To paint or not to paint....that is the question

So many customers come in asking about painting brick. Painted brick can look beautiful but it is a pretty permanent change. Although you can remove paint from a brick surface, it requires a lot of elbow grease, and you will never get every speck off.

Now that I have painted Silver Lynx I am itching to do something about my orangy brick fireplace.

One option is to whitewash it........

Another option is to paint it all white.....

Another option is to paint it two colors.....

And last but not least, paint it dark........

If you are thinking about painting your fireplace these are all great options. I haven't decided which option I will choose yet, but I will let you know:)

Silver lynx -painted!

So by now you probably know what I did today......painted! Coat number 1 is complete and I'm pretty happy. Here are some before and after pictures:)

Silver Lynx

I'm so exited! Armistead Paint is about to have its own paint line called Color Therapy. Today out first gallons of paint arrived, of which I will be re-painting my living room. The color......Silver Lynx. It is a beautiful silvery gray. I am changing from a sage green so I'm excited to see the update. I will be sure to share pics:)

The color of the day

Today's color is all about drama......Hale Navy. At first glance many may think this color is too dark, almost black, but once on the walls it is a rich, deep navy that creates a luxurious feeling in the room. You can dress the room up with mirrored pieces, silver, and gold, or you can dress it down with whites, tans, and creams. Whether you're going for elegant or upscale Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore is an excellent choice!!!

Casual setting from Benjamin Moore & Pottery Barn

Beautifully dressed up Hale Navy

I met with another wonderful client yesterday in her beautiful home. She had someone help her choose colors two years ago and she ended up hating them, so I'm glad she put her trust in me this time:) This is a common mistake so many people make.....trusting the "experts". Ok, so maybe trusting is the wrong word to use, but I feel very strongly that color is a personal thing that you just need some good advice and direction from us so called "experts".

I could see the problem immediately. The previous consultant used the kitchen granite as her inspiration which led her to some very peachy brown colors that the homeowner did not like. Funny enough, I did the same thing, with a twist. I talked to the homeowner about what she wanted and then I too used the granite (as it is a very large part of the room) and started to choose colors. While the granite has a lot of orangy brown in it, it has beautiful taupe marbling that I knew would stand out in a good way and give my client exactly what she was looking for!

So, we chose two combinations for her kitchen/keeping room. Option one is a bit warmer and lighter as she is contemplating a more feminine look, Cotswold AF-150 & Baja Dunes 997. These two colors are in the taupe/gray family but they are still more brown with a slight red undertone. Option 2 is Indian River 985 & Iron Gate 1545. This look is a bit more gray but very sharp and would give her the wow factor. Now it's up to her to decide which look she wants, they are both great looks but she will decide which one she wants to live with.

Here is Iron Gate in a beautiful dining room:)

As a side note, she has a beautiful dining room off of the kitchen that has a gorgeous silvery/green/blue wallpaper on it. She wanted to make the ceiling pop with maybe a dark and dramatic chocolate brown. After a look at it I told her it may take the "pretty" feeling away from the room so we opted for a pearlescent ceiling. Veil Cream is a Benjamin Moore pearlescent and it is going to dress that ceiling up and make it so beautiful......I hope she shares pictures:)

I met with a client today who needed help choosing a main color for the inside of her home. Before she called me she had planned to use the color she had used in her last home because she loved it so much. Problem was that when she sampled it on her walls it just wasn't right. It's funny how a color can look amazing in one situation and down right bad in another. Although Edgecomb Gray HC-173 had good contrast in her last home, because of the dim lighting in her new home it looked almost identical to the trim.

Grant Beige

Manchester Tan

Revere Pewter

After trying several options we found the perfect color.....Revere Pewter HC-172. RP is on the same color chip as the Edgecomb Gray but it is a little bit cooler and has a very slight green undertone. We tried it on all of the walls in each room as it looks different from one space to the next. It seems to be the perfect color that she was looking for:)

Upstairs we had a challenge in the Master Bedroom and Bath. Once again, my client preferred the cooler colors, however, the bathroom had tumbled marble tiles that were mostly beige, with a very slight gray vein. We decided to go with Grant Beige HC-83 in the master bedroom and HC-81 in the master bathroom. GB is warmer than the Revere Pewter without being too gold, it still has a gray quality to it. The Manchester Tan is a bit lighter and works great with the tile. We found that if we put the GB in the bathroom it enhanced the gold in the tile, which we wanted to avoid.