Finger Painting

Lately, I have been thinking about making changes to my dining room.  I found a paint color that I love (I explained that here).  It's Martha Stewart's Flagstone Gray.  I think it will look great against the white trim.  It will add much needed drama to a very boring room.  I picked up a gallon from Home Depot today.  And I also picked up a sample of Martha Stewart Winter's Day.  It's a beautiful muted blue.  The two colors work well together and I want to use both of them.

When I got home, I tried a a little of each color in my foyer.  I have a painter coming to paint the two story foyer in a couple of weeks so I need to find a color (Yeah - I'm too chicken to go up on a ladder that high).  And this is what the colors looked like -

The top color is the Winter's Day blue.  The bottom color is the Flagstone Gray.  I looked them over and wasn't sold on either in the foyer.  They were a little dark for a room that doesn't get much natural light.  So, I thought I'd try a color I've used elsewhere in the house - Valspar Cincinnatian Hotel Hannaford.  It's a great neutral that is in my kitchen (you can see that here), family room (here), and master bedroom. I ran down to the basement to get the leftover can from my family room redo and gave it a try -

And I put it on the wall with my finger.  I didn't have anymore of those cheap foam brushes and I wasn't going to get an expensive brush dirty, so I used my finger.  Probably not how the pros do it but it worked for me.  Here's another view of the thee colors together -

The finger painted beige is on the bottom right.  And the trim here will be painted white (right now it's a yellow-y off white).

Yes - that's my railing.  Olive green and yellow-y beige.  Soon it will be black.  And you can't imagine how much I'm looking forward to that!  So the wall color doesn't have to be so bold in here.  That's why, after trying the two new paint colors, I am leaning toward the beige.  It's tried and true and won't compete against all of the other rooms that open on to it.  It looks great next to white trim and will work with the Flagstone Gray that I'm going to use in the dining room next to this space.

So let's wrap this post up -

     - I love Flagstone Gray and will paint my dining room this week with it.
     - I love Winter's Day blue - and I already know exactly where I'll use it.  I'll explain that soon.
     - I'm a big fan of Valspar Cincinnatian Hotel Hannaford - and I am in favor of keeping the two story foyer neutral.
     - I do not like yellow-y off white trim.  So I'll be repainting that soon.
     - I think olive green railings should be banned.  Oh the 60's ...
     - I still like finger painting.

I've got a lot of painting to do.  I'll let you know how it comes out!