Tell me if this sounds familiar: I got one idea, then realized it would be the perfect time to do this other thing, and if I was doing that, then I should do this thing too. Conclusion: re-do entire bedroom.
After the tiles I wrote about in my last post, but prior to having the carpet installed, I realized it’s a great time to repaint the walls which I have always wanted to repaint since I moved here. Tara gave me a great idea for the longest wall of the master bedroom, by using two colours of paint. You start with a light colour, then add a tiny bit of the darker colour and paint a mountain. Then add a tiny bit more and paint another mountain in front of the first one, and keep going till it looks like a landscape.
I wanted a blue room, so I chose a light blue for the sky and a dark blue for the hills. I painted a sample patch on the wall to see if it matched the furniture. When I’m getting ready to paint a wall inside my house, I do this. If I paint a big patch on the wall, then walk past it ten times a day for a few days, I get a sense of whether I like it or not.
To avoid gaudiness, my idea was to do mountains on only the largest wall, but do all the other walls in the light colour, whatever that colour ended up being. So I had to really like the colour. I kept staring at the light blue on the wall and each day liked it a little less. Pedro had long ago suggested a light greyish-brown, but originally I didn’t think it was a good idea. After staring at the baby blue for two weeks, I changed my mind and bought two more sample paints.
I took a photo of the three patches on the wall and sent the image to friends, asking for a vote. Everyone picked the middle one. The light taupe. Everyone except one artist friend of mine. He and I liked the dark taupe best. Tara mentioned how much time I spend in this room, and suggested I keep it light and bright. In the meantime, I had noticed the walls in Pedro’s house were a similar colour, and I thought his place was very tasteful. He had a paint sample from his and brought it over. We painted it between the two taupes. Even darker! Reluctantly, I decided for the light colour in the end. Not sure if it was the choice that I like the best, but I think it turned out great and it’s too late now.
You might have noticed the carpet pad on the floor, sans carpet. Yes, well. Try as I might, at first I could not make the time to paint before the day to install the carpet. When the new carpet was laid out, we saw that it had a flaw in the weave. A bumped line, right through the middle, totally obvious. I had to reject it. Argh. And it took three weeks to get another order in from the factory. The good news: now I had time to paint!
Ok so the next big question is: what is this going to look like with furniture and pictures on the walls? Don’t worry. I’ve got photos for that, too. Coming soon to a blog post near you.
Conscious Engagement 
Splendid work, with which you look suitably pleased. You may remember we had our rooms decorated some months ago. We have been unable to put pictures back up for fear of spoiling the work 🙂
That is so funny Derrick! I have discovered the same reluctance. A nicely finished wall is nice to look at.
You had me at thr first paragraph ! So me. I love how this turned out !
Thank you Bonnie! I’m glad the paint and the behavior struck a chord with you.
Beauty beauty beautifullll!!! You are wonderful, how you go about it adamantly and how you achieve results. My wobbly shaky doubtful hand would be plain to see, as always in everything I draw. With furniture this can only improve. Bring it on! Extremely well done!!
Aww, thank you! ❤ I am happy with it, too. I have a long history of painting creative stuff in my house. You must have seen the very very old post recently when I painted a room for Tara. When T was a baby, I painted the baby's room with a complete mural that went all around the room, with a daytime scene on one side, gradually becoming dusk and a nighttime scene on the other side. I painted a big crescent moon and put up a bunch of glow in the dark stars, ha ha. So I guess what I will say is: I got better with practice. I once saw a person's apartment painted with three horizontal stripes. It was yellow, peach, and orange – looked like desert art from the US southwest style. So cool! One day I'll try that one.
I don’t remember that mural for Tara! I’ll find it sooner or later. It’s great that you’re doing this. I realise that one sentence turned out wrong in my comment: “With furniture this can only improve.” It was meant to say that nothing can spoil the great effect, even if the furniture were truly awful. 😀
Here it is: https://crystaltrulove.com/2007/06/26/paint/
That was one ambitious project, Crystal. My rooms were lucky to get a coat of one color. A mural or ombre effect would be out of the question. I love how it turned out. I remember those days to tearing everything apart to paint a room. Not on my radar anymore. Your place is turning out beautiful. You are giving it lots of love. They pay you back later.
Like you, Marlene, I am thinking back to all the times I emptied a room so I could paint it. That’s my go-to project in a new home, when I can’t afford anything else. I think I’ve only ever done a single colour (except for an mural in Tara’s baby room), so this was a new thing for me. I’ve already looked at it enough to have come up with how I would do it differently next time. But I’m pretty sure there will not be a next time. It’s such a waste of experience, ha ha. I am giving it lots of love here. It feels good to me here, and it feels like home. I used to love the land and tolerate the house, but now that I’m making the house mine, it feels better in here. I didn’t even know ombre was word to use with paint, but I looked it up and yeah! That’s what I did, huh? :o)
We are having a small gathering to celebrate Tara’s graduation tomorrow. Finally earned that degree in geology. It’s a whole new chapter for my T – getting ready to figure out what happens next in life. After 18 years of school, they are super ready to do absolutely anything else. I get that entirely. My travel buddy Margaret is desperate to travel anywhere, and resorted to coming to see me for a few days, and I pick her up from the airport tonight. It should be a fun four days with Margaret and Tara and Tara’s partner, who now uses the name Cameron. They are getting ready for their big road trip through the California Parks. They are leaving Friday to start the trip.