Friday, April 24, 2009

Changy mcChange

Have you lost all hope? Do we keep changing too much? Does it seem like we don't listen? We do, there are just too many choices!

The below is rising in the ranks for several reasons. It's not too much for most people, like the red was. The green was a nice color but could have clashed with all the different types of wood we have. An accent wall may have been too much. A solid color seemed overwhelming. In this one, the color pallet goes with the floor, wood, and furnishings. It's kind of a masculine and conservative color - funny, I'm neither. The split tone serves to section off the lower floor from the cavernous vaulted ceiling. It makes the living area a little more cozy and contained.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

red might be out

Decision...making...hard...

It is fun hearing people weigh in though. For every yes there is a no, for every no a yes. Other than the crazy stripe color, now that my dad has voted white we have every color voted for!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A choice may be emerging

Marcy and I are both starting to like this one. A safe, neutral, but rich color for the main walls with no two-tone, and a stronger bold accent wall color. Looks like green might be out, despite everyone, including Marcy and I, liking it. I cleaned up the Photoshop work a bit, and added dynamic lighting for a slightly more realistic preview

Little consensus

Thanks so much to all for the comments on colors, and please keep them coming!

There has been very little consensus, and we got several back-to-back comments or emails with opposite opinions!

red bad! - John
RED GOOD! - Cam

split color good- Stephanie
yes, split color good - Carol
split color bad!- Jess
yes, split color BAD- Kara

Gray looks like a battle ship - John
Gray is gloomy - Kara
Gray looks nice! - Carol

Then there are votes for most colors - red, burgandy, blue, green, sage, cream, chocolate, gray, black

So far the only color to stand out with any consensus at all it sage. And no votes for keeping it white

Personally, I think any color darker than white helps draw the attention to the floor, ceiling, furniture, windows, etc, and takes advantage of our excessive accent lighting. Now the good things provide the light and aren't drowned our by the big white walls.

I definitely like the chocolate color in the kitchen. There are highlights of that color in the counter Green matched the counter too strongly and looked bad.

I think the 2tone looks OK, but not up the stairs like the one photo.

I'm leaning towards more of a neutral color to go with the tile and ceiling, a warm gray or more chocolate perhaps, with a contrasting accent wall, maybe of that nice sage. The brown could continue into the kitchen. The sage wall is opposite the kitchen, which has a similarly colored counter top.


However, I know Marcy thinks one color on the big wall is too dominating. Any thoughts?

Update:
Below: The above photo changed with Marcy's input (and color corrected on the blinds):


Hmm, and another open, more bold, but doesn't overwhelm the room like doing the whole thing in burgundy

Monday, April 20, 2009

Paint?

So, I thought maybe our great room could use some more color. We had the drywall guys paint it asylum white. To see what it would look like, I painted it a whole bunch of different colors, took pictures for you, my faithful readers to see, and perhaps share your input on. There are, of course, many more colors available, but I can only paint the living room so many times.

Any that don't make the cut for this room could go elsewhere. Marcy and I are currently leaning towards 2tone gray on the great room, sage in the kitchen, light blue in the bathrooms, and maybe something more bold in the office/loft.

Update: I've added colors, reduced the image size (click for full view) and removed my cheeky color names just to make it easier to see the colors side-by-side.


current color white, cream

beige, gray

sage, lighter sage

2tone gray/sage

half&half gray, choco / gray

2tone gray

light blue, dark blue

burgandy, red




Here's a color option for the kitchen that Marcy and I like, along with the 2tone gray/sage living room.

And this would be a view of the whole great room. At first I had the loft a different color, but 4 colors in one room seemed too much.

Like it, love it, hate it, vomit?

And here's another option, as suggested by my sister. I like it.

accent wall

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Energy usage continues to impress

The coldest winter in many years is nearly over, and our 12 month fuel usage for heating the house, separate 2 car garage, and hot water generation, is 560 gallons. Next winter will likely not be as cold, and I'm putting a small wood stove in the garage. I could also burn wood more in the house, but it's difficult with working full time. Either way, I'm very happy with the low heating bills!