Although it may seem I’ve been neglecting the living room project, I haven’t been (entirely, anyway).
I got some lamps from Goodwill that will be wonderful after some DIY-love and new drum shades.
They were $10 each and they’re a pair. (I was sad it wasn’t 1/2-off day, but they were still a good deal.) The brushed nickel looks new, and I plan on painting/doing something creative to the light wood middle.
I got a perfectly-sized round end table for the corner between the couches at The Comfy Couch in Highland, IN. It, too, will need some DIY-love of some sort, but I’m so happy with it. The size and shape couldn’t be better.
And, I’ve finished the mudding of the never-ending mudwork of the fireplace (didn’t really think it’d take me 3 months, but mudwork is boring and frustrating and messy and dusty!)
The wall around the fireplace is finally ready to be primed and painted before I start working on the mantel.
Which leads me into the real topic of this post, which is picking a new living room color. As much as I love the current creamy color it is, it’s time to move in a new direction to keep up the uniformity and style of the living room (or so says my friend Valerie, of Vj Interiors). :)
She showed me a few options, Pittsburgh Paint colors, that she gets in these huge swatches.
The colors shown here are: top left: Blue Willow, bottom left: Gray Stone, top right: Steel City, and bottom right: Babbling Brook.
Valerie liked the idea of the teal-ish colors to blend with the bookcases and bring some color and happy to the living room. I like the idea of happy, but I’m not sure if I love the idea of the teal living room. I love the color…I just don’t know how much of it I will love. :)
We narrowed it down to Gray Stone and Babbling Brook.
Besides how they’d look with the trim and the couch, I also wanted to see how they’d look with the bookcases and the blue color we have in our kitchen and bedroom, so we moved the swatches around the room.
I really love the lightness of my current creamy color, and I like that the Babbling Brook is also light and happy, but I think I feel more comfortable with the Gray Stone. (I think it looks a little darker in these pictures than it does in real life.) I like the contrast it brings to the trim and the bookshelves, and once I hang curtains and artwork, there really won’t be that much of it showing.
(Although, as I’m writing this post, I’m wondering about whether or not I should just keep my creamy color! (I’ll find the name for you, it’s a Benjamin Moore color.))
What about you? Do you have trouble with paint choices? Do you prefer neutrals over something more colorful?
I like the Gray Stone color... as far as I can tell from the pictures anyway :)
ReplyDeleteThe story of my life is only wanting neutral wall colors. I haven't had any 'real' color on my walls since the condo Michael and I had in the city. We had red on some of the walls... and I secretly hated it! Way too bold for me.
My new debate is over warm vs. cool neutrals. I've always had warm browns and tans, but lately I've been obsessed with cool grays and whites...
We'll see what happens next time we buy a place that I can/want to fully paint.
Yes! I loved the idea of the teal at first, and maybe in a smaller space I'd still do it...but for the living room, I want to stick with the neutrals! And I agree about the warm vs. cool. I love the idea of cool colors, the grays and whites. Online, I feel like those are my favorite rooms. I love the gray...but then I'm worried it will be too dark (or something?) in the living room and I'm thinking of sticking with the cream...oh choices! I know paint is "easy" but it's not so easy that I'll be jumping for joy if I have to change it :)
ReplyDeleteAre you not painting at all in your current place? (Also, obviously now with baby, I realize this is not a priority) ;)