Fixing a bunch of walls at once also means painting a bunch of walls at once. Woo! But then we have to live with those decisions! Noooo. Paint is fixable, yes, but not conveniently or cheaply. It’s something I want to get right the first time, so I can change the colour at my leisure and not feel annoyed about it for years.
Colours – Dulux, table – vintage, rug – Freedom (already owned)
So I’ve been thinking over a home colour palette, for the sake of cohesion. Simple neutrals, elemental colours. Coastal and foresty, like this state, but more modern than rustic. Blues, grays and greeny-blues against lots of timber, chunky woolly textures and plants. Always plants. I’m not gonna be too rigid this vision, seeing as it’s a space that people (we) actually live in, not a magazine spread or showroom. I’m just trying to not make our place look like a whole thing of candy beans, is all.
The bathroom, entryway and hallway are probably going to be warm white. The kitchen, I’m not touching it yet, but it’ll also be colourless on the walls (white/gray/black). Painting rooms is going slowly, because we’re currently refinishing the floors, and we can’t get back to fixing the walls until that’s over with. So far, I’ve painted two rooms: the bedroom and the living room.
On the left is the bedroom featured on Design*Sponge that initially inspired me to go dark and navy with our bedroom walls. Minimal pattern and colour elsewhere. I love the simplicity and coziness. On the right is the master bedroom in our last place. All the furniture is coming with us, and I liked the inky navy blue so much that I wanted to paint our new master a similar colour.
The new room doesn’t get the direct sun that this one does, though, so I thought I’d go a shade lighter and use a slate grey. Payne’s grey, even. I put the chip on the wall, checked it out at different hours of the day, and felt sure about my decision.
Ha ha it’s navy. You see what happens when you don’t buy the testing pot?
The colour is Signature, by Dulux, which totally looks grey on the card. Will I ever learn that colours always look more saturated on the wall than on the chip. (And that maybe I’ll give Taubmans a go next time because they have a broader colour range.) Good thing I didn’t pick out a navy chip, it probably would have turned royal blue.
THAT SAID, I love navy walls and I especially love navy next to timber. It works with red, yellow and orange undertones, less so with grey (go less saturated with grey). I was so excited to paint it on! It really turned the space into our bedroom.
… you know, once we varnish this sanded-back floor, clean up all the painters tape and sawdust, sort out the trims, etc.
And as for the living room:
Pale pretty green-blue-grey, I don’t know how to describe it? Feel free to ignore the kitchen, it’s totally cray in there while we work on everything else.
The colour is White Box by Dulux. Definitely blue, not white. I figured this blue would suit the warm brown tones of the flooring, our couches, and all the other timber furnishings we’ll have in there. The blue has got enough green mixed in that it doesn’t look too cold, and it’ll be pleasantly complementary with everything in there. I’m reassuring myself of this as we progress, because as soon as it was all up, I immediately thought, oh, shit, our living room looks like a swimming pool.
I’m going to make it work. Keeping the faith.
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