I just had a painter come in to paint the kitchen walls and I absolutely hate how it looks. I am kicking myself...hard! What was I thinking?

The best part is I had a completely different color picked out than what I wound up going with. It all happened so fast and one of the few times I decided to be spontaneous and now I'm regretting it.

Long story summarize: I found a color in the pottery barn catalog and assumed it was one of the benjamin moore color swatches they now list in their catalogs. When I called pottery barn the morning the painter was coming, i was told that not all photos featured in the catalog were BM paint. Initially I thought it was one of two very similar swatches listed in the BM color chart found in the middle of the pottery barn catalog. So there I was , painter shows up and I have no color for him. He tried to help me match one of the 5million brown paint chips on his paintwheel to the photo..but the clock was ticking, he still had to go to the paint store and set up to paint the kitchen. I was sweating...I wish I told him i would have to reshchedule..

So there I was having to decide on a color immediately as the painter had to get started. We tried to match a swatch to the pciture..but of course got totally overwhelmed with the dozens and dozens of chips in the brown family. We settled on one that seemed to line up with the pciture..painter suggested he only get a quart and while he got busy priming I could decide if I liked it. We decided on a color called Sequoia which had some subtle plum undertones but was more of a brown color. He bought only a qt of it to allow me more time to decide if that was the color i wanted..turns out it looked quite purple when tested on the wall..sweating some more...now had less time to pick a color...

So, as he started to prime, in what i now call a temporary moment of insanity, I took one look at the gray primer he used and thought it looked cool...so I decided to do that in a paint form! Even had a friend over at that point who agreed that the gray was a different twist..more modern and looked great against the stainless appliances. Which i guess it did BUT.....in hindsight I realized that I did not factor in what an entire room would look like in that color (kitchen has a den-like sitting area which was also being painted) also didn't consider what my acessories would look like against the gray walls and lastly, didn't give enough scrutiny on how this color would blend into the separate but adjoining rooms in the house. REst of my house are in Martha Stewart pallettes.

So, now, I'm sick over having paid $700 and HATING the results. I used to love my kitchen and now i can't even stand the sight of it. Despite reassurance from others, the walls to me look blue..not a bright blue but definitely have what i would say a midnight blue hue to them. The sitting area has a fireplace which has a barn-red mantle which at first I thought the contrast between the gray walls and the red mantle would be striking..now i can't help but to think my kitchen and sitting area is RED WHITE and BLUE (red mantle and window treatments...white trim on moldings and windows ....and BLUE (i m ean gray) walls.

I called the painter for an estimate to repaint which is only slightly less b/c he woudln't have to prime...but still nearly paying the same as before ..which of course kills me. It would be $500 for repaint..

I dont know why i'm posting this here other then to vent and possibly get some suggestions. I have been playng around with the acessories, removing the red throw pillows and imagining how it would look with a different window treatment (currently red )...but not feeling very confident that I will eventually be ok with this color.

I guess the answer is to repaint...which is daunting whether faced with having to pay another $500 or trying to do it myself (10 foot ceilings and lots of cutting required)...and I know from past experience, I'm not a good painter hence why I hired someone in the first place.

In case you're wondering..cabinets are an off white, black soapstone counters and some butcher block as well.