Dark Granite

My latest painting project: the kitchen/living room space. You see here the test patch (click for a larger version). I'm covering the buttery yellow with a velvety gray. "Velvety". It's my favorite descriptor for all my new paint colors. I picked this color the same time I picked the Laurel Mist green that is in the office, over eight months ago.

Unfortunately, the local Home Depot does not offer the tiny sample cans of paint that are so often advertised, so I had to buy a minimum of a quart. Quite a lot to spend on a color that may not ultimately work out ($12). Fortunately, I'm satisfied with the hue. The color is Dark Granite; all the paint is Behr. The paint lady at Home Depot tells me the Paducah store is mere weeks away from carrying the also oft-advertised Behr paint with primer mixed in. I could have used the stuff on this job. While I'm happy with Deep Granite, the bad news is that it is, indeed, going to take two coats to cover to my satisfaction.

My plan isn't to paint all the walls Dark Granite, but to alternate with an as-yet-to-be-selected taupe. I think. We'll have to see if it works in practice the way it does in my head. The gray is too dark, I think, to use throughout the living room/kitchen space. I will use the gray on the walls with large expanses of glass--both are parallel to each other and between I will alternate the other color, beginning with the wall to the left of the test patch. Again, in theory. Though I've looked several times, my beloved Behr does not carry a taupe that suits me and that I think will work in this situation. I checked out the Ralph Lauren colors at Home Depot and there are some shades in the Urban Loft line that looked promising. It has to be a fairly strong taupe to stand up to the granite, I think. We'll see.

It's been my experience that cheaper paint is not a bargain, especially when trying to achieve a more saturated color. One wrong dash of something and, suddenly, you're at the circus. I can spend weeks, even months, pondering a paint color, not to mention ridiculously long stretches in the paint chip aisle. It's a sickness. There are just so many possibilities. And then so many shades. The implications. One thing I don't do anymore is play on the fun online color selectors so many paint lines offer. You simply cannot see the hues on a computer monitor the way they appear in life. Again, found this out the hard way.

My plan is to complete this entire wall tomorrow; though you can't see it here, the wall includes half my cabinets, and I will continue the color into the entry hall. I will post more photos if I complete the job. Or, knowing me, it could be another eight months before I return to the project. Let's hope not.