Colors and Cunning Plans (Sans Turnips)

In the continuing saga of choosing a paint color for the main floor, we went back to Home Depot and sorted through some more blues. Husband wants something bold that can't be interpreted as white, so the lighter, barely tinted silvery blues were out in favor of these three: bleached denim, French country, and Cayman Bay, from left to right.

As soon as we put them up, we loved the darkest blue, which is deeply pigmented with hints of purple. Husband was so enamored, he decided to paint a bigger swatch to get an idea of how it would look over a large area.

It's dark. But maybe with high-gloss white trim and white sheers on the windows, it would be gorgeous, we thought. We lived with it for a day or so, staring at the wall for long moments while getting a drink or cooking meals. Yesterday at church, Husband nudged me about halfway through the first meeting. The back of the pew in front of us was covered in a material that is very similar to the Cayman Bay blue we liked. We looked at each other and nodded. It's too dark.

So, Southern Breeze it is. That's the green one we first put up. The paint swatch looks a lot grayer in the store and much greener on our wall. It's very soothing, and it will look good in a semi-gloss finish (paint test pots only come in a flat finish, which reminds me of milk paint). All the trim will be high-gloss white, and eventually, we'll replace the current baseboards with a much taller baseboard. I like tall baseboards.

Speaking of boards, are you bored yet? I told you not to get me going on decorating ideas and colors. It's too late now. You didn't stop me in time and now I will tell you about my cunning plan for extra storage (and it does NOT involve a turnip. (That was a reference for you Black Adder fans out there.)) (Are double parentheses even legal? (and do I care?))

Here is the kitchen island as it currently stands. Blah, boring, builder's grade:

My cunning plan is this: At the end of the knee ledge, where the chairs are, I will add a vertical board and a new, higher eating ledge for people sitting at the counter. Not only will this better hide the island mess from people in the living or dining areas, but I will be left with a space under the counter for pull-out shelving units on each side.

If that doesn't make any sense, it's because I didn't explain it very well. Just trust me that it's a very cunning plan.

I'm going to go immerse myself in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. I'm nearly done, and I have found it an incredibly compelling book, even if I have to keep looking at the family tree at the front to keep track of who's who. I may or may not also be involved in cleaning things around the house. I can't promise anything except to fold some laundry because it gives me an excuse to watch a movie.