Singing the Blues ~ and greys......

Do you grab an idea and run with it? Do you just get your stuff together and start sanding and painting willy-nilly? Or are you like fuddy-duddy me, planning each step of a decorating project, hesitant to jump in and just have fun with it?

Here's what I do ~ collect magazine tear sheets, paint chips, photos of rooms I love, mount them on a board and stick them up there for the world to see! Meanwhile I think for a while, try to get my thoughts in order regarding where to start, Then I gather the necessities, drop cloths, wood filler, paints, brushes, tape, sandpaper, wax etc. Grab a pair of rubber gloves as I hate to get paint under my nails ~ they're long ~ old towels and t-shirts, empty paint cans and stirrers. Like a witch at her cauldron, I pour and stir, mix and blend - three black spiders, two rats' tails, no, no, no - I mean half a quart of medium grey, 2 ounces of dusty blue, a dollop of whipped cream white.

My current 'story board' as I get ready to paint and distress the Welsh Dresser, sideboard, and other sundry items in shades of French Grey and misty blue-grey.

The large crack ~ house settled? ~ was in this corner. Nice job done to repair that eyesore! And the beautiful now smooth ceiling with the texture gone, forever!!

Here you can see the new Classic Grey shade on the wall and the embossed paper below the chair rail. Like all paints, the color changes according to the time of day and the light source in the room. These pics were taken mid-morning with strong Winter sun streaming in the South facing room. This is why choosing the right shade is always so difficult and frustrating. You know it's never going to end up exactly like the little paint chip so doing a sample board is always a good idea. Remember also that paint dries darker than the color appears when first rolled on to the wall.

Notes about the painting ~

• The wallpaper border would not come down without a long process of soaking, scraping, peeling, yuck! Instead, my painter was able to skim it with 'mud' to make the lower edge disappear and then the two coats of paint covered it completely - thank goodness. Luckily it was a light colored border pattern!
• At first I thought the grey was too light but as it will be a backdrop for the painted furniture pieces, which will be deeper shades, its silvered white shade is really perfect. There is absolutely no blue in this color. As much as I love blue I didn't want a blue room.
• I actually had the paint used on the embossed wallpaper mixed 25% darker but it really doesn't show.

Hope to have more pics once the furniture painting is completed and the room put back together. Then perhaps a dinner party ~ would you like an invitation?

Note: The Graphite walls ~ DH likes the look! He still thinks he may lose his way in the middle of the night, but he actually said, "I like anything you do". How sweet after all these years.