Paint by Number

I've always loved art. My mom said as a young kid she could give me some crayons and paper and I would be entertained for hours. As I've gotten older my love for art has only grown, though now I'm a little more creative then just a box of crayons and paper. One of my favorite things when I was younger were the paint by number kits because no matter what skill level you were, your art would always turn out perfect. Now if only the paint by number perfection could apply to picking out paint for rooms. Thank goodness for the sample sizes that you can get at Home Depot because Jody and I have already learned the hard way a couple of times.

When we first moved in we went crazy and painted the entire downstairs immediately. We picked out four colors from one of the BEHR design pamphlets without getting samples and just went to work painting away. The next day we came downstairs only to find that one of the colors we picked ended up having a hint of pink to it and it looked awful. Too bad for us, this was one of the main colors and was on four large walls that we had to completely redo. Then there was the downstairs bathroom. I found a green swatch that I liked in the store, bought a gallon, and threw it up on the walls. About half way through I knew it was the wrong color. But I felt like I couldn't turn back so I finished painting and thought maybe the color would grow on me over time. Not so much. It was so ugly that I was embarrassed to even let guests use that bathroom. Where were the paint by number kits then. Needless to say we've learned our lesson and now always, always get samples; even if we have to get eight of them like when we were choosing a color for our bedroom.


The bedding; not the crib though.

Last weekend we focused our efforts to starting on the nursery. Mallory's bedding came in while I was in San Francisco for work so I picked it up on my way home. It's exactly what I was expecting and I couldn't wait to get paint samples. Friday, I took the bedding with me and picked out three colors that were different shades of the teal. After putting the samples on the wall and picking out the lighter of the three, I then decided that I wanted to switch bedrooms for the nursery. No big deal except for the fact that now we had samples of teal paint on what would become the guest bedroom walls. Back to Home Depot we went to pick up some more paint samples for the guest bedroom now. But hey, it needed to be done.


My hired help, aka the husband.

So the rooms have both been painted and we're pleased with the results. Getting sample paints are similar to the paint by number kits and make things so much easier. Next up for the nursery is the furniture which has been ordered and is on it's way (thanks Ted and Kim!). While I'm waiting, I need to start getting ideas for the mobile that I want to make to hang from the ceiling. I love decorating and the fact that it's for our little girl makes it so much more fun!


Mallory's room.


Guest room.