11.28.2011

The circus called; it wants its dresser back.

I mentioned last week that among the recent crazy things I had done was the act of painting our curbside dresser, which we’re planning on using as the TV stand in our living room, a heinous shade of blue. Now, the fact that I am about to show you said heinously blue dresser should affirm at least three things in your mind:

1. I have no shame.

2. I don’t take myself seriously.

3. I really am only pretending to have a partial clue about decorating.

Warning: You may want to put on sunglasses before viewing the following image.

DSC_0691

I should probably follow this anti-reveal by saying that the reason we ended up with this blinding shade of blue is because we first painted it with the leftover paint from our bedroom walls(Valspar’s Seashell Gray), and it blended in with the white wainscoting behind it way too much. I was contemplating other colors, mainly a darker taupey gray, when I made this pillow….

DSC_0669

..and in a moment of *brilliance* thought that maybe it would be a great idea to tie in the color of those beads by painting the dresser—you guessed it—a similar color. So we taped about 83 swatches to the dresser and wound up with Benjamin Moore’s Bermuda Blue.

DSC_0682

Fortunately, we only put on one coat before realizing that it was…not exactly what we had in mind. I know what you’re thinking: why did it take you so long to figure that out? Well. For one, we kept telling ourselves that of course it would dry darker. Also, we were painting at night in an underlit room. Underlit room=the color looks completely different. You can see the difference here:

Picture1

If you still have questions, please see #3 at the beginning of this post.

My next *brilliant* plan was to add some black to the blue so we wouldn’t feel the urge to tame a lion or something whenever we walked in the room. However, by the time it was dark enough to not be blinding, it was just too dark in general, and didn’t contrast enough with the chairs. Boo. So the dresser has been banished to the outside for Power Sanding: Round 2, and a quart of Benjamin Moore’s Ozark Shadows (which is a taupey gray, my initial instincts for the dresser, anyway) is sitting in the kitchen, waiting patiently to be The Final Answer. I still want to tie in that brighter blue from the beads, but in much smaller doses. Like perhaps on a button.

ozark shadows

Meanwhile, we’re brushing up on our tightrope walking and flaming torch juggling since I’m pretty sure that as soon as Barnum & Bailey rise from the dead and see this disastrous project they will phone us immediately and recruit us as Resident Designers For All Circus Scenery Plus Flaming Torch Man Understudies. I can totally picture a bearded lady swallowing a sword while unicycling on our dresser, can’t you? How about a clown cat, at least?

clown cat

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I’m thankful that I can laugh about this kind of thing instead of letting it completely ruin my day! :)

16 comments :

  1. I have been there with blue...I tried matching a teal colour in some fabric I was using, I wanted it for a feature wall in my living room...nope! It turned out looking like chalkboard green...the feature wall is now a nice cool grey/blue. Great curbside find! Can't wait to se the real reveal. Thanks for sharing, Happy Monday!

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  2. Bahaha. I love the circus theme to today's post. This is why I chicken out when it comes to painting furniture bright colors. I love when others do it but I can't risk having to paint something more than once.

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  3. It's not that bad. It would work in a kid's room.

    Besides if you hadn't let us all know how incredibly awful you thought it was we would have probably all loved it, decided you were a designing genius, and painted something in our house electric turquoise, too.

    Can't wait to see the (re)finished product!

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  4. Seriously, it is not that bad but I agree with DECOR AND THE DOG...this is why I am so scared to paint bright colors....I never get them right! Ozark Shadow is a great choice....btw, love the clown look on the cat!

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  5. I love the idea of a blue dresser! Too bad the color wasn't quite right. Don't you wish you could slightly change the tint darker or lighter after it's painted, like you can in photoshop? (I think excessive computer use has messed with my brain.) I also think your cat needs a REAL clown wig, because that is awesome.

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  6. I don't think it is nearly as bad as you are saying! I kind of actually like the blue but maybe you have to see it in person to fully appreciate how BLUE it is!

    I also agree with Kelly - buy that cat a clown wig. Surely he will love it as much as we do! :)

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  7. You crack me up. The clown kitty is amazing. The other color is going to look great. Can't wait to see the final product.

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  8. haha you are all being too nice...I should have taken pictures of it in context with the rest of the room. Then you would have understood its true scariness. :)

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  9. You are much too hard on yourselves. It is pretty bright but I don't think it would raise B&B from the dead. Maybe you could put crackle medium over the blue then paint over it with the gray paint so the blue peeks through. That is just another option to toss around in your head.

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  10. colors are hard. I've had swatches of gray paint on my living room walls for months now. sigh. At least it'll be a relatively easy fix. Live and learn friend, live and learn. :)

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  11. You wouldn't have known unless you tried, right?
    Cheers to taking a risk :)
    You'll find a color you absolutely love.

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  12. Hahaha I agree with Jess...I would have probably painted something electric blue after seeing it, after all I did make pillows after you did! :)

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  13. Hahahah Love the clown cat :) Can't wait to see the final result!

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  14. You're so funny. Isn't it amazing how different paint colors can look at night or even when applied to a piece of furniture rather than a wall?

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  15. Ya know, I've been reading you for a while now and, I just have to say....you are so stinkin' funny! I wish, wish, wish you were one of MY kids' teachers! Bet you're awesome! Love your blog....and I have faith that you'll make that dresser the perfect color in no time flat :)

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  16. Haha, I hate paint colors. We painted our living room recently, and we'll probably end up repainting it in a year or so... it looks OK but it's a bit brighter than we expected in artificial light. ugh! I think that ozark color will be pretty though! :)

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