Redecoration, Part 4

Well, the painting is finished. It involved 4 colors: a medium gold ("Blonde") for the walls in the living room and dining room, a light gold (Ivoire) for the ceilings and for the entry and the hall, a dark brown for the built in cabinets in the living room, and a white (Atrium White) for the baseboards, doors, and crown moldings.

We learned a lot about the effects of different kinds of light on the perceived color. Window light and incandescent lamp light make a single pigment appear two be two different colors. During the day, the light from the living room windows makes the walls look lighter than the dining room walls, but at night, they look more nearly the same. Although the walls and the ceiling of the entry way are the same color (Ivoire), the ceiling looks darker than the walls, which get more light. Although the hall is the same color (Ivoire) as the ceilings and the entry way, it looks much darker--almost the same as the (Blonde) walls in the dining room. Even within the dining room, two of the walls appear to be a darker gold than the other two. The lesson is that it is impossible to select colors based on small paint chips in a store. You need to get large samples, bring them home, and hold them to the walls in all of the areas you plan to paint. Better yet is to buy a quart of the paint you think will work, and paint 2'x 2' squares on every surface that you plan to paint. Even after we did that, the results were sometimes surprising, but, I might add, very pleasing.

I did the last of the painting Thursday, well behind my original plan. The delay had no effect on the overall schedule, however, as we are awaiting delivery of a ceiling medallion for the dining room. When that arrives, the carpenters can install it and the decorative overlays for the cabinets and mantel in the living room. And the electrician can install both the chandelier in the dining room and the rope lighting inside the crown molding in the dining room and the hall.

The job has not been problem-free. The pocket door from the kitchen into the hall came off its track. Repair would entail cutting a large section of dry wall out of the hall, and could cost from $300 to $800, depending on what we find is wrong. We decided just to leave it open for now. The painters accidentally knocked over a 7-foot etagere in the living room, and shattered the glass mirror backing. They will get it fixed for us, but that is going to take a while.

I have already installed new ceiling lights in the hall and the entryway. And the dining room table arrived Thursday afternoon. It is our first large piece of new furniture, and we both love it.

Since the entry way is complete, we plan to replace the decorative accessories we had in there today.

So it is pretty much downhill from here. We still need revised estimates on drapes for the living room and dining room (the first plan was just too expensive). We are waiting for the rest of the furniture to arrive. The rest is just accessories (lamps, paintings/prints, etc.).

We are still trying to hold the total cost to just about twice our original budget. The main reason is that reproductions of Victorian furniture are very expensive. Because they are typically very ornate, most of them are hand-made, often in North Carolina. The quality of the woods, the finishes and the decorative inlays also drive the cost up. But we believe the enjoyment we get from the Victorian look will be worth the expense. You can be sure, though, that the results will not be described as "contemporary," "clean lines," or other euphemisms for modern bland.

When the job is completed, I will post some pictures to the blog.