Last November, I decided it was time to hire a painter and get crackin on my living room. Wallpaper had to be stripped, plaster repair and drywall installed and oh yeah, PAINT! Now, if you know me, then you know that I love color. All colors. And that's the problem. When I go into a paint store and look at all the pretty swatches, I can't stand it...I want them ALL. I'm the same way when I go into the nail salon and stare at the wall of pretty nail polishes. What do you mean I have to pick just one?!?! So, when the painter said, "okay, I need to know what color you choose" I think I freaked out. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I freaked out. Then I called my sister and told her to drop everything and go with me to pick out paint.
Keep in mind that was probably the 3rd or 4th time I'd called her to come with me to pick out paint. She was not happy. I don't know what her problem was, I mean...how is that NOT fun? I'd scoured magazines, websites, blogs, Pinterest, paint stores and even walked around neighborhoods at night hoping to catch a glimpse of beautifully painted rooms through the windows.
That's normal?
Right?!
Well...it wasn't that simple. See...I
You see...if all the trim in my house had been white, or more cottage-like, picking out paint would have been a bit easier. Maybe. Because, everything goes with white, right? But what about dark mahogany wood that I refuse to paint because it's beautiful?
Welcome to my nightmare. I'm not kidden. I lost sleep over what color I should paint this room. I tried picking out inspiration pieces, fabric and other items, but it didn't help. I knew I wanted a soft blue, but have you been to the paint store lately? There are about 10,000 shades of soft blue. I didn't want it to look too sterile, like the crazy-ward at the hospital and I didn't want it to look like baby-boy-blue. I wanted the perfect blue. The kind of blue that reminded you of the Mediterranean or at best, a local day spa.
After hours (I'm not kidden) of pouring over color chips at the paint store, a few snarky comments from my sister and asking anyone who would listen if they liked particular colors, I settled on THE color. The perfect shade of soft blue. The kind of pretty blue that changes color slightly in the sunlight and artificial light.
What was the winning color you ask? My new lover...a.k.a. Wythe Blue by Benjamin Moore. I love, love, love, love this color. It is THE perfect color for my space. It goes with the mahogany trim and the hardwood floors. I found a lovely muted color Pottery Barn rug (on clearance at the outlet). I've accented with a crisp, grasshopper green and I'm thinking of adding a few pops of pumpkin. My curtains are beige canvas (more on that later) and the finish on the fixtures are oil rubbed bronze.
I've pretty much been in perfect-blue-paint-color-bliss for the past year. And then...surprises of all surprises...guess what the new paint color of the year is?
That's right...BENJAMIN MOORE'S WYTHE BLUE!!!!
Be. Still. My. Heart.
I can't believe it. Actually I can because it's fabulous, but I can't believe that I picked out something a year ago that would be this HOT! {insert happy dance}
How do I know this? Well, it popped up in not one, but TWO of my daily reads:
House of Turquoise and the colour expert, Maria Killam, interviewed by Canada.com
I need to take photos of my living room, but sadly, it's dark and about to rain here in the midwest and it's too late in the day to take decent photos, but I will soon...in the meantime, what do you think of the color of the year?
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