Paint

I have a love/hate relationship with paint. I usually begin any renovation project with gusto, pouring over paint samples and design magazines, only to find my enthusiasm flagging by the time I am finished the first coat on the first wall. I love choosing paint colours, and if I may say so myself, I am really good at it. I can match undertones well - that is the secret. For example, the first time I painted my living room I choose the colour 'Egyptian' which is a deep earthy brown colour. You would think that it would be too dark and somber, but it isn't at all. The room gets a lot of light and the carpet is a light beige, so it works. I painted the ceiling mauve to compliment the brown because there is a mauve undertone in 'Egyptian'. The effect is cool in that you really cannot tell that my ceiling is purple - it looks white. I chose 'Americana' for my bathroom because it was such a vibrant shade of blue and then paired it with a massive gold gilt framed mirror over the sink and brushed nickel faucets. For the TV room, I was inspired by a Manhattan pied-a-terre concept: exposed brick, clean lines, modern furniture with a more masculine feel to it. I chose a deep chocolate brown for the end walls and a slate grey for the sides and paired it with rich chocolate leather couches. I felt a tiny burst of pride when I heard the cable guy's impressed whistle as Rob showed him the room. Ok ok, he was most likely whistling about the audio-visual equipment, but in my mind it was over my awesome paint job.

'Haze' is my favorite colour for paint that you want to be able to ignore. My bedroom is painted in this colour and so is my office. The colour resembles coffee with too much milk in it. But it's really soothing and matches well with almost any decor.

I gave my sister Kate deep red walls in her bedroom (that we immediately began calling her 'boudoir') which really set off the mahogany fireplace and dark wood mouldings of the room. We chose a crushed velvet bedspread and about a million throw pillows with heavy wine coloured curtains to finish off the room. The red walls were tough - anyone who has attempted this colour knows it is a faux amis. I burst into tears after the first coat dried because it resembled strongly the colour of Campbell's Tomato Soup. Grey primer was the secret to that room - or any room where you want to make the colour deep and bold. I have done textured walls also. The only thing I will say about that is that you better love love love that wall, because there is no way that you are getting that shit off. Plus it is super difficult to work with and you have to be so precise.

So here I am painting my living room again. This time, I am dropping the ceiling by painting the crown moulding and the ceiling the same shade. I chose an off-white with dove grey undertones to it to give an 'antiqued' feel to the room. I am painting the walls a moss green colour called 'Promenade.' Rob blanched at this colour choice, but is remaining cautiously optimistic. Granted, I had to recite the litany of paint jobs I have done in my life to remind him that really I am very good at this and he should just trust me; in the end he has agreed to leave me to it. Sure, I have made mistakes in the past. I painted the guest room downstairs yellow thinking it would open up a dreary basement room. This was before I knew that yellow is the colour of repressed rage. It looked like an asylum. I picked the lightest shade of blush pink for the kitchen which was really a rookie mistake. Unless you are painting a nursery, pink should never be used inside your home. It looked like the walls were hosed down with Pepto Bismol.

Vis-a-vis the living room, I am at the point where I am tired of painting which is bad because there is a lot more to do. I am sick of paint pans, and tape, and washing brushes. I am systematically dislocating my rotater cuff with all this repetitive motion and my hands are chapped from too much washing. My neck hurts from looking up all the time.

But I am still excited about the colour choices, I think I have picked a real winner this time. I will keep you posted...