Not White Anymore!!

You remember that dining room that I was saying didn't match itself? The one with the off-white textured walls and while trim? There's one picture down in the flooring post, here's another angle:

Well, once I got the floor up I realized that something dramatic was going to have to happen to make that a warm, inviting room that I would want to spend time in. In case you hadn't noticed yet, I love color. LOOOooooooove bright, warm, sexy colors. And my general idea for my house is that I want it to feel like an exotic escape: Arabian Nights, meets India, meets the Caribbean/ Mediterranean tropical feel. I had these pictures in my tear sheets and really liked the feel of
them:


I have no idea why the picture on the left will NOT rotate... clearly this type of technicality isn't my forte...

Anyway, I went to a couple of different stores and picked out a bunch of different samples of red, brown and orange paint and had them up on my wall for a couple of weeks. None of them were looking quite right- some were too dark, but the next brightest version of that color was too fluorescent...









Until one day, completely frustrated, I began taking the color swatches down and accidentally stacked a brick red sample on top of one of those too-bright orange samples and realized, DUH! I had to LAYER colors to get that effect. So I did!



This picture isn't fantastic- I'll have to dig out my tripod and take one without the flash to get a real idea of the depth of the layered color, but you get the idea. It's not white anymore!! Not even close!


What I did to layer the color was put one coat of ColorPlace Jungle Orange in a satin finish (from WalMart) all over the walls with a 3/4 inch nap roller (for textured walls), and let that dry for about 4 hours. Then I used a smaller, lower nap roller with a very small amount of Valspar Terra Cotta Red in a satin finish to do like a dry-rub layer over the top. I did the first layer quite lightly since it's easier to add more color than to take it off, but actually liked the first results a lot and decided to stop there.

I love how the room is coming along! I get tons of compliments on the paint treatment. It's the first room you see when you enter through the back door, and it really sets a tone! Well worth the extra effort!

TIME: One Day.
COST: $35 in paints, plus the usual brushes, rollers and trays. (you can get a pack with all you need at WalMart or Home Depot for about $10.