Monday, March 7, 2011

No eye for design

As much as I would love and try to be a person that can have a "decor eye" (you know the person that takes a BLAH room and turns it into a tada room with what seems to be little effort) well sadly enough I know I will just never be one of them.
I recieved the quilt I ordered for Mikey's bed. (I was SO excited I ran to the door when I saw the UPS man pull up.) I pulled out the quilt looked at it:

Then looked at my paint choice (at which time I had fallen in love with) and got a knot in my stomach. There was no way they would work together. (Well not one that I could look at daily and not cringe.)
Over the next few hours I left my choices in the blank room and kept peaking at them hoping a miracle would happen and they would look as good as I had dreamed about......And then I called my sister. She told me to sleep on it and she would help me the next day. She came and we both decided that the quilt was great but it read WAY more blue than I had expected and not light blue but more like blue jean blue (which I refuse to put on my walls). Yellow could have been a nice wall color but I have this dumb wood moldings that I think you either love or hate. I hate them I love crisp white but since our home isn't even 5 years old I can't really justify the cost of replacing them and I'm not sold on painting them. So yellow is out. I want the room to fill bright and roomy but also restful so red was not going to work for the walls. So we were left with girly colors....OUT and Green, gray, or white. I think adding green into all those colors would make the room shout so I threw it out. I didn't really consider white so gray with blue in it seemed perfect. I picked a gray, got a sample pot and painted it on the wall and got this:

That is a FLAT paint. It is just SO bright of a color it appears to be Shiny and VERY BLUE. The color was called Light French GRAY, I honestly see no gray in it now it is on the wall. SIGH. (All you talented people with an eye for design probably are laughing at me right now.) So I spent the next two days straight researching grays. Can I say WOW! There are TONS of Grays and TONS of opinions (most of them opposing each other) on which one is best and what undertones they have. Ughhhh. I have poured over so many gray swatches I honestly am at a point that I'm not sure if I want gray on the walls anymore. Besides I live in the NW which is grey all the time so maybe my idea to do gray is bad?
Well I ran upon this picture tonight from Pottery Barn kids. Look what they have WOOD around the window wood like mine! and a colorful striped quilt and what color are the walls? WHITE? Hmmmm is it really this easy? (Although my entire house walls and ceilings are painted beige so this still means I have to choose a color or two.) So tell me what you think should I just paint white and surrender to my inability to choose paint? Or should I send the quilt back and buy a solid one that will go with the wall color I loved (BM woodlawn blue)

4 comments:

  1. I figure if it'll match with white, it will match with a light blue/gray. Try getting a bottle a painting a swatch on a board--then holding it up to the quilt. It looks like the quilt would go with just about anything. I too don't have the "eye", but hours of HGTV has taught me that everything doesn't need to be matchy-matchy as long as it doesn't compete or conflict. Looking forward to seeing what you pick...

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  2. Would it work to have the walls white and have one accent wall with a "splash" of color? Or, perhaps, long curtains that are a fun, solid color to break up the white? I think Mikey will love it, no matter what! :)

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  3. Couple thoughts...
    The quilt and the paint color don't go well together so which do you love more? Pick one and start fresh from there.

    I noticed on the picture from the pottery barn that while the walls are white, there is a lot of color on them (curtains, shelves, a kite, a red lamp, etc). So that may be a differnt way to go.

    I love the idea of this blog! I'm looking forward to seeing your projects!

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  4. I say stick with the current beige. Although I guess you have at least one wall to paint now.

    I think people stress so much over wall cover. Just relax about it. I decided that the walls in my house will be kind of bland - my dining/kitchen is called "luxury linen" so it is basically off-white. I do have one accent wall of a dark grey color in there. I digress. I decided that after looking through so many magazines and online sources, I am always drawn to the rooms that have light walls. Color and personality comes from the other elements: furniture, fabrics, accessories. So I say that you should stick with your beige until you get the room how you want it, and then if you think your walls are boring find a new color for them.

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