Colors!

I have to admit that I like bright colors, and I have no apologies!  I’m especially partial to blue, but also love other bright colors.  Thanks to my cousin Janice, who is my moral support, plus my painting mentor, I recently took on another project, the downstairs bedroom.  There were so many things I could paint, it was exciting!

In thinking about a color scheme, I keyed in on these paintings I bought in the last couple of years through the Circle of Art auction, to benefit Food Gatherers, that has been held at Saline Picture Frame for 10 years.  I’ve had them in the bedroom and love them.  They have a nice color scheme, so I decided to make the room those colors.

First, I went to the hardware store and looked at painting ideas, picking up lots of swatches.  The guy who works there, someone my son’s age and my new "friend," told me that once a lady took so many paint samples, they had to tell her to stop.  He wasn’t talking about me, but I tried to be reasonable with the options I took.   Anyway, I found a few color options, all with blues in them.  Then, I took a picture of them on my phone and texted them to Janice, along with photos of my room so she could see what it looked like.  She suggested I use the blue and green colors with white trim, which worked out great.  And, this shouldn’t have been such a light bulb idea, but she told me I could paint the doors too – really?!?  Why hadn’t I thought of that?!?  And, she also okayed my pink color, but suggested that I not use it to paint the walls, but use it to paint the furniture.  Yes!

First, I painted the blue color as predominant.  I used the bluish green color on the top half of the wall, and painted the shelf, trim and doors all in white. 

Then, I started on the furniture…  This was furniture that I had as a kid growing up.  I remember preparing my room at that time which was all in nature colors – yellow walls, yellow bedspread, chair with leafy print, and, the furniture olive green.  My mom and I painted it.  We put on the green paint and then “antiqued” it, which was maybe big at the time.  I think we bought it at a resale place.  So, my plan was to change the olive green furniture into pink.  

  I wasn’t sure I wanted three pieces of furniture solid pink, so I undertook making drawings of the furniture itself, toying with where the pink should go, along with my complementary color of white.  After multiple drawings, plus some inspiration from the internet, I had my plan!  It was SO MUCH fun!  

Take a peek!  (The photos make the pinks look different, but they are really the same, except for the intended color variations on the tall pieces). I'm still looking for more artwork to match the colors, but got lucky with one and won a piece for free a year ago.

 

I even hand-painted little flowers on the drawer knobs – all different.  

So hokey, I know, but it is MY project. 

The other day I went back to the hardware store… it was a slow day and the manager and other employees were hanging out at the register.  My young friend said, “oh, here’s the ‘crazy paint lady.’”  I think his boss was horrified, but I was delighted.  I showed him the pictures of my bedroom and the furniture and he loved them!