If ever there were a case to be made for putting giant swatches of actual paint on the walls before making a color decision, this is it.
With many, MANY thanks to all of the Gentle Readers who gave me their thoughts and suggestions, we’re working with these finalists for my dining room.
HC-172 Revere Pewter, the lightest of the 3,
AF-100 Pashmina, which looks like it’s a nanoshade darker than the Revere Pewter (sheesh, let’s paint that radiator bronze while we’re at it, eh, Uncle Jimmy?),
and AC-31 Hot Spring Stones, which looks downright tan on the card, but I know from experience can look brown or gray, dark or light, depending on the application.
I dismissed the AF-100 Pashmina right off the bat b/c it’s just a tad too dark.
Then we started really comparing the Revere Pewter and Hot Spring Stones. Below, you can see 2 overlapping swatches on the back wall: HC-172 RP is on the left and AC-31 HSS is on the right.
(HSS is also the “31” on the short wall, but above it is Edgecomb Gray. A holdover.)
By the by, let me also tell you (why didn’t I blog about this?) that I also played around with a lot of deeper blue-greens. Almost teal, actually. A color I usually hate. But it didn’t look great w/ the drapes or rug, which I’m absolutely keeping.
And I LOVED your suggestions for an inky blue. If I lived by myself, it would already be done. Lacquered, no less, with a super light yellow on the ceiling. But I don’t live alone, and there’s only so far I can push my long-suffering husband. It’s just too dark for him.
So I think the AF-31 Hot Spring Stones is going to be the winner. It’s a bit warmer, and I think it will work better with the rug.
Will my ground floor ever attain the sophisticated bossiness I’m after through this gray and yellow palette?
I’ll sleep on it, and tomorrow I’ll decide. My painter is ready to roll. (Literally.)
Annie Elliott – aka bossy color – is an interior decorator and design blogger in Washington, D.C. Look for her advice about jewel tones in the November 2010 issue of Real Simple. Page 155. Not that we have it marked or anything.
