Go Big or Go Home?

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

Major remodeling going on at our new house (my thread in Decorating with a lot of photos), which was originally all painted white with the exception of one room. Our current home is mostly a warm white with a few green rooms. I'll admit I love green.

I've bought a half dozen BM colors and put on the walls today - two places in each room. I would like to warm up the new house with color. So far I've purchased, but not committed to,:

BM Mystic Lake CSP-745 for the kitchen cabinets. Lowers, island and a fridge/freezer tower/pantry wall. (no uppers) English style kitchen, but not unfitted/mismatched.

BM Van Courtland Blue HC-145 Guest bedroom. Very pretty in this guest room (to be mostly used by our granddaughter) and MBR.

BM Powell Buff HC-35 2nd choice for this guest bedroom. Looks like a nice yellow/not bright. Also tried in MBR and it is too bright/too yellow.

BM Sea Salt CSP-95 Possible trim/ceiling color. Maybe a room color, unless it would just look "white."

BM Upper West Side CSP-70 Tried in guest room DGS will mostly use. Huge windows. Lots of light. Looked like muddy instead of taupe. BM store guy suggested I paint entire wall to get true color.

BM Oil Cloth CSP-760. Had hoped to paint huge foyer, DR and maybe LR this color. Also tried in DGS/guest room. Looks great in DR. Maybe LR. Foyer and DGS/guest room muddy. I had wanted a pretty green (but not bright).

I've spent the last two hours watching several of Lori Sawaya's videos, using the downloaded color wheel along with the EasyRGB website, and finding the LRV for each color.

All of these colors are between 20 and 200 on the wheel (or warm side). I guess that's good?!

As you see, I leaned towards the CSP line colors. I like the Aura paint line.

House has high ceilings, lots of windows. Lots of light. In central Alabama. Floors are French White Oak. Stairs will also be this, so I need to figure out what color to paint the cast iron spindles and what to do with mahogany handrail (matches front door, but door won't be painted). These boards show finished product:

My original plan was to paint walls, trim and doors in each room the same color. Ceiling a lighter version of same color.

Furniture is mostly antiques/vintage. Rugs are oriental and soumak. Upholstered pieces will be recovered or purchased. Bedding will be purchased. Some modern light fixtures and upholstered pieces (MBR bed, LR sofa, for ex.) I lean to warm, fall colors. Any words of wisdom will be deeply appreciated.

Allison

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Comments (5)

Allison0704
Original Author
6 years ago
No advice from anyone?
Godswood
6 years ago
It sounds like you have a solid plan. What advice do you need?

I guess my words of wisdom are add 20% to your budget because stuff happens.
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Lori A. Sawaya
6 years ago
All of these colors are between 20 and 200 on the wheel (or warm side). I guess that's good?!

You've definitely picked a lane and you're stickin' to it. Which is a good thing, using hue families from the same hue family neighborhood, like one side of the wheel, will ensure a certain degree of continuity and flow throughout; no big leaps to the other side of the wheel, no big punctuation marks of cooler colors, means no big moments of contrast.

Furniture is mostly antiques/vintage. Rugs are oriental and soumak.

When you have contents like this planned for the room, it's kind of hard to mess up the wall color because there are so many good, viable options.

It's somewhat of a luxury because you CAN choose wall colors first and you CAN choose those colors based mostly on what speaks to you and what you think looks pretty on the walls. You're doing the right thing by thoroughly testing to see how the colors behave in each room - again, if you do it right and take your time to test, sample, evaluate the colors, the margin of error is super low.

As you see, I leaned towards the CSP line colors. I like the Aura paint line.

Full spectrum color mixed in Aura matte - not sure it gets any better than that. Yum. This is yet another layer that will afford you more options for decor than it will limit you. Full spectrum colors shift, react/respond to the light more dramatically than most *regular* paint colors. Nic-named "chameleon colors", because they seem to have a magical way of changing and adapting to the contents of the room and somehow everything just goes together.
Allison0704
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Cami, was hoping for other color suggestions.

Lori, thanks for weighing in. DH wants eggshell. Should I push for matte? Still use semi-gloss on wood trim/doors/windows?

BM Mystic Lake CSP-745 - I still like this sample but worry about it being a dark/bold color.

BM Van Courtland Blue HC-145 - Still like it in this guest room, but again, worried about it once room is painted. Looking for something not quite as dark

or BM Powell Buff HC-35 for same room, but DD1 vetoed this one... not that it matters, but she does have good taste.

BM Sea Salt CSP-95 - I did like this color until DD1 said she sees it as a gray. I don't do gray.

BM Upper West Side CSP-70 - too dark.

BM Oil Cloth CSP-760 - too dark for grandson's room/looks muddy. Same for foyer/lower level. Looks good in MBR, LR and DR. Looking for lighter, more clear color.

I spent several hours last night reading online. Went through my BM fan deck and made notes of 50+ colors in the 60-65 LRV range after reading most people end up painting in this range. All are lighter than I had planned. My brain and eyes were fried, so I went through drawers today instead of looking at chips again.

Thanks to both of you for your help/comments.
Allison0704
Original Author
6 years ago
I've moved away from most (if not all) of the above BM colors, and painted areas with F&B sample pots. Looked through the F&B fan deck yesterday and will go buy a few more this week.

Go Big or Go Home?

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Allison0704
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