Sunday, November 17, 2019

When One Thing Leads To Another

So back in 2012 when we bought our home we never changed the interior paint colour except in the bedrooms which were pink.  We simply matched the paint and did touch-ups which in some cases meant painting the whole wall.  Our home is an open concept so painting the kitchen, dining room, living room and two large hallways is kind of a big undertaking.  I've never been in love with the builders beige (which hints more towards peach than brown), in fact have pretty much hated it but we've lived with it.  After we decided to stay rather than sell in the Spring we changed out the carpets, rearranged rooms and ordered new bedroom furniture.  We put hubby's drum kit back in the spare bedroom as even though there is a proper room for guests it still fits in the corner.  Who wants a room only used 10 days of the year when family is over?  We also still have a treadmill in there as it folds up, and yes, it actually gets used.  Our old bedroom furniture is in there and provides lots of extra storage.  In fact, the house now mostly works for us.

All except one thing - the natural gas fireplace has always been super blah and the paint colour.  So on Friday we did one thing - painted the bottom half of the fireplace a rich magnetic grey.
Thursday - builders blah beige
So late Friday afternoon Hubby painted (I am the taper).  I am not a great decorator, every choice actually pains me with indecision.  But it was paint and it could be painted over if we hated it.  Well, we both love it but it just showed both of us how much we hate the rest of the paint colour.  So....starting today we are painting the rest of the wall in the living room a light grey, it almost has a hint of blue in it.  Including the top piece of the fireplace.  I don't know if we will leave it that way or paint the top piece of the fireplace the same magnet grey as below.  There is lots of warmth and light in this house, it can handle grey walls plus the floors are warm colours as well as the cupboards in the kitchen.  If we like the wall we will proceed with the rest of the living room over the next week.  I want it done as all my Christmas decorating is usually contained to the living room and dining room.  That way if hubby feels like painting more in the month of December he can without me dismantling Christmas decorations.  We do have a difficult tray ceiling that will likely be left until the new year.  I am ok with having a half-painted house, this all seems a step in the right direction.  Our decorating is only for us, no one else and is a weird mix of modern and antique with things like guitars all over the place.  This is a huge job and though paint used to be relatively inexpensive, it isn't when you are talking the equivalent of six rooms.
After - Friday
Once we get the wall painted I will do an updated post. 

Any one want to weigh in wether the top of the fireplace should be light grey like the walls will be or the dark grey of the bottom part?  I don't really see the top venting as a feature.......  

18 comments:

  1. I always decorate with things I like, not just in a certain style. The house is more interesting that way. I like the top of the mantle white because it is a trip piece. Since your other trim is white, it should be white.The trim will disappear if you paint it gray.

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  2. Love the magnetic gray - let the colour settle in, painting the top part might look like a division of the room. Staying not moving was a great idea - you get to do what you love and didn't have to shop for a house, pack, unpack...
    Hugs.
    Joy

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  3. That makes a world of difference! I'd go dark grey.
    Love the rug! xxx

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  4. I hear you on the open plan thing, our house is the same. Love the new colour on the fireplace. Depending on the size of your room I would be tempted to build out bookshelves or cabinets on either side to make a larger area of contrast-as in one thing leads to another. The venting not sure. Have you thought of wallpapering it in a gray pebble or brick pattern? It is so much easier to have wild ideas for someone else's house lol.

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    1. I love your ideas. Wallpaper was vetoed by hubby, I guess he has been forever scarred from previous homes with wallpaper. I would love the builtins but what you don't see is a gigantic tv to the left of the fireplace in the corner. We had builtins in our last house and loved that look.

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  5. I'm really getting in to this-how about making the vent almost as wide as the rest of the fireplace? Painting the same colour as the rest of the fireplace. Then you could put a big mirror or art on there and it would make a focal point.

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    1. I would love to widen the venting part but at this time that isn't in the cards due to cost. We are not carpenters so for now paint it is :) We did decide to paint the top the same as the rest of the back wall - and it looks good!

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  6. I think light gray to blend in with the walls. The fireplace really stands out now. My house is also builder's beige with white trim. I'm thinking about painting it all white this summer.

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    1. Exactly what we ended up doing! I love this Behr Marquee paint we got with primer in it. It is costly but you only really need one coat. $59 CAD a gallon ($45 usd) over the standard $40 a gallon of regular paint here but so worth it. I think we can paint most of the house for less than $1000! I want to do it over time but Hubby is type A so I think he is probably going to go for it and try and get most of it done before Christmas.

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  7. I love what you did with the fireplace and look forward to seeing the “new” room!

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    1. Yes, I wanted drama. Now to try and get the rest of it done! And honestly, it almost feels like a new house once you paint the Grandma out of it.

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  8. My daughters walls are a color that is pale gray/blue depending in how you look at it and she loves it.

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    1. I loved that colour but it wasn't dark enough to contrast against the white trim and ceiling so we went with silver but I think I want to use that paint on our main bathroom. I loved it too.

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  9. I love the gray! I'd probably paint out the upper with the lighter gray because the chimney isn't much of a feature. Just a suggestion, paint it the lighter gray and then if you decide you'd prefer the darker, you can always paint that small portion.

    BTW, I'm with you the builder's beige does seem to have a lot of pink in it.

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    1. Yes, most everyone agreed same as walls which we ended up doing. Our thoughts exactly! Our paint job was in surprisingly good condition for a 15 year old house but the instant we put the silver on the wall we knew it was the right decision! I really wish we had done it a while ago - but I guess we have done enough renos on this house to keep us fully occupied.

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  10. I'm partial to grey with white trim in almost anything, so what you have there already looks very attractive to me.

    Virtual hugs,

    Judie

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    1. Thanks Judie, we are loving it so far! It is a huge job and one that would cost us several thousand dollars if we hired out, fortunately hubby doesn't mind painting (I help and tape) and this paint although expensive only needs 1 coat plus touch ups as includes a primer

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