The First Ten Choices

... And we're painting again! 

You may have seen some paint squares on the walls of the dining room in the last post. Well, that's just the beginning. As of right now, there are ten, count 'em ten, different paint colors on each of the four walls in there. Sigh. And we're not even going with any of those ten!

Based on the colors that are already in that room (the teal hutch, the dark wood table, the teal and tan curtains, the light green chairs), I thought about two possible color options for the top half of the room. We know we want the bottom half to be white, and that will help the picture frame molding to look a little more polished also. For the top half, I was thinking either a mint green or a deep gold. 

Then we decided on a rug (this one), and that ruled out the gold-ish tone since that would be too much of that color. So, we went the direction of mint. 

There's our rug! Oh yeah, and hundreds (actually ten) of paint samples. 

Both Emmy and Richard made fun of me for saying that I want a "dusty" mint color. Then I used the word "muddy" because they used to (sob) use that on Young House Love, and if anyone is correct in paint-color terms, it's them. My (artist) friend Hillary informed me that I'm looking for a "tone" and not a "tint." This is because "tone" means that I'm looking for a certain color mixed with gray, and "tint" means a certain color mixed with white. And I definitely want to go in the grayer direction so that the room doesn't look like you're inside an Easter egg. 

Top row: Behr Marquee Recycled Glass, Behr Sage Tint, Behr Valley Mist
Middle row: Glidden Tropical Surf, Behr Marina Isle, Benjamin Moore Guilford Green, Behr Aqua Smoke
Bottom row: Behr Aloe Essence, Behr Desert Cactus, Behr Rockwood Jade
Winner: (not pictured)

Now I have better terminology, and I don't have to lean on the snicker-inducing term of "dusty." Thanks, Hillary!

Top row: nope, nope, nope
Middle row: Uh-uh, no, hmm...no
Bottom row: also no, still no, maybe but no

Stay tuned for the continuing saga and (hopefully) exciting conclusion!