| | This is what the Redken artists say to themselves when they're working on a hair style/color/look, and it's a little weird at the halfway point..."Trust the process"...to remind themselves that if they follow all the steps, in the end, it will turn out well.
That's what I'm saying to myself about my dining room. I am taking Christopher Lowell's advice and Painting! With Color! The dining room is so big and stark that I haven't been able to make it cozy and welcoming. Lowell says in his book Seven Layers of Design, "We hide behind white because we think it's safe. To compensate for lack of color, we spend thousands of dollars on upholstery, rugs, drapes, and accessories to keep our interiours from looking cold and sterile. You will forever be fighting to make your rooms look warm and inviting if you don't paint with color!"
When I interviewed him at High Point in October, I asked him what renters could do about painting. He said, "Let me give you a formula. When we polled – we’re so lucky, we just get to talk to everybody all the time about anything we want to – we polled renters about how long they found at an average they were in an apartment. And the minimum average was three years. Take three years divided by six gallons of white paint. It comes down to less than 2.4 cents a day. Okay? Have a ball. Paint everything in sight. Because the reality of it is, your landlord shouldn’t be holding you hostage, no matter where you live. And anybody who’s rented...and they can’t paint, they got a very bad deal." Basically, paint whatever you want and then if the landlord doesn't like it, just paint it white again when you leave.
So I am Having A Ball. I'm hoping that The Process will turn out well once I'm done. It's a little worrisome partway through... This is the effect I was going for. But I think I picked the wrong color. It's not so much a moss green as a fern green - it has blue undertones rather than yellow. I thought it would be more soothing than an olive green, but right now it just looks very...GREEN. (Hey, Wal-Mart has a very limited color selection...but you can't beat $9.44/gallon!)
Gwyn and Amy came over yesterday to help me paint, and we got the first coat done, then after they left I did a second coat on two of the walls. Then I ran out of paint. (Sighhhhhhhh...) So I will go get more paint on my way home tonight, finish the walls, and then paint the ceiling. (I think I will really like the ceiling color...it's a light green called "Pesto.") Painting the ceiling is part of The Process. In Seven Layers, Lowell says, "Yes, do paint the ceilings. Introducing rich color on the walls while leaving the ceiling white will make your room look as if you've spread a big bedsheet over it. The ceiling will actually seem lower if left white...paint the ceiling two shades lighter than your wall color...By using two shades of the same color for your walls and ceiling, the light will now reflect evenly throughout your room."
Even though I'm a little worried about how it's going to turn out - most of my accessories are olive-brown-bronze-based green - I keep repeating to myself Lowell's advice: "Don't make judgements about your color choices until all references to white are out of the room. Only then will you have a clear vision of what the room will look like."
And as Gwyn reminded me, I can always add a faux finish to tone down the color. (However, one of my favorite lines in Seven Layers concerns faux finishes: "...paint your room first and give yourself the option of whether you want to proceed. Introducing wonderful color into a room might do the trick on its own. Ask yourself, 'Does this newly painted room really need that extra little hoo-ha?'")
(And moving on to Layer 3: Upholstered Furniture, this week I also hope to reupholster the seats of the dining chairs - I got a really nice medium green jacquard at JoAnn Fabrics on Saturday on sale for $2.78/yard.) |
| | Posted 1/9/2006 12:46 PM - 24 Views - 32 eProps - 22 comments
Give eProps or Post a Comment |
