Stencil status update

Since I got the hallway painted, I've kind of stalled on my painting project.  I guess I forgot that in order to actually paint the stencil, first I'd have to have the stencil in my possession.  And in order to have it in my possession, I'd have to order it.  So - I'm still probably at least a week away from having any actual results to show you, so in the meantime I thought I'd post the stencil I just ordered.

The actual pattern is just one of these flowers, like this:

The pattern is about 3 feet high and 7 inches wide.  I picked it because I like the look of it - clean and spare, with minimal fussiness - and also because the long thin shape of it will best fit into the odd layout of the wall area in the hallway.  If I had chosen a thicker one I'd have been able to use it less in the hallway because it wouldn't have fit in the narrow spaces between doors.

So there you have it.  The color palette is still undecided, but hopefully the pattern will arrive in the mail soon so I'll have something real to show you!

Getting things done

It was a productive weekend.  I finished painting the hallway in Boothill Brown, so am now officially ready for Stencilmania!  Let's kick this off with a quick before and after, shall we?

A slightly different angle - I think these two pics really show the nice contrast between the brown and the white trim, and also the white floor.   

I think going with the brown was a good decision.  As my pal Amanda pointed out the other day, it's probably a little much to have more than two colors going on in one connected space.  That much contrast would probably do more to make the room feel small and distracting than just continuing the brown.

So, next steps:

• Order the stencil
• Decide on a color scheme for the stencils on the hallway walls

Someday I'd also like to replace the ugly overhead light in the hallway, but with multiple vacations planned this year, and with still paying off the fridge for a while, I think the budget will not allow for that quite yet.

New Directions

[Thank you for indulging me in that Glee reference.]

Readers, I am fickle.  When last I wrote, I was headed down a stencil path in the hallway.  That hasn't changed.  But the whole color scheme I was considering for the hallway has taken an unexpected turn.  I showed you some of the options I was considering, which included white, a lightly tinted neutral, and orange.  Here's what those might have looked like:

My first thought was that white with a bright orange stencil would be the way to go, something like this:

But, one thing these pictures don't accurately show is the whiteness of the floor, combined with the whiteness of the doors.  Adding intense crisp whiteness to the walls as well - even if broken up with a stencil - seemed a little too close to mental hospital chic to me.  So I then reverted back to the idea of a very light neutral, like this:

I was all set on that idea for the past couple of weeks.  I had gone to the store, picked up several paint chips to compare and select an actual color, and had even gotten in the car to drive to the paint store to buy it when I had a brainwave that gave me a lot of second thoughts.  (Didn't this happen before with the green wall in the kitchen?  Yes it did.)  In fact, I think I had never been completely comfortable with this color scheme, but had convinced myself that it would be fine when I got it up on the walls.  And maybe it would have been!  Who can say?  I think it just never sat quite right with me because it meant introducing this whole other color into the scheme that just wasn't part of it - the other colors are such visceral colors, that this one just never fit in.  (Sorry, Durango Dust - nothing personal.)

My last-minute brainwave in the car was: Why not just paint the hallway the same brown that I had used everywhere else and loved?  The brainwave actually started from a money-saving impulse.  As I was driving to the store, I just really didn't want to spend $30 on another gallon of paint.  And I had all this brown sitting at home, so I thought, why not try it?  I went home, and quickly mocked up a few pics to see what I thought.  Here's what I came up with:

I like it!  Not only does it keep that whole wall fairly seamless, but it even more emphasizes the green of the kitchen and dining area because everything else is brown.  The white trim and white floor looks great against the brown, and as I happily discovered on the other walls, this beautiful brown is not really dark at all - it just feels very warm.

Plus, I can still have my stencil cake and eat it too.  The brown will provide a great backdrop for some colorful flowers.  I could either go with a warm color scheme like this:

Or a cooler one like this:

Please pardon my ill-executed flower drawings - I promise the actual stencils will look better than that.  But the idea is there, and I like it.  I think I'm leaning towards the cooler green and white flower option.

Painting of the brown will be happening this weekend, and then I can post some pictures with the actual results!