Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Sensible hues

I think I have settled on colors for my living room.
Drum roll please.
The colors I have selected are Sagey, Black Suede and Sensible Hue.
I pretty much have to use Sagey because of my on-line use name, Sage Hen.
Sensible Hue, on the other hand is a given because the name of the color makes me laugh. I know it’s an unconventional way to pick paint color, but it works for me.
Being a wordsmith, I have always been fascinated by color names and wondered who had the fun job of figuring out if a hue was Sensible or Cottonseed or Forest Ridge (these are other options in my color pallet)
The painting of the walls is a big event in my life.
I’ve been puzzling over the colors for the four years I have lived in this house.
Currently the living room walls are a nice, clean, boring white.
The room has potential to be quite dramatic. It is a good sized room with crown molding and a quality neutral carpet. In short, it’s a blank page.
For a long time I just used the living room as a large, neutral colored hall because I didn’t want to do anything to it until I had furniture I loved.
Due to the generosity of friends and family I now have a room full of furniture. While I don’t love all of it, I am pleased with several of the pieces and I can work with the rest.
But they don’t match. So the time has come to tackle the project.
I plan to paint the walls Sagey, and leave the ceiling and crown molding white. (Although I could paint the ceiling a sensible hue, the jury is still out on that decision.
I am going to paint the bookcase, and chairs black with a little crackle aging technique thrown in for good measure. I’m leaving the hutch alone, it is a sensible hue. I will paint the tops of the end tables the sensible hue too, except for the one piece which already has a nice light wood finish on the top of it. The bottoms of the tables will be painted black.
Pillows, accents, etc will include the three shades plus a little of the maroon color to mach the sofa.
If you know my mother, please don’t tell her I am going ahead with the project. She called me on Sunday with a long list of ways I could economize. Not painting the living room was on the top of the list.
It’s not that I care what she thinks; I just don’t want to hear about it.

6 comments:

horseygal said...

How fun!!!!!!
I wanted to paint this summer but now I don't want to do anything until my kitche is done. Still waiting.................

Karen said...

I keep meaning to paint my furniture and bathroom but it hasn't happened yet. I suspect it's because I'm very lazy!

Cindy Lee said...

love your colors and can't wait to see pictures when your done!

Anonymous said...

Now, if you were truly sensible instead of whimsical you would paint the walls sensible hue. Is sagey really the color name of the green? They are naming colors more creatively at your paint store than at ours. Ashlee's room is Facinating Blue (just a shade bluer than periwinkle) and Ocean (a pretty greenish blue, not quite aqua)trimmed with Parrot Feather (a light lime green) Gordon says it looks like a doctors waiting room. The light blue is on the top half of the wall, the periwinkle on the bottom, and the green in stripes around where a chair rail would be.
Your room sounds very restful and soothing. I promise not to tell mom. But it seams to me that a nice restful room would be a good investment right now.

Anonymous said...

You picked out great colors. I'm with you on the name thing---I always though it'd be a fun job to name lipsticks! Good luck with your painting.

Anonymous said...

My room is "crystal River" blue