A very fun and dangerous game you can play goes like this, “If you could snap your fingers what would you instantly change about your room?” The answer is worth pursuing. Now, before you actually change anything, play that game over and over, over the course of months and if the answer is still the same thing, then change if/when you can (I’m not sure if this means you “win” or “lose,” but you’ll know the answer). When we chose this paint color I was 80% sure it was the one – not 100% but I felt confident enough to spend the $2,500 and 2 days to get it done (it was that expensive because it was two different sheens and we painted the ceiling, too). But I failed to remind myself of the best and most obvious paint color rule – small swatches show a little bit of the color, a whole room shows a LOT of the color. In other words, whatever color is in the pigment just becomes more when bigger (seems very “duh” right now). I really, really, really like this room, I do. At night, I LOVE this color (Debonair by Sherwin-Williams) and when it’s super cloudy and I’m cozied up in bed I also love it. It’s PERFECT for a room that doesn’t get a lot of natural light and you want it to feel cozy and warm. But this room is sooooo well lit and when the skylights are open and the room is blasted with light it’s just 30% too bold and intense for me (I actually LOVED it with just one coat, but after the second I got nervous but it was too late).
THE TWIST: Why I am Even Considering Repainting?
I was going to wait and just not deal with it (again, it’s not a big enough bummer to prioritize it into my design schedule or budget) but then I painted my brother’s laundry room the most magical color, Eventide by Sherwin-Williams, and I walked in while all the cabinets fronts were hanging, drying in the family room (a room with very similar light to our bedroom) and immediately was like, “oh dear, this is the color, the exact color I was going for in our bedroom.” You see Eventide can look gray or pastel in small doses so when I considered it I was fearful that it would look depressing or even too baby, but once you get it in a full room it becomes much bluer, much happier with ZERO depressing tendencies at all. It’s incredibly soothing, happy, calm, and yet still a color – it’s not a typical neutral (blue is a neutral for me LOL) and once I saw it I wanted it in our bedroom NOW.
But my color confidence is on the mend. I feel like my “picker” was off last year and it’s just finding its way back. So I asked Gretchen to photoshop the color onto the walls, with the hope of feeling 95% confident. Oh and here’s a fun fact, the only way to feel 100% confident about a paint color is if you’ve painted a whole room before in a similar light. There are SO MANY colors that I would have thought were “meh,” until I was in a room on all four walls. Evergreen Fog is another example. Sure it was the color of the year a few years ago but I wasn’t that into it until we painted my brother’s family room that color and MY GOODNESS, every time I go in I’m like “this color is so beautiful and perfect.”
Anyway, here is my bedroom in SW Eventide.
Option #1: Eventide With White Ceiling
Y’all, I KNOW it’s not that much different but it just dials it back a bit and its more soothing. I’m not convinced I love it with the print of the bed, but that bed just looks sooooo much better in person IMHO. But the Eventide does in fact look so much better for the vibes that I want in here. Of course, if we are repainting we have an opportunity to paint the ceiling back to white (and not that cool of a white, a bit warmer). I prefer the skylights on white ceilings but hmmm, not sure…
I like it. A lot. Not sure about the white ceiling still and I want to make sure I love it with the window treatments…
Option #2: Eventide With White Ceiling AND Trim
Here you can see what it would look like if the trim were painted white in addition to the ceiling. I actually really thought that I was going to like this, but it makes the room way busier and it was a solid, immediate NO. Now maybe if the white were a bit warmer or grayer I don’t know… maybe there are just too many windows and doors to trim around. It’s just too much contrast for me for this room.
It’s fine, but…not my fave…
Option #3: Eventide Flooded Everywhere…
There she is. Walls, ceiling, and trim – all Eventide. I’ve even thought about taking it down to 75% (so adding some white to it) but again, I’m nervous about doing anything wrong these days (I feel like I am brave in so many ways, but I’m just so sick of getting paint colors wrong, which now that I think about it was just our white in the living room and the gray/lavender in the family room, no wait and the red front door…).
Now when you look at the pictures next to each other I agree that Debonaire does POP more, but consider this: the photoshopped version on the right doesn’t have the movement of the light on the walls like Debonaire did but is that because it’s not a true photo? Would all those pretty shadows and the spots that are brighter/darker still happen with Eventide? (I think so, right?). So if I had to choose between these two “photos” I’d choose Debonaire, but I promise that living in this room is just too intense so in person I want Eventide.
When I look at this side of the room I do wish I had more of an accent color over here, but in person, I love that it’s restrained and simple – just tones of blue, wood, and some mauves.
BTW I accidentally read a few comments (not here) the other day about me, which I immediately regretted, of course. If you have judgment about my design process including if/when I change things, I totally can see that. I think it’s really helpful to know that literally everybody, no matter how many years of experience someone has, tries and fails in their field (especially when risk-taking) and either has to never admit it out loud or has to redo it and gets to learn from it. For me, the former isn’t an option (my personality doesn’t allow me to keep shit inside), so I choose to publicly do the latter (which is often painful for me, but it’s the path I’m more comfortable taking). But if you are hoping that there is a creative or a designer out there who does everything perfectly the first time, it’s simply not true and is never going to be true. They just probably don’t have the type of platform where they can publicly admit them. ?
*Original Photos by Kaitlin Green