Picking the perfect paint...

I couldn't paint for five years at our old place, and I thought I wouldn't be able to paint here either. However, when doing the walk through, my landlord agreed to let me (secretly) paint anyway. You have NO idea how excited I got at hearing this. It literally made my week! I raced out to Lowe's, Home Depot and Wal-mart for paint swatches.

Having never been able to do this before, it was a bit overwhelming. First I knew I had to work with the colors that I already had. We had absolutely no budget for new towels, duvets, or anything like that. The paint I choose had to work with what I had going at our old place. Fine by me, as I liked the colors and being able to paint the walls would make it all seem new anyway. I just started grabbing colors that appealed to me and brought them home to put next to my current things. I picked a color for my living room at first that I loved until I set it next to couch only to notice the color's totally matched. Not exactly the look you want. I also waited till we got the keys so I could see how the color's I chose blended with the carpet. That helped eliminate quite a few options.

Ultimately we went with Wal-mart's Color Place paint cause we're broke and we're renting. When I own my place, it'll be Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams, for now...it's all about the $13 gallons of paint!

We started with the bathroom, it being the smallest amount of area to cover. I have chocolate Brown and Blue towels, so went with none to subtle blue for the walls. My husband loves it. I have moments where I think I maybe should have gone more neutral, and moments where it's exactly what I wanted. Maybe I just need to accessorize first and it'll grow on me?!

My husband choose our office color (well selected out of several options I presented him with). This is probably my favorite, it's bold, bright and tropical. It should inspire me to be super creative when I scrapbook and craft in here (at least I hope so)!

I went for a rich, rather dark shade of brown for the bedroom walls. We both like it dark when we sleep and it isn't so dark it's depressing or anything. More cozy than anything else. I'll love laying under the down comforter in here when it's snowing this winter.

Since we went so bold in other rooms (we were a little surprised in the office to see the color on the walls), we decided to go very light in the main living area. I choose a light cream. Since the living/ dining/ kitchen/ hallway area is rather open we didn't want to change colors and make things distracting. I feel we got a nice flow from going light and making the rooms really pop. Note the ugly light in the hallway, that's yet another future upgrade I plan on making.

The one thing I knew I had to have, was an accent wall. I also knew what technique I'd be using. Earlier this summer I helped my mom re-paint her living room (I'll post once it's done and I take pictures of it...she still needs to accessorize). She has a little alcove that she wanted as an accent wall, so I played around with some sample boards from Lowe's (I highly recommend these as if it looks awful you don't have to re-do a whole wall!!). After settling on a technique I learned in scene painting class in college, I went to work. The results were so well received that I did her entertainment center and front door as well. It's a fairly simple process...I take a rather dark paint and add water, don't ask how much as I keep mixing till the consistency is where I want it.
It needs to be runny, but not exactly a wash. I apply to a smallish area using a wet brush and then follow with a dry brush to blend. It ends up looking somewhat leathery and antiqued. I wasn't happy at first, not liking how my transitions didn't blend as well as I'd hoped, but everyone else liked it, so I let it be. Now, with my shelves hung and everything in place, I LOVE it!!