After cleaning out my "creativity zone" my next targeted area is our office. It's in a similar state to where my "creativity zone" was, which is messy. We bought this house 3 years ago, and this used to be the dining room - and not really a big one. We knew we wouldn't use a formal dining room, we're just not formal people. But it would be perfect for an office. Both my jobs - selling folk art and planning and leading worship mean I use the computer a lot. The previous owners had stripped off 80's country blue wallpaper and primed the room. That's what I've been living with. Primer white plus a mishmash of furnishings don't make a place that is pleasant to work in. So off I went in search of the perfect color for a working room. I had thought to do a kind of red, but then I read that red was bad on the eyes. I know I don't want blue - I live in Maine with long cold winters. I don't want yellow - that's what's in the kitchen/family room/eating area. So I settled on a sagey kind of green. I had green in our last house - but a brighter kind of 30's green.

When I painted the sagey green on a sample board my husband said, "You know, I never told you this, but I hated the green on the walls in the last house."

"Oh. Well what color would you like to see?"

"I don't know. Just not green."

"O-kay..... I will try to pick a color that I like and you don't hate."

That sounds reasonable, doesn't it, folks? Reasonable, but not so easy to do. I thought perhaps if I chose a neutral color I would have a good background for art I'm collecting from other people. So I thought a nice khaki would be nice - something on the warm side, but not too bright - a definite background color. I ended up with a color called "Decorator Buff" and painted it on a sample board while my husband was away on a trip. I was so sure of the color that I jumped the gun and bought a gallon of it in high grade Benjamin Moore paint.

On his return, I showed the sample board to The Husband. He looked at it, walked away, went to the kitchen and returned with a paper bag and laid it on top of the color.

Oh, dear. It's not far off. I hate it when he's right. But I'm still going to paint it that color. I would rather live inside a paper bag than one more year with that icky grayish-white primer color.

2 comments:

Atticbabys said...

Men!!! Go with your instincts Dix. I painted a similar color in our master bath. Our bedroom is yellow and I love how they look next to one another! Good luck and be sure to show and tell!
Nan

The Feathered Nest said...

Oh Dixie, the color of a paper bag is gorgeous on the walls!! Don't worry you will love it and so will your husband. It has a natural feel and will be the perfect backdrop for the artwork...speaking of that...I finally mailed your Nest assemblage today priority mail ~ Hopefully it will arrive quickly and you'll be pleased! I can't wait to see the room when you're finished! take care, xxoo, Dawn


"Do not let what you cannot do
keep you from doing what you can do."

John Wooden