Monday, June 04, 2012

I need somebody


Here are the previous owners' listing photos of the house. I need help with the green room. It is a really pretty color in person, but not my style. What color should I paint it? I would say gray except almost the entire rest of the house will be gray. I'm leaning toward white which is just crazy talk because I've waited my whole marriage to not have white walls. Please advise.

40 comments:

teamcowan said...

I'm the same way and it's confusing to me. Growing up and through most of our marriage I've gone on and on about having a colorful house. Now that I have one (green living room, grey kitchen with yellow floor, pale blue bathroom, navy kids' room) I have am extreme urge to paint everything bright white. What the heck? So since you're starting fresh (and not having to convince your husband to repaint all the rooms he's already painted....) I'd say go with white. It matches everything. ;)

Also, your house is adorable. Hope you show off more pictures as it all comes together. Congrats!

off switch said...

i have actually become a huge fan of white walls lately too. which can seem very counterintuitive, especially if it's what you've been stuck with for all your renting years. i'm also a fan of cream/beige colors to bring warmth but not too much darkness.

can't wait to see what you decide! xo.

Chelsea said...

I hear ya. Renting= white walls. Then you get your own place and white walls all of the sudden seem really refreshing. I'm such a neutral person, so I'd say white or gray too. I'm loving dark navy too, although you'd have to really love a bold look to live with that. A thought though?

stacey said...

So this is kind of a creepy comment, but we sort of know each other through the Craigs. Anyway, the house you bought is my brother and sister-in-law's old house. Funny, small world!

kate said...

White is the new colored wall. Our house in St.George is painted tan (so 5 years ago) and I have huge plans of painting the walls white and grey if we return there.

p.s. I thought this was your furnishings now, and I thought.. "weird, this doesn't look like abby's style at all." :)

hanner said...

!!! i'm going to be of little help because all i want to do is love on those built-ins.

Angela said...

Okay, the house looks awesome based on the pictures. And so random that you bought it from Stacey's brother! And as far as paint colors, it might sound boring, but having some color continuity through the house is kind of soothing, so maybe grey isn't such a bad idea? I'm also loving Navy a lot lately too, but I think you have to have a lot of natural light in the room to pull it off. I just did a stencil in my front room white background with peacock blue stencil. It's gorgous, but was a HUGE project, that I don't exactly recommend. Good luck!

robin said...

WHITE! i know it's so crazy to want white walls after years of renting... but there is nothing more great than white walls. especially in a house like that which has so much character already. i love it!

robin said...

more great? greater. i learned english good.

kate said...

yep, white. or maybe the lightest possible gray. or a grayish blue? so exciting!

liz said...

those floors, that door! congrats abby, it's gorgeous. I can't wait to see what you'll do with it. I have a feeling I won't be a home owner for quite sometime so it'll be fun to live vicariously through you. Whatever you do in the green room it needs to spotlight that huge beautiful window.

Allred Fam said...

How fun! Look at pinterest for the Greige's and maybe choose a few that work together. And white is making a comeback- BUT- not pure white. It's a cream, very light beige or grey that looks almost white until you put a white up there with it and realize it would look stark boring as a PURE white.

In my humble opinion. You did invite us to "advise."

Bon said...

yup. white or gray. i'm a neutral fan myself.

Neil and Diana said...

I am so there on the white. I think a really white white would be cool, like Navajo white. You could paint the trim a different shade of white. ("Fifty Shades of White," Neil would quip, were he here.) I. Love. Your house.

merideth said...

congrats on your new home!! it sounds wonderful. i am obsessed with grey and sometimes i think everything should be grey. so my vote is more grey, but white is sometimes a nice break. i also love a good blue thrown in the mix.

and that front door is so rad!

J & J said...

I vote a very light sea foam green. Would look nice with your couches? Then again I just love that color. I'll email you a photo of what I'm talking about... Sea foam green sounds a little intimidating but I swear I'm not crazy.

I do love white walls, and grey, but one room should be fun, right???

Ashley Seil Smith said...

Abby, I just about started crying when I saw these photos. I so wish I were in your shoes! I want that house and I want those kids and I want those walls that I'm trying to decide what color to paint. I don't want to be in NYC anymore =( At least not doing what I'm doing. I'm venting. I'm done now, but I'm so so excited for you. I know this has been a long time coming. I can't show these to Natedog or he'll start crying for sure. =)

Ashley Seil Smith said...

And I don't know, whatever the hell color you want! Woo hoo!

susan said...

It would seem that a small space all in a neutral color seems to make the space seem bigger and flow more, though my front room currently doesn't follow that advice. (Compromise with the hubs.)

But I think if you go a more neutral color then why not some colorful floral curtains or—dare I—some floral wallpaper on the wall by the window as a nod to the Victorian heritage?

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/product/shopsale-decorative/23766959.jsp

Wendy said...

Goldish yellow

Michele said...

I am a huge lover of neutrals, but sometimes it's really fun to surprise people with some color. Especially in old homes. In my opinion color shows no fear decorating. What kind of art are you going to be hanging? That makes the biggest difference to me in whether to go color or neutral. Also, what mood are you going for? furniture? I did study interior design so I could go on and on with some serious tips/suggestions. Sorry if my questions are just making the decision harder. You already have great taste so whatever you pick is going to be to die for.
If you do want more advice send me an email.
I can't wait to see more pictures of your house! :-)

sweetlissybug said...

Paint it blue! Seriously, though Michele helped me quite a bit. She even drew pictures and stuff. She's good. I'm almost done with my wall. I'll post pictures on my blog soon.

Elena said...

I'm so excited for you, Abby! I love the pictures and description of your new home!! It looks lovely already! I've done a lot of paining projects in my home, which is also pretty old and I found that lighter colors work better in living rooms. congrats! and have fun with all your projects!

Jenna said...

I can't wait to see what you do with this house/space!

Unknown said...

Moonshine by Benjamin Moore or Silver Sage (light) by restoration hardware, you can have then do a half tint so its lighter. It will be as fresh as white paint but give you the color to make it feel like you own it.

Michelle said...

I think you should do the white or grey, but pick one of the small walls and do one bright accent colored wall!

kelly mccaleb said...

i am happy for you. and jealous of you. and i want you to blog every single day.

angela hardison said...

abby, congrats on the house! it looks so so perfect. cannot wait to see more. also i vote WHITE. haha... most of our house is white, but the rooms that i have painted grey i find myself wishing were white too. that's my minimalist vote for you.

lizzywrite said...

Kelly just said everything I wanted to say in three sentences. So there you go.

rubi said...

i've always loved color on walls but now i'm in love with white walls too. they make a place look more airy and big. congrats on the new home!

Tiffany said...

i'm a fan of white, it makes everything brighter and you can do so many things with white :)

maybe I should paint my walls white! well, when life isn't so absolutely crazy... which will probably years! oh well, I can dream!

Anonymous said...

Oh I love white, I just did my parlor in Ultra White from Home Depot (Behr), we did the trim, walls, and ceiling so it really feels clean and bright. But my style is more country cottage slash non-chabby romantic. I did my office in Glidden Granite Gray and LOVE it! I had it color matched to the premium plus formulation in Behr and it's so soothing and amazing. We bought samples of the paints we liked and painted them on the walls in patches to make sure we loved that color, they're $3 and so worth it if you're debating. If you want something other than white I'd highly recommend a blue tone, like Arrowhead (again a Behr), it's a lot softer on the wall then the paint chip, and looks really pretty, we're doing our bedroom in it with white trim. If you still want something lighter I'd also recommend Cornsilk (another Behr color) it's happy, not too cheery in your face and is really soothing too. Your home looks like it's going to be beautiful!

kate said...

i know you "need somebody." but i need you to come back and blog your little heart out more.

warm regards,

blog manager (1 or 2)

Eliza said...

late comment! it all looks beautiful!! even with someone else's furniture :)

Consider mine another vote for white(ish). We moved to our house a little over two years ago and I immediately painted the kids' rooms (which are on the main floor) in brightish colors. Now it's on my list to repaint them in the same cream I have used in my bedroom and all the basement rooms, which is Cottage White by Behr.

My living room is Vanilla Custard and my kitchen was a grayish white similar to Moonshine, but I am currently repainting it Vanilla Custard.

Sometimes you have to live somewhere for a while to really get a feel for what you want. I hated Vanilla Custard for about a month. Now I love it, obviously enough to paint another room in it.

Some form of white throughout a house is unifying and dare I say grown up. :) I feel like I am finally growing up now that I _want_ all my walls to be white.

I wouldn't suggest pure white, though. You want there to be some contrast with the trim. I first painted my bedroom White Truffle which was a grayish white but it ended up way too white and looked like I had just primed it instead of painting it.

Gray or grayish white is nice and it is very current but cream just welcomes the sunshine in such a happy way, especially in the middle of winter.

Finally--I love what you've posted so far of your house. Hooray for charm and character instead of 1970s boxy and bland--which is what I live in, not that I'm complaining, but someday I'd love a tiny 100-year-old house.

Longest comment. congratulations!!!!!

Eliza said...

periwinkle

also, please come visit

abby said...

I love all these suggestions! Thank you!

remi said...

hmm. I realize I'm about a month and a half too late, but I'm really into wallpaper (stickers) right now. I absolutely HATE being tied down to something so permanent as a wall color and since we just moved into our own home (woop woop) I'm painting EVERYTHING white (because I'm obsessed) and then wall(stickering) wherever and whenever I like. best part? It peels right off and I can use in another room or cut it up and put it in shelves or you know....whatever I want.

think about it.

Anonymous said...

Definitely white with colourful art work. Check out Anna Spiro's style and you'll see what I mean.

We moved at the beginning of the year and like you I'd wanted colour on my walls. Our entire home is pale green with darker green feature walls and a green kitchen. Poke my eyes out!

x
Holly

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