Improving Home Improvement

Guess what we're up to?

I'll give you a hint, no one got a job at Lowe's. That's right, we're painting! I say we're improving home improvement (on our budget, paint = a home improvement) because the space we're about to paint is actually one that we've already painted since we've been living here (4 years). So why are we painting it again?? The short answer is: indecision.

I chose the color we have in our living/dining rooms now, a soft pale blue, based on a vision I had for these rooms a while back. We painted as the first step. Then as we went along, we changed our minds about a few other things. We got new furniture that wasn't part of the original vision, and then a rug that matched the furniture. So here we are a few years later and the paint is the one thing that just doesn't "go." In addition to all that, I am simply not so much a fan of the color as I was when it first went up.

In our house, the main level consists of three rooms lined up one behind the other. Our living room is in the front of the house, the kitchen is across the back of the house, and the dining room is in between. Each room is easily visible from anywhere you stand so they have to coordinate at the very least. Back when we painted the first time, I let the kitchen be a neutral oatmeal color because I didn't want a pale blue kitchen. Plus the floor and counters in that kitchen are dark green (gag) and would have clashed like none other with the blue. At this point, I've decided that I want basically all of the common living space - living, dining, kitchen, stairway, and upstairs hall - to be one color. I think continuity adds to a feeling of spaciousness (vs. many small rooms all different colors) and is just more sophisticated. We do have a powder room on the main level that is sage green though and I plan to leave that as is.

I haven't yet chosen the new color. It's a pretty big decision since we're painting most of our house this color. I do have it pretty narrowed down though. We're going for a neutral, not beige, not gray but somewhere in between and maybe with a kiss of green. Can't decide about the green though. Our furniture is a lively pattern so we really need to keep that the focus and let the walls be a nice neutral backdrop. I will happily post updates along the way so you can see the transformation!