Oops!

So, to say that I have been a deadbeat blogger is a total understatement. I cannot believe it has already been a month since I have posted. So much has happened in that amount of time. I will try to catch y'all up over the next few days. We last left off with me bragging about our seemingly easy color choices. Well, as you can probably guess by the title of this post, my past as a terrible paint chooser repeated itself. The two days following the last post (August 5-6), the shake shingle was added to the entry way and the house was painted. The seemingly perfect "mantis green" that we had picked for our accent color was overwhelmingly loud to say the least. Fortunately, our painter knows what he is doing and stopped after just one coat. After turning onto the street and being able to spot the color from the other end of the neighborhood, Adam and I instantly knew that oops number one had been made. We spent the following two days testing out new options from Benjamin Moore "fresh mint" and "minty green" to Sherwin Williams "sea salt." We also tried lighter versions of Benjamin Moore "revere pewter" (which is what the siding is painted), before deciding to paint the shake "revere pewter" to match the siding. We are going to add our accent with a mint door which we think will be Benjamin Moore "leisure green."

"Mantis Green" garage shake

Testing new paint colors

Shake shingle re-painted in Revere Pewter"

Front poch and entry

Rear view of the exterior painted

Front view of exterior painted

Front porch wood ceiling painted

Drywalled and painted back porch ceiling

The interior colors did not make it past the first round either (except for one). We decided that the coral we had chosen was more peach than we were going for and thus, resumed the hunt for the most perfect coral (a very difficult feat actually). We eventually decided on Sherwin Williams "ardent coral" at 75%. It is a little intense in a large empty room but I think it is going to look great once the room is designed and furniture is in. I have BIG plans for this room. Stay tuned to see my inspiration and how it turns out...

Coral dining room....Adam is realy taking a leap of faith on me with this one. I hope I pull it off! 

We also started to become concerned that the "pale jade" we had chosen for the kitchen was a little bright despite being so light. We experimented with some other jade/mint colors and really like Sherwin Williams "mint condition." Now that it is on the wall, it may be a little saturated but we will wait to see once the cabinets are in since not much of it will show anyway. We had the pantry painted this color as well although I intend to wallpaper it since we are leaving it doorless to expose the window.

kitchen (it looks al ittle brighter than actual in this pic) and view of sea salt that is in the rest of the house.

View of all 3 colors together

 So, basically all of our paint colors were changed except for two: the revere pewter for the exterior siding and the sea salt for the remainder of the interior. We did manage to pick an awesome interior ceiling and trim color though (Benjamin Moore "white dove" which we love and are not changing. Paint colors... Oops #1!

Our second oops, which I realized a few months ago and have been stressing about regularly, was finally resolved that weekend as well. The plans for the laundry room have the sink on the left hand side closest to the door and the dryer on the left wall as well but farthest from the door. However, during the framing, plumbing, and electrical rough in, our builder requested that we switch the dryer and the sink to make it easier for the plumber. I stated that as long as the dryer would work on that wall then that was fine. I had just gone over a pretty extensive list of "things that need to be done, changed, or fixed" so I was trying to throw him a bone. I should have known better than to deviate from the plan when I had not analyzed the deviation on my own. After the framing and drywall were up, I realized that the side wall was not deep enough for the dryer and the dryer would end up sticking out in to the doorway. Obviously, something that was not remotely feasible. After stressing about bringing this up, we met with our builder and within the next few days, the sink and dryer returned to their original locations per plan and all was well again...for a few days anyway hehe. Laundry room plan deviation...Oops #2!

Laundry room wall torn down and sink and dryer switched

Drywall replaced after switching the dryer and sink

Our third oops wasn't exactly something I am taking the blame for entirely. On our plan, we have built ins marked above the toilet in the guest bathroom. Apparently, "built ins" is not a universal term in the building world (who knew). During the framing process, when I figured the built ins would be framed out, I mentioned them to our builder once I noticed that the framing was complete and they were abset. He assured me it would be fine and he could add them later no problem. Then the drywall went up and was taped and smoothed out and I mentioned them again. Again, I was reassured that it was alright. Finally when the drywall was primed and about to be painted, we mentioned the built ins again and that is when the miscommunication of the definition of "built ins" was discovered. Our builder thought that we were doing a cabinet (to be hung later). Oops! After we clarified our definition of built ins (in that same laundry room meeting the first week of august - that was a rough one) and what we wanted in the room, our builder made sure they were added. I think they came out great! Built in  miscommunication... Oops #3!

Built ins inspiration

Our built ins. The back still needs to be painted

So, the morals of this post are:

1. Always maintain an open line of communication. Even if you think that something is implied or understood, talk about EVERYTHING! 
2. When someone else recommends a change, scrutinize it as much as you would your own change
3. Measure, measure, measure!
4. Do not be afraid to speak up if you realize that you (or someone else) has made a mistake. It can almost always be fixed and sooner is always better than later.
5. Paint is tricky. I have no major lesson for this other than buy testers and paint LARGE areas rather than a few strokes. Paint looks completely different in different rooms and on a larger scale. 
6. Don't stress over paint, it can always be changed so feel free to change it if you are not happy!

Hopefully y'all can learn something from our mistakes. Until next time...