I bought my condo over two years ago. In fact, it was at WorldCon in Anaheim just 3 days before I moved in (on my birthday) that the awesome Ling gave me a gift card for Home Depot. Many of you had contributed, and I remember tearing up when she told me.
Today, I finally finished off the gift card! Yes, it’s taken me that long to get around to painting. But the same three paint chips have been on my counter (or in a basket or in my notebook) for those entire two years. Despite being overwhelmed by choice, I decided to go with my gut and use the paint colors I’d be thinking about for so long. They are:
That’s Bamboo, Mulling Spices, and Wicker (for trim).
Although I used to love bright, bold colors, my tastes have been leaning heavily to earth tones and organics for the last five years or so. I love dark woods and depth of color. I’m “World Market” meets “West Elm.”
Things I learned about painting on that first day:
- It’s harder than it looks.
- It’s messier than I thought.
- The first coat looks like crap.
- Painting is a good workout.
The biggest lesson I learned, however, is that good painting requires patience, and that I don’t have it. It takes time to apply the blue masking tape, time I rarely felt like spending. It takes time to get an even line — and I got very few of those. It takes time and patience to set up beforehand and to clean up when you’re done, and I tried to cut every corner that I could.
But the results. Oh my. I hadn’t realized how much I would love that deep wonderful Mulling Spices color. It makes me feel warm and cozy and alive every time I see it. The first time I saw it after the second coat was on, I knew all the hard work was worth it.
Before and after pictures aren’t coming out too well — they also require patience. But I’ll do what I can.
