Painting Progress

Last I left you guys, I had attempted a journey to finish a list of insane proportions.  Needless to say, I had a minor emotional breakdown and the list didn't get finished.

But, before that happened, some painting did get accomplished.  Most of it is actually finished (apart from the ceilings, an extra coat in the dining room, the front hall closet and one medallion) but I don't have proper photos yet.  I do, however, have some fun progress shots!

So, in regards to paint colours, the last time I was talking about a new colour scheme, due to my older, reliable sofa being replaced but a younger, more attractive piece (sniff).

After much deliberation, it was a completely fluke that helped us decide on a colour scheme. Hubs and I were sitting on the new chaise when we noticed that his shorts (navy with pinstripes), his shirt (a coral coloured t-shirt) and the chaise all looked really nice together! And that was it. My sister came to visit and we went to Benjamin Moore to get our paint!

I'm a huge fan of Aura paints - really low-VOC, virtually no smell and it covers like no paint I've ever used. Two coat guarantee, no matter what colour (even RED).  However, once we got to BM, I saw their "Natura" line. It has no VOCs and doesn't smell.  It doesn't cover quite as well as Aura (because nothing does), but it's available in every possible colour! Now, I'm not sure if you know anything about no-VOC paints, but it's the dark colours that are the most toxic, because the  volatile organic compounds are found in the pigments, themselves.  So, most no-VOC paints I have come across only come in a range of whites and pastels.  BM has managed to create a no-VOC paint that still works with dark colours.   Sometimes, I love technology.

 

Our colours.

 

Our first attempt at some colour;

it's amazing how different colours look in the store, on a swatch.

 

The stairwell colour - no more beige! (Pardon the mess.)

 

Bye bye baby-tealy-blueish-green.

 

Oh Danny, what a schmuck!

 

Ahhh... I love white walls :) BM Marble White & BM Colonial Brick. The brick colour is very surprising. Sometimes it looks a little pink, other times or orange or even a dark red. I love how it changes with the light - it makes the space so dynamic.

Every day we find proof of idiocy/laziness and getting an idea of what this house looked like at one point. This wall paper in the dining room, dark teal walls and trim in hallway, living room and upstairs, seafoam green carpet.... Serious.

 

Again!? Seriously, dog.

I know - not that much for you guys to look at in terms of the painted spaces. There will be more of that to come soon. I promise!

Lists!!

I love lists.

Seriously, I spend more time making lists than I spend doing the stuff that I actually put on the lists! I have lists for every activity, plan, trip and they're all over the place - in notebooks, on napkins, on excel - colour coordinated, dated. I'm slightly OCD when it comes to lists. But they FEEL so productive!

This weekend Hubs is away for a boys-only camping trip. Lucky. I have spent the last few days painting with my sister, though now she is gone and it's up to me to continue with the momentum!

I thought, since I have this blog, I'll put my list on here and share it with you. Maybe then I'll feel more accountable to actually finishing it!

Done already this weekend:

• Dining room - painted two coats above chair-rail
• Dining room - painted one coat on below chair rail
• Foyer - painted two coats
• Stair wall - painted two coats up to where we can reach (need really big ladder for the rest)

To do today & tomorrow:

• Buy paint for dining room
• Buy a quart of paint for stairwell
• Paint second coat in dining room below chair rail
• Dust and wash trim in foyer, dining room, stairway, living room
• Paint trim
• Paint living room walls
• Paint medallions on ceiling in living room
• Sand and paint banister
• Spray paint brass hardware on banister black
• Spray paint remaining towel racks in bathroom black
• Paint living room light fixtures
• Cut spruce floor boards to size
• Patch flooring in master bedroom
• Tidy kitchen
• Tidy living room
• Do laundry
• Vacuum
• Have a glass of wine

That should keep me busy.

The paint I am using is Benjamin Moore "Natura" paint, which has been great so far. I will give a full review once this is complete, but the biggest plus so far has been no smell, at all. You can't even tell I've been painting for the last two days because it's zero-voc. Ahhh....

Someone save me from myself

Why on earth I get myself in these situations, I have no idea... and how I get out of them every time is a mystery to me too!!

Here is what has transpired in the last few days, since my last post:

We go to pick up the chaise and it doesn't fit in the car (by 1/2 inch on either side... grrrr). So the next day we rent a pick-up truck. It still ends up being about $40 cheaper than delivery, so sweet deal.

So we pick it up and put it in the room. We don't unpack it b/c we have to get the truck back and get some paint samples (I have the swatch with me)

We spend an hour at Home Depot, (as always) pick out four colour combinations we would like to see downstairs that match the swatch I have with me and get samples of the living room colours from each scheme in little cans so we can see it on the wall.

We get home and unwrap the chaise.

It looks... purple.
Which is strange, because we could have sworn it was a beigey/grey colour in the store.

I switch out all the light bulbs - we still have the original incandescent ones in the living room - to CFLs.

Ahhh.. much better.

We paint four colours on the wall: Decent, Hate it, Don't Like it, Decent-est.

The one we actually liked the most is called Ivory Lace - a warm white. The other colours in this scheme we picked out are a coral colour called Colonial Brick for accents and a dark burgundy/purple for the dining area. We have to work with the chaise that seems to look purple if you put it by some colours and green if you put it by others.

Did I ever tell you that grey is hard to work with??? Because it is.

The latest site I have been using for inspiration is Color-Collective. (When I remember who told me about this, I'll let you know). It's pure genius. Here are some of my favourite colour schemes. Hubs hasn't chimed in on what he thinks just yet.

What do you guys think??  My favourites are the first and last. I do think I will start out with a warm white for the main space and then develop the room based on one of these schemes... slowly, piece by piece.

(Note: the reason we need a new scheme, instead of continuing with this one, is because after my beautiful blue sofa is gone, that scheme will no longer match the furniture... sigh...)