The evolution of paint

Ahhhh, painting.  I get motivated to paint a room, which normally lasts for about 3 hours.  If I'm not done in that time, then the room just doesn't get done.  Ok, not really, but my attention span really isn't that long. :) 

Anyways, let me explain my painting history.  For each of the two houses we have lived in, Stephen and I have been the first owners.  Therefore, the walls in both houses were that lovely off-white/ivory/cream- you pick the term- color.  In our first house, I was terrified of painting.  I couldn't translate the paint color on the little swatch to the wall to save my life.  Or, maybe I was afraid to.  So, our first house was left completely as-is... boring.

When we moved into our current house in 2006, Stephen and I were determined to bring some color to our walls... and that we did!  We started off by painting three rooms- the half-bath downstairs, the breakfast nook, and the dining room.  We did the half-bath a really sunny yellow.  We painted the dining room a pretty dark tan.  I had seen a picture in a magazine with a kitchen painted this apple-green color, and I was all about it.  But, we started slow and only painted half the wall (under the chair rail) that apple-green.  I didn't want to be TOO daring!

This was the breakfast nook about a week after we moved in (we hosted a surprise party for my cousin!).  Lovely, beautiful, bright, engaging walls.  Not.

I'm having to stretch to find old pictures, but in the background, you can see the color we chose and how we only painted it on the bottom half.

So, in 2008, I got a little braver and painted the whole wall (and got some beautiful curtains a la Target).  I think the curtains actually inspired me to paint the whole wall. 

Bright and bold.

I loved it.  Yes, the green is bright, but it looked so good with our black countertops and appliances.  Plus, we tried to coordinate accessories (kitchen rugs, handtowels, decorations) to include the green.  Now, not everyone loved it.  My dad, in particular.  I won't even tell you what he said it looked like. :) 

So, the other day I started getting an itch to change it.  I was getting a little tired of the bright green.  We had lived 4-1/2 years with it, and I was wanting a change.  Stephen's cousin had painted his kitchen this gorgeous shade of blue- kind of a turquoisey blue, but subtle.  I have a beautiful... how do I describe it... piece of clay artwork that my mom got me that was this shade of blue and I was inspired.  We got the name of their paint (Wythe Blue by Benjamin Moore) and I tried to translate it into a Sherwin Williams color online.

This morning, we went by SW after church, and they could actually match the exact color of Stephen's cousin's paint!  woohoo!  So, we got a gallon and I went home and started painting.

And I finished (in 3 hours, no less!)!  I love it... it's a nice, refreshing change, and it's still bright and cheery without being that lime green color.

What do you think?

It's funny to see how far we've come, from not having any walls painted to having all but a few rooms painted in this house.  I'll have to show my Dad the picture and see if he's a fan... if not, maybe the third time will be the charm... in 4-1/2 more years!.