“To be bold, or not to be bold?”
We had a man come and measure up for shutters today and as he walked around our house he said ‘It’s so nice to go in a house where the walls aren’t a tone of light grey.’ Little did he know the trauma I go through every time it comes to picking a colour.
Other than the odd feature wall and bit of fun wallpaper I have often chosen a muted colour for my walls and always wished I’d been braver, so this time, when decorating our living/dining room I decided to be different and go for the risqué option. I’d been inspired by one particular room at my brothers house which is decorated in a very dark blue with lots of plants and dark wood, but his ceilings literally touch the heavens whereas our house is an old cottage…so would it work in our house?!
After much deliberating and about 50 samples on the wall (not the cheapest past time is it!) I decided to go very dark grey in the dining area and very dark blue in the other.
So 2.5L of each colour bought and Paul the decorator with paint brush in hand, the colour started going on. Was my boldness a success…well yes…err, and no. Let me explain…
The dining area looked fabulous and in the first few days after I took great pleasure in placing my wall hangings and plants in front of it, looking at it from different angles and literally revelling in my choice (does anyone else do this or is it just me?!).
On the other hand, the blue looked dreadful (I just want to point out that the photo above makes the blue look nice but in reality it really didn’t work at all!) and every time I walked in to the room I felt a pang of regret. Not content with my partner telling me I’d get used to it, I dug deep in my piggy bank, bought some more grey paint and batted my eyelashes at Paul the decorator. Well, hurrah, within a few hours the whole room had turned dark grubby grey and looked fantastic! The carpet is ordered, shutters in matching dark grey ordered (on 16 week lead time - lets hope I don’t change my mind on the bloody grey in that time!) and the pictures have started going up on the wall.
The moral of the story is…being bold with colour doesn’t always work, but it doesn’t always go wrong either. It is also one of the easiest fixes if you don’t like it, so be bold and experiment. You might surprise yourself!
On a slightly separate note, we have just become a stockist for Earthborn Paints. These guys are fabulous and the collection of colours are really different from anything else I have seen. A combination of grubby earthy tones and Mediterranean greens and terracottas. They also have a range of furniture paint and breathable exterior paints for older buildings…hurrah! Paul, get your paintbrush…poor sod.
Not only that but they are available in a number of finishes including claypaint (this makes me super excited) and have no horrible smells or nasty emissions, super important for me as my two children have breathing problems.