Monday, December 22, 2008

Color!

The guest room ceiling is painted, and the walls have a coat of paint on them!

The color is peristyle brass (one of those Sherwin Williams Arts & Crafts colors). We wanted a piney-green, not a sagey or bluey green - because we want this room to feel like a nest in the big ancient spruce that the windows look into. You know that color that you realize, toward the end of winter, that all the evergreens have turned? Chlorotic cedar, or something like that? That's this color.

It wasn't a color I'd pick off a sheet of greens right off, and in fact, it's more yellow-gold than green, but the more we looked at the paint chip, the more it grew on us.

Then we opened the paint can and it looked like a whole lotta yellow. Hmmm. But - we know from past experience not to judge before getting at least the prescribed two coats on the wall. The living room ceiling looked peach (!) - until we got the yellow on the walls, then it looked fab.

So, paint we did. This is the first coat. By the way, those teeny little foam rollers they sell for trim or edging happen to be perfect to reach down behind radiators, solving that long-standing dilemma.

The color tones down and mellows out (and gets greener) as it dries. I also think it will get greener when we paint the trim (SW White Hyacinth), because that will really be creamy and be a counterpoint to the gold color. We like it a lot so far, especially for a first coat. It's a really, really nice deep color that's not dark. Perfect for a bedroom.


Then again, it's kind of the color of boogers. Eew.

9 comments:

Jacci said...

The color of boogers? Nice.

I love the paint color - you're right, it's a great midpoint between light and dark shades. Lovely for a bedroom :)

I have a question about your trim? What made you decide to paint it (or leave it painted, if that's how you came to it)? I love the look of painted wood, but also love the warmth of stained wood in Craftsman homes. What prompted you to choose to go with painted woodwork?

I love the look of the room :) great pic.

Jacci said...

Oh, I also wanted to ask what your accent colors were going to be. What colors are you thinking of for bedding, pillows, etc?

sarah said...

Jacci -

The woodwork was originally painted, as it was most of the time in older homes (bungalows included). We stripped every stitch of trim downstairs and in parts of the upstairs back to wood. When we got to the bedrooms, we tested stripping a couple of spots, and found that it was originally painted. In this house, it's easy to tell - the stuff that was wood originally is varnished & stained; stuff that's not wood is completely 'white', bare wood underneath. The paint seeps in to the wood a bit in that case, and it's hard to strip & get to look right. So that's why we (staunchly against painted trim) decided to do it. It hurts a bit, for sure.

sarah said...

Jacci -
Our accents will be pretty neutral - tan, etc. I found a whole comforter set from JC Penney at a local thrift shop (they had just gotten a whole truckload of returns, etc), and it's tan with a kinf of reddish-orange teeny bit of trim, and cream. Very plain - we didn't want patterns. Also, I have a pinecone stencil I'll put at the top of the walls (brown & brownish green, very tonal). And a pinecone pillow from Ann Wallace. That's about it.

Jacci said...

Thanks for the replies, Sarah. The things you've chosen to complete the bedroom sound great. Love the idea of the pinecone stencil :)

Interesting about the trim. I think I read somewhere recently that William Morris advised that bedroom trim be painted a light color. From what I've been seeing in books and online, it *seems* like bedrooms, baths, and often kitchens stuck with painted wood trim. Does that sound about right? At any rate, I like the look of it in your bedroom. Sorry you weren't able to stain it as you had hoped, though.

Loved reading through your blog here and there a bit this week. We've just moved and my husband and I are dreaming about how we want to add charm and character to this house :) Looking at bungalows like yours give us some great ideas!!!

Merry Christmas,
Jacci

Anonymous said...

Dear Sarah & Kenny,

It looks like you have done wonders. Kenny, I always knew
you'd be successful.

Kelley
from Floyd County, VA

Anonymous said...

Ha! Boogers! I have to give a presentation on bungalow paint colors at our local historical society in February - I wonder how people would feel about me suggesting "booger" as paint color? :-)

Karen Anne said...

Jacci,

in my 1920s California bungalow, the trim in the living and dining room was stained, in the other rooms, painted. You could tell that it had always been painted. That seemed fairly typical of the bungalows in that area.

Jen said...

The color is a lot like Benjamin Moore's Timothy Straw the color of our front bedroom.

And now I am wondering about the trim in our living and dining room. I know the back hall and bedrooms were always painted and I just assumed the rest of the trim was always painted....
Hummmmmm

Happy New Year.