Saturday, July 04, 2009



Happy 4th of July.

I hope yours is going better than mine.

Oh, the wonderful plans I had to repaint my kitchen today, or at least, two walls of it. I got out the ladder and removed decor from the walls and it went downhill from there.

I nearly always buy 'mistake (oops) paint', but this can was like tinted water. Didn't even cover those annoying stripes I'd painted. And I couldn't mix it with any other paint lest that turn to half colored water.

So I found the last bit of the paint I'd used in our dining room, my favorite room, and knowing I didn't have enough to finish, still I painted a large kitchen wall and a tiny one, stood back, and was horrified. 

In the kitchen this paint does not look like autumn gold, no, it looks like butterscotch. Brown butterscotch. I even panicked and used the watery goldy color as a sort of glaze over the butterscotch--and though the effect was interesting--it looked bad. Very bad.

Ack! So then I ran back upstairs, grabbed a half can of white paint and just started slapping it on over any parts of the walls which had dried. And I'm still not finished with a second coat.

Some people can make white walls appear French and ethereal. I am not one of those people. White on my walls always looks sterile, cold, not to mention boring.

Most days I love painting. But this isn't one of them.

Last week I had a feeling that dining room paint would look too dark in the kitchen. And someday--maybe--I will learn to listen to that deep down stuff, that still, small voice from Grace (I know she was the one trying to get through to me). Sure will save me a lot of time, money and energy when I do listen.

I can hardly wait till that day.



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The good thing? At least the white walls are brighter than the former green. I like that. My online buddy, Laura, who loves orange (nobody's perfect...heh.), suggested I paint the whole kitchen white and then the orange countertops would stand out and look classy. I just may try that, for I'm running out of options. Earlier today I did consider dynamite, but alas, I don't have the money it would take to rebuild. :)


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Anyone have a nice shade/tint of white to recommend?



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And yes, I know there's always yellow for the walls but 1.) I had yellow in our last kitchen for a few years and--for this house--I wanted a completely different look. When I said good-bye to our last house, I said good-bye. And 2.) Yellow is a tricky color to get just right. But alas, I may have to cave and go with it. Later. Someday when I'm no longer sick of painting.


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UPDATE: Wow. The white walls are growing on me quickly. I actually think I like them! A better tint of white might even make me ecstatic. (Who knew?)


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5 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Oh,Debra, I am so sorry your painting did not work out as planned,but you may really like the white and if not white is easy to cover.
Elizabeth

Saija said...

i gotta tell ya, the reason i loved our cottage so much was that the walls were pine logs - and left to their natural state ...

the condo of course is regular walls that will one day (hopefully way way in the future) need to be repainted ... when that happens, expect your phone to ring with questions galore!!!

Rebecca said...

This may not be comforting to you, but I want you to know how I chuckled as I read this post and identified with you. I envy the "Some people" who can make white walls appear French and ethereal!

Glad the white walls are already growing on you.

I forget how many different shades of white I once heard there were! And it is surprising how you can distinguish between them when you see them side by side!

I enjoyed your blog...Need more time to read more of it!

Anonymous said...

What? But, but, but!! Orange is a beautiful, sadly underrated color! :)

What color are your cabinets? I've seen recently a kitchen with cabinets painted white and walls painted black with touches of color in accents (flowers, fruit, etc) and it looked GORGEOUS! You could try that and it might actually look french and ethereal.

Debra said...

Thanks, Everyone! Glad to know others know how I feel. :)

Laura-- hmm... black walls? I can picture what you saw in my mind (and it looks great), but in my kitchen, with me doing the painting? Probably not. heh. It's already so dark in there and it's smallish... But thanks for the suggestion. I think I like your original white and orange idea better. heh. The cabinets are currently green but I could paint them white again. I'm waiting to see how they look with the white walls, though I'm considering leaving the wall above the sink, green. (But I will probably change my mind about this whole room soon so who knows?) :)

Thanks again, All! Blessings, Debra