Purple Progress

Hey there.  I was sick today and couldn't go into work so I pretty much feel like a unproductive shlup.  (I guess shlup isn't a really word, who knew?  Oh well, I am keeping it.  It's my blog.)  I hate being sick and hate missing school.  I just knew I couldn't give my kids my best if my head and body were aching.  Still though, I worried all day and imagined what they were doing every hour.  And worse, I couldn't go running which means 0 miles in 2013 since this head cold started on New Years Eve.  I think I am getting to be a little obsessive about this running thing.

I thought my productive thing for today could be an update on that dreaded purple wall.  I had already taken pictures so I can type from my horizontal position on the couch.  Here we go!

Remember that horrible purple accent wall mistake?  Remember how I cried and sobbed over $30 of wasted paint?  Remember how my sweet dad tried to comfort me but to no avail?

Dad starting to paint the wall.  

He stopped at this point because I was SOBBING.

I don't think these pictures even do the purple justice.  Seriously it was like MAGENTA.  We have all heard of hot pink right?  This was like hot magenta!  But it really just looked like a hot mess.

So it was back to the drawing board.  I considered just painting everything grey to match the rest of the walls in the living room.  But that made me sad.  I love grey but I really wanted an accent wall/hallway that was bright and different.  Grey is not different.  Grey was the color of the rest of the room!  

I looked into like 400 different paint samples and a very nice lady at the local Ace Hardware tried to help me.  Eventually I settled on another purple that was actually the purple I originally wanted to go with.  I thought it would be too dark originally.  So I took the risk.  It's Expressive Plum from Sherwin Williams but its Behr Eggshell finish from Home Depot.  (You should know that when I got to the store, I STILL looked at colors for like 35 minutes just to make sure I was totally sure.  THEN I talked to the paint ladies for another 25 minutes about what I wanted to do.  THEN my dad talked to the paint ladies for another 5.  THEN they started to mix the paint.)  

Home Depot can match any color.  It's also a little cheaper than Sherwin Williams.  (Not that I don't love Sherwin Williams, but I had a gift card to Home Depot from my cousin Nina---thanks Nina! so that's what I used it for!)  So I brought in the Expressive Plum sample from Sherwin (my dad keeps calling them Shermin, so funny!).  

Here is Home Depot's first attempt.

The first time the Home Depot lady tried it, she and I were in agreement that it wasn't quite right.  At first she had just used the computer to match it.  On the second try, she scanned my color card from Shermin :) in her color match system.  This worked better.  

Second attempt.  You can see the difference already.
Less of that BRIGHT red.  

I wasn't totally sure it was right.  But then the paint lady stuck her finger in the paint and painted it on my paint sample.  She then dried it with a hair dryer and it looked exactly like it was supposed.  (Paint ladies are SUCH risk takers.  I never would have stuck my finger in a gallon of paint!)

So then my dad painted the purple on the wall.  (He doesn't let me paint....)  At first I wasn't too sure about it.  (I know again....)  But I googled purple paint and it said it deepens over a whole week.  It's been like a month now and I LOVE it.  It did deepen slightly.  Or maybe I just got used to it.  Whatever.  

Purple wall!!  And some artwork by me.  

Looking down the hall.  At first I was worried that the purple would be too dark.
But I took this picture at night, and I don't think it's too dark!  

Here's a sneak peek to what we are working on now.  My dad is still working on painting the rest of the living room grey.  Since he's been sick it's kind of on hold, which is okay since I just want him better.  He is also working on painting the trim and the doors white.  They are all a medium wood tone right now and very '60s-ish.  

I'll give you a glance at the before so you can remember what the living room looked like......

Before.  It was a tan color.

In progress.....but looking good!  (Note, this is not the same wall but it is the same room.)

The white trim makes a huge difference.  I can't wait until the rest of the house has it too!  But I think I'll be waiting a while!  

One more picture....because I am just a little obsessed.  

The red buffet stand was an auction find ($45), as are most of the accessories.
The stained glass window was from my parents' basement.  They bought it years ago and never used it.

The kitchen is almost finished too!  But I'll make you wait on those pics!  

Goodnight!  It's 8:46 and I am off to bed!