On Your Marks, Get Set….. Renovate!

Well, moving day came and went and we’ve nestled in to our new abode. It took some getting use to I must admit -it’s always weird to live somewhere new at first- but it’s slowly becoming our little nest. Things I never did in an apartment I now do with a skip in my step. I’ve walked down to our mail box, I’ve brought the garbage to the curb, I’ve purchased some flowers and herbs for my new garden and I’ve installed a fancy new door handle. I could get use to this new home owner life real fast.

 

One thing I anticipated (and welcomed) was having a blank canvas for my personal decor tastes but I cannot bloomin’ believe how much my mind has been racing with ideas! Everywhere I look I see something I want to do, something I want to change, something I want to paint. It just courses through me no matter what I’m doing or where I am. As you can imagine I haven’t gotten much sleep. One thing I am finding difficult is focus. Where does one start when one has so many items on a wish list? Having just laid out more smacka-roos than I care to count for these new digs, money isn’t exactly pouring in. So the ‘obvious’ answer seemed like the ‘biggest impact’ answer and ‘least expensive’ answer too. Paint of course!

 

I thought I had a lot of choices before but geeee-eeesh! I strutted into Home Depot with a cool head thinking I had it all under control; a palette in mind and an eye for just the right color. Oh, how naive I am. Struck by a rainbow of paint chips in every shade imaginable I suddenly started to feel dizzy. Have you ever smelled a bunch of different perfumes and they all eventually started to smell the exact same. That’s how my eyes were feeling and there is no coffee bean trick for that. After grabbing about a thousand chips in anything and everything I thought may look good somewhere I booked it out of there with my tail between my legs. That’s my overwhelming load of chips above I sifted through when I got back home.

 

After some cut throat axing we’ve ruled out the no-gos and narrowed down our favorite paint colors. We’d like to keep it neutral and go with a nice beigey grey in the living space/kitchen. I’m trying to keep in mind re-sale appeal as well as what will go best with various styles as holidays come and go or my moods change (which happens quite a bit!). A neutral beige is the easiest way to accommodate my needs so it was our jumping off point. With budget in mind we decided to forget about Benjamin Moore for now and go a little easier on the ole’ pocket book. We choose our faves from CIL and Martha Stewart’s paint lines (is there anything that woman doesn’t have her name stamped on?).

 

These were our top picks:

“Hickory” from Martha Stewart 

 

“Toasted Marshmallow” from Martha Stewart

 

“Beachcomber” from Cil

 

  “Pillar” from Cil

 

The last two are actually reading much more grey here than they look on the swatches but I’ll be picking up some samples this weekend and living with it for a week before investing in gallons of the stuff to coat our home so I’ll know for sure. One thing I’ve learned over years of absorbing decor tips into my noggin is it’s important to not just choose a color while standing in the paint department as hard as it may be. Patience is key for overall satisfaction. You should get the samples, put them on your walls in big splotches and live with them for at least a few days so you can see how they look in natural light and low light and all those other different kinds of light that fills your home throughout the day. Paint never looks the exact same every moment of the day, it will always change shades depending on the time of day.

 

So that’s my weekend plans as well as celebrating a bestie’s bday and some gardening with my mother in-law who I’m hoping will give me some hot tips on exactly how to put that verb gardening into action. I have yet to grow anything but my hair and finger nails so I am excited to get started and soak up her wisdom.

 

What’s your thoughts on paint? Any insights or favorite never-fail colors? Share!