pink for the living room???!!! AAARGH!
By seagoddess28
@seagoddess28 (873)
Canada
April 3, 2007 11:36am CST
A couple months ago we went to Home Depot to eyeball paint swatches for the living/family room. Hubby decided he was going to put down hardwood floors and we decided the original off white paint the builder slapped on the walls (cheapie paint too and only one coat) was looking pretty tired. So in some delusional moment I chose a shade called "Sugar Berry." It looked really pretty and soft on the swatch, hardly a hint of pink. Well, hubby decided to start painting yesterday and I came down to "supervise." Me: Hmmmm. Kindy pinky, isn't it...
Hubby: It'll dry lighter. YOU chose it, I'm only the painter.
Me: You sure it'll dry lighter? Do I trust you?
Hubby: Wait until tomorrow.
Tomorrow came this morning. AND it IS PINK!!!!! It's one thing to look at a swatch and another to look at an entire wall of pink!!!
Me: We can't have pink!
Hubby: I'm not changing. Took me a whole day to do that f***g wall!
Me: (thinking hard) That whole west area has to be in earth tones! Do you want to screw up the feng shui of this house and be poor the rest of your life????!!!
Hubby: (resigned) I give up....(off to Home Depot again...)
:-))
Have you ever had a decorating fiasco like this? What did you do--close your eyes and avoid inviting anybody? Kept the lights on dim all the time? Kept the drapes drawn? C'mon and share and assure me I am not the only one who's done this... :-{
2 people like this
4 responses
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
24 Aug 07
We want the walls to go with everything in the house. That leaves out beige, which I hate, and weird colors such as black, brown, green, and pink with purple polka dots. That leaves just two colors, pure white or mostly white with a touch of blue. That way, we do not have to worry whether our carpets are brown (which I hate) grey, blue, green, or yellow (I hope not.) You should have seen this house when we bought it. The kitchen was this horrible red decorated paisley pattern, the cupboards were this dark brown, that is laminated brown over a plywood surface, the carpets were a mismatch of pieces of brown. We still have them because we cannot afford new ones, but we did change the kitchen so it looks much better and put in newer cupboards, not so high as the old ones which suits me fine as I am not so tall myself.
1 person likes this
@seagoddess28 (873)
• Canada
24 Aug 07
Our house still has the original paint from the builders (twenty years ago!) and it is light cream for the walls and white for the ceilings. I think white is good for matching with anything myself, and I would rather have white because it looks really clean and uncomplicated, but the other family members have their own ideas (which may or may not necessarily coordinate or match)! Good job on the kitchen, suspenseful. I find that it helps to redo the kitchen first, because that is where I spend most of my time, so it may as well be something I like looking at and being in, LOL! Thanks for the response...:-D
@bbsbeesknees (124)
• United States
24 Aug 07
Mine's not really a color mistake...but I like to fancy myself an amateur interior decorator. I've redone most of the rooms in our house and they look pretty good. However-my last big project was the master bedroom. I had a few days off, and planned to give our old furniture a facelift with fresh white paint. (The room is dark tan and cocoa brown with bright white accents.) I was painting in the basement, so I had to get the gallon of paint from the top floor first. I get down the (carpeted) stairs and across the (carpeted) dining room before I realize the the paint can lid is a little loose; I turned too sharply, the lid flew off, and white paint hit the wall, the furniture... and I have blazed a bright white, thick trail across my light tan carpeting! And it was all down the stairs as well! I never felt it slosh out of the can...Husband came home and I just burst into tears! It did eventually come up with a lot of water and a lot of work...but I learned that I'm not quite Martha status yet. :)
1 person likes this
@soccermom (3198)
• United States
3 Apr 07
I usually get paint samples and tape them up in various spots of the room we're painting so I can see what they'll look like in various light. Paint never seems to dry the same color as the sample looks, and in my experience it usually is a lot lighter. We went for earth tones to go with our hardwood floors, and the colors looked a little offbeat on the samples, but turned out beautifully. My hubby did our entryway last week and I love the colors, but I think the color around the actual door looks a little different. I'm not saying anything about it yet though because he worked really hard on it and I don't want him to get irritated. Have you ever noticed that some eople can put the wackiest things in their house to decorate and it looks great, but if you try to do something similar it looks goofy and out of place? I've adopted the learn to love it theory...in 6 months you can come up with a brilliant idea (wink, wink) and hopefully hubby will jump on board to change it!
@creematee (2810)
• United States
3 Apr 07
LOL!!!! Sorry, but that whole conversation is so familiar. I have so many gallons of unused paint or partially used paint, because it just wan't what we wanted. One color that I was sure I'd love (purchased 2 gallons of it!) in both bathrooms, and the hallways is sitting lifeless, never to gain attention from me again. It looks just like the swatch, but the paint changes color as the day passes. the swatch doesn't. I've decided that from now on, I'm only buying those little sample pouches of paint (usually $2-3 at the hardware store) and painting a board. then, I'll hang the board in different areas of the room to see how I like it.
Expensive, probably, but still cheaper than making 30 trips to the hardware store and buying a gal. @ $30 just to have it sit in my basement. :)
AS far as the pink goes... could you sponge a blue/green or tan over top? It may help it be a little earthier.
Good luck to you!!!
@seagoddess28 (873)
• Canada
3 Apr 07
sorry, ladies, had to run off to Home Depot before Leonardo Da Vinci changed his mind!! so now we chose something called "Sandstone Cove" and I will tell you how it turns out...both your (soccermom and creematee) responses are so good that it's hard to choose best response, so I hereby name both of your responses "best responses"!!! -- :-0
@creematee (2810)
• United States
3 Apr 07
LOL!!! Well, give Leonardo a great big hug when he's done working. Maybe take him out for steak afterwards--He just may feel a little more loved then. :)
@seagoddess28 (873)
• Canada
4 Apr 07
I am so happy to report that "Sandstone Cove" is a winner! As soon as we got home, hubby got right down to work to cover the pink and I must say it turned out beautifully!!! Sorry for the hysterics, as my son used to say, "The Drama Queen strikes again!!" However I am so pleased with your suggestions, ladies, that I will follow both for choosing the colours for the other parts of the house. Thank you, thank you, thank you! ;-}
