The Hallway: Part VIII

In my never-ending quest for the perfect colour for the hallway, I am still hunting. My dear new friend Christopher, gave me a copy of the Farrow & Ball colour brochure, which is incredible. As wonderful as the variety of shades are, their names and descriptions are even better. Who wouldn’t want a hallway painted Elephant’s Breath, or a dresser painted Mouse’s Back?  I am sure that people would say that I can be Churlish Green, but really, I think that Dead Salmon. The shades of String, Cord and Matchstick are so evocative of an old English Country House, while French Gray and Vert de Terre call to mind the French countryside. As much as I’d love to use F&B paint, I don’t think our Estate Manager would be able to deal with paying that kind of money for a gallon of paint. Too bad.

What’s your favourite F&B paint name?

***UPDATE: As much as I love the yellows, there are psychological studies that show that people fight more in yellow rooms than in any other colour. Because the children here have mental and behavioural issues, yellow has been taken out of the running. Too bad, because there are so many great shades.***

The Hallway: Part VII

Well, there’s one more colour in the mix. I think we’re coming close, but we’re not quite there. About a year ago, we changed our corporate colours from teal and green (soooo mid-1990’s) to a pumpkin and dark brown. I thought a shade that was a little warmer than the Spice Bounty that I showed the other day, here, might be a good choice. Luckily, there’s a Duron store about a mile from the office and the guys are getting to know me pretty well. I looked for the exact shade I was thinking of, and came up with Tassel. Next to the Spice Bounty, which looks very green, the Tassel looks very warm and rich. Sort of like a nice butterscotch pudding. Maybe just a shade lighter…Right now, we’ve got seven different paints on the wall, but I feel like we’re coming down to the home stretch. I think that if we choose Tassel, we can cut it by 50% with white for the staircase.

I told the CEO that you had weighed in on the colours and had been a terrific help, so… Thoughts???

The Hallway: Part VI

My office is now looking like an outpost of the local paint store and I am collecting paint samples from far and wide. I understand that everyone wants to give their input, but some of the comments I’ve heard have not been pleasant. And, as always, I am getting new suggestions all of the time, the latest of which was burgundy.

We’ve decided that since we’re painting, we will paint the stairway, all the way to the top of the house. There is some light on parts of the stairway, but not on others, so there will be very dark spots.

I would like what ever colour we use to continue all though the stairway and the hallway. I put two new colours up at the suggestion of our property director – New England Green and Signature Blue.

I think that we need clear colours to help warm the north-facing space, not muted colours.

I applied a swatch of original favourite, Silver Sage, and really like the way it looks. I also put a coat of the Cowslip #4 on next to the Pale Cowslip.I am leaning towards either the Silver Sage or the taupey Spice Bounty, which you can see on the wall and also at the end of the hallway.But in the end, the decision is not up to me, it’s up to the CEO. However, your input is more than welcome and has been a huge help in looking at colours.

The Hallway: Part V

You know that part of the job description that says “and other duties as specified”?  Well, today, my other duties included painting some swatches of paint on the walls of our center hallway.

We had narrowed the colours to the Laura Ashley Pale Cowslip and a new entry, Duron’s Spice Island. The CEO had suggested I look at a taupe, and I whipped out my PMS colour book to see if there was a shade he had in mind. Once we settled on a PMS colour, I showed him some paints that matched and got a quart of the one he liked best.

He liked it on the sample board but was not at all wild about it on the wall. After I painted the Pale Cowslip, it was deemed too bright, and the Spice Island was too boring. So, tomorrow, I will be getting a dark blue and a hunter green. The issues with those colours are that we are painting the stairway all the way to the third floor and if we do it all in the same shade, it will be very dark.