton for punishment. Is it because you just can't get over how cute that little door is? It's even got a doorknob. Hilarious, right?

One last thing before you run off. Here's a shot of the color of my dreams, River blue.



Pretty, right? But here's what it looks like in bright sunshine:



ACK!! Circus tent!! Oh well, I think we're just going to try it out painted on the walls in our bedroom instead. I think it'll look gorgeous with my lime green sheets and maybe a yellow throw pillow or something.

3 comments:

  1. The grey is pretty. I am in love with the Yorktown Green! Go bold! I do suggest again, painting a huge swatch some God awful color like orange so the neighbors will be happy with the teal. :)

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  2. All I have to say is Polar Bear white and look how well that turned out. Any of the colors you have selected are going to look great. Disclaimer: This coming from someone who has painted each room at least 2 times.

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  3. I like the 4 on the right... the knoxville gray looks more gray than in the original pic you sent me. go bold!

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