Fifty Shades of Greige

Painting has become a kind of compulsion for me. I’ve painted our house a ridiculous amount of times. Since we built our home 15 years ago, most of the rooms have been painted at least three times; Paige’s old room five.  Maybe I’m spending too much time at home looking at the walls, because I’m thinking about painting again.

The family room downstairs started out white, then was changed to a color I can’t quite describe—it matched the couch I bought off Craigslist.  I got rid of the couch and the rest of the furniture and repainted the downstairs before Paige and Matt moved in with us. They ended up staying three weeks and then Matt was offered a new job and they moved to Madison. Fortunately, the taupe we chose for the family room matched the new furniture we bought to replace what we had cleared out.   

I wasn’t able to live with the seafoam green though in what was going to be the nursery. The color made me feel nauseous when I started using the room as my workout room.  I repainted the walls gray which turned out looking decidedly purple. The next color I chose was cream. I figured it would be a safe color, but two coats couldn’t cover the four layers of color underneath. That room really should be done again. 

Amber and Paul helped me repaint the kitchen in 2011, a shade of green Amber chose that looks good with the oak cabinets. I’m thinking now about changing it when we replace our damaged laminate countertop.

A few years ago I repainted the living room the same golden tan trending at the time we built the house. It now looks dated. I want to freshen things up.

Gray is the new neutral. I actually love gray, but it doesn’t go with the warm colors in our carpet, furniture and oak trim.

If only I could paint the trim and kitchen cabinets white, I could pick any wall color I wanted. But there’s no way Dave’s going to let me paint perfectly good solidly built oak cabinets. That and it would cost a small fortune not to mention be a ton of work (once I got started I’d have to do the whole house of course).

I’ve been told greige is the ticket. It’s a warm gray with beige, considered a neutral that’s supposed to go with anything. Turns out there are at least 50 shades of greige, each having its own sneaky undertones. I’ve spent hours the last few weeks researching and scouring Pinterest for the perfect one. I want to get it right.

After several trips to Benjamin Moore gathering paint chips, I bought sample pints of the top two contenders--Abalone and Revere Pewter. I did what the experts tell you to do. I painted poster board and taped them to the wall. I’m glad I did. The Abalone definitely looks lavender and the Revere Pewter looks like yesterday’s oatmeal or a dried-up mud puddle.

People ask if I like painting because I do so much of it. I actually kind of abhor painting, but after so much practice I’m pretty good at it. I swear this is the last time I’m painting the house.  Maybe I’ll have one of those online interior designers suggest one color and hire a professional to paint the entire house with it.

Or, maybe I should just quit looking at the walls and get out more. I have Pinterest paralysis.