Thor and I continue our housing journey with a lot of dithering over paint colors, and interior is now done. Phew!
NOTE: People have been asking to follow our progress as Thor and I pursue our quest for our dream home with sunsets over the Salish Sea. So starting with my post of 5/21/22, we set out.
I believe I can hear sympathetic groans echoing over land and sea when I reveal that we are looking at colors for our new house. Everyone agrees that the tiny samples offered at the paint stores look nothing like the final result of painting a wall with that forumula. The subtle “Topiary Tint” is as intense as a mutant arbutus strangling you. But I digress…. Takeaway: I made a LOT of trips to Lowe’s paint counter for pints of samples to paint on 2×2′ drywall pieces. Here are some of at least two dozen sample jars I tested:
Along the way, we had layers of newspaper and painted sample pieces clogging the hall of our small rental apartment (We are SO ready to move!) — ahem — and Thor abdicated decision-making to me. After many tries, I/we chose this buttery cream for most of downstairs, and pale green for bedroom and bathrooms.
The old gold for exterior main body of house, and “Florentine Clay” for trim. (They haven’t done the exterior yet.) The sample tiles are for the propane fireplace surround in the great room.
At first the cream seemed too yellow, but now that we’ve wandered around in it more, we like the soft warmth of light that will be very welcome during our long Pacific Northwest months of gray rainy gloom.
The central roof beam will be uncovered later. My baby grand piano is looking forward to leaving storage and settling in the corner behind Thor. I miss playing.
The green changes intensity and tone a lot from room to room, and with changes in light. I love green, as soothing and nourishing for the bedroom and bathrooms.
Master bathroom getting ready for tiles (more next week on that):
Of course, after the interior painters were packed up and gone, Thor and I decided that we needed an accent color to break up the flow. We hadn’t planned to be in this temporary rental for anything close to a year (so far), and didn’t bring expendable painting clothes. So Thor came up with this stylish outfit. He’s says, “I’m Cosmopolitan.”
He dubbed this central core (enclosing a pantry) the “heart of the home.”
Meanwhile, our builder Meshak and his partner are working on the stairway to the upper floor. It will be open, with “floating” steps suspended. Meshak wanted the maximum possible openness to let the light flow. Yes! The steps are beautiful wood:
We didn’t realize that the stair risers would be such gorgeous wood grain, too.
After our painting, we now feel we have been part of building our house. We pulled a few weeds and blackberries from the native plant buffer to get it ready for spring plantings, then took a break with a picnic at the edge of our bluff overlooking the Salish Sea. Bear dog loves his new land.
Eagles and gulls flew overhead, while seals were diving just offshore. We feel blessed!
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You will find The Rambling Writer’s blog posts here every Saturday. Sara’s latest novel from Book View Café is Pause, a First Place winner of the Chanticleer Somerset Award and an International Pulpwood Queens Book Club selection. “A must-read novel about friendship, love, and killer hot flashes.” (Mindy Klasky). Sign up for her quarterly email newsletter at www.sarastamey.com
