Now We Shall Paint! Part 1

Kid Four is home from college for a way-too-short-visit and guess what? She needs money. So we made a deal. She will help me with a project. I will give her money. It's a win-win. I get a project buddy (and who doesn't love a project buddy?) and she gets money (and who doesn't love money?). It doesn't get much better than that!

So this week we shall paint the kitchen.

Grey.

Yes, you read that right. Grey. With an "e". Because I like how it looks that way.

For those of you who follow my persistent aversion to gray skies (with an "a" because I don't like them), you will recognize the irony of my choosing this color. But I promise. I don't take choosing a paint color lightly!

This can be a painting problem. One of many...

I'll break it down for you.

Problem 1 - Color

1. I actually have a horrible time picking paint colors. I can't "see" a color on my wall until I see it on my wall. Thus, I have become a paint sample junkie.

This is the beginnings of this particular project's collection. (Please note the words: "beginnings of". This was not an error. To display all of my paint samples would take a small warehouse.)

2. Even with all these samples I still have trouble finding just the right color. So I mix colors. Often.

Like this:

If I like my mix, I try it on my wall. If I don't like my mix, I try it on my wall.

Till my wall(s) looks like this:

If I like my mix on my wall then I paint it on the back of a business card, like this:

And I number it. And write the numbers on the wall next to the color. (Still with me? I know. I could have painted every house in the neighborhood by now!)

Then I wait to see in morning light.
      And evening light.
            And afternoon light.

And to see it on a sunny day.
      And a cloudy day.
           And a snowy day.

And to see it in the fall.
      And the winter.
          And the spring.
               And the summer.

(Yes, my wall has looked a little like the picture above for seasons. No, I am not making this up.)

So this time I finally did what any normal painting girl would do. I went to a store where I loved the color of paint on their walls and asked them about it. And then I brought a sample of that color home. And I put on my walls.

I loved it!

The color is: grey. With an "e". (That's not really the artsy name for the color. It's just the color it looks like.)

Pretty much everyone close to me has questioned this idea. Even Kid Four. Till I took her to the store. And then she agreed. It's fabulous!

So now we shall paint. Grey.

With an "e".

: )