Colours

“Green’s the colour of the sparklin’ corn
In the mornin’ when we rise,
In the mornin’ when we rise.
in the mornin’ when we rise.
That’s the time, that’s the time
I love the best.”

Well, we’re kind of at the fun part now. And we can start to relax a bit and enjoy the rest of the trip. We’re virtually done making selections and securing supplies. Now that the painters have started the interior of the house is beginning to take on the personality we selected for it. Originally we were going to have all the walls painted white. The plan would be then for us to paint room by room as the mood struck. As it turns out though it doesn’t cost any more to have the rooms painted a flat color as opposed to white, generally speaking. So we scrambled this weekend, and with the help of our hometown paint company, Sherwin Williams, we selected a color palette that we’re pretty excited about.

Initially we selected “Lemongrass” for the bedroom to avoid having to erect tall ladders to paint the vaulted areas. Then we got to thinking, let’s have them paint the tall staircase areas and Christine’s studio while we’re at it (the studio window area is difficult to reach as well). We took the boys up to the local Sherwin Williams store and came home with an arm full of paint chips and inspiration booklets. Christine selected a light violet for her studio (the name escapes me at the moment). We then noticed a nice sample room in one of the brochures and decided on a yellow for the front window wall and kitchen ceiling. Conveniently enough there was a nice “Global Spice” palette of about twenty colors on the back of the brochure and rather than belabor the point, we decided let us go with that. It suited our taste and existing finish selections nicely. As a designer I guess I could have attempted to come up with my own palette but realistically why bother. The one in the brochure suited our taste so I see no need to try to improve upon it. Not all the rooms will be painted right away, many will still wait until after we’re moved in.

View of our "Global Spice" color palette for the house.

Putting together the interior color palette based on items such as the kitchen cabinets, countertops, floor tiles and even a pillow sham.

We fell one box short on our 18×18 Bronzo tiles, but otherwise they’re all installed. We put these porcelain tiles in the foyer, laundry, half bath and master bath. Going to Lowes we were able to select a Mocha grout that should match nicely. The last of the non-carpet flooring was picked up and is ready to be installed.

Tile sample and Mocha colored grout from Lowes

We also received our first bath cabinet today. It’s an inexpensive American Standard unit we ordered online from Home Depot. It’s not out of this world great, especially considering the Kohler vessel and faucet, but it will do; especially in the short-term. The low-cost of the vanity also means we won’t be timid so there’s a chance that we’ll change out the fake drawer pulls for some antique metal ones. We may even paint it and give it a distressed finish. Will look good as a compliment to the dining room furniture; subconsciously tying the two together for residents and guests alike.

Vanity for half bath. 30" is perfect for our vessel style sink and faucet.

We also started looking at carpet. I need to do some more research first to determine brand and “model” so to speak. There are a lot of choices, even amongst eco-friendly carpets. Once the type of carpet is chosen we can worry about colors. For now we’re hoping for a sage like green for upstairs and a grey moss color for the master bedroom.

Way too many carpet options. Here's some eco-friendly carpet from Mohawk.

Beyond that it’s basically just wait and see. Each day is something new visually so it’s about the moste exciting time. Construction wise the gallery walls, made from 1/2″ MDF, are being installed upstairs. It was too dark for me to take a picture so stay tuned after this weekend. I can talk more about them at that time. Here are some more pics to enjoy.