Tag Archives: farrow and ball blackened

Further (mis)Adventures in Painting and a Quick Shine for the Floors

Well dear readers, mistakes were made.

Remember when I painted the walls of my kitchen three times before I was satisfied?  Remember how when all my instincts were screaming MISTAKE MISTAKE I just soldiered on, sure that when all was said and done it would be just fine?

Apparently I learned nothing from that debacle.  I am still the eternal optimist who, against all evidence to the contrary, is sure it will turn out all right in the end.  I maintain my optimism for the final, final product, but for now I’m writing this while sitting in a living room painted a shade of powder blue that would be better suited to a nursery, or a birth announcement proclaiming ‘It’s a Boy!’ Please note that it photographs much better than it reads in real life:

Red House West//Living Room Take OneAfter the deliberations I shared with you here, I decided to have the Farrow & Ball color Blackened color matched by Miller Paint in their Evolution line.  I admit to being a little swayed by the F & B advertising which describes Blackened as being: “Historically made with the addition of ‘lamp black’, a pigment made by collecting the residue from burnt lamp oil.”  As an avid reader of British mysteries, there was just something so romantic about this imagery.  There is nothing – not one thing – romantic about the reality of  violet-tinged powder blue walls.  I mean, this is more like a cold shower:

margin of blueSo, back to the drawing board.  I have a few more samples I’m considering (though it’s hard to get a clear read on them with the current wall color – everything is cast with a blue light).  Adding a little stress to the decision-making process is that Miller Paint has a 40% off sale running through Monday, so there’s a strong likelihood that as you read this I am sweating bullets and trying to make a decision in time to get the savings.

swatches

A chilling window into my chaotic mind

In happier news, I decided to make good use of the fact that our living room is partially empty and do a little treatment on our wood floors (this had the additional benefit of forcing me to take a break from frenetically putting sample after sample up on the walls).  Our floors are fir, and original to the house when it was built in 1930.  They are in good shape but definitely show the wear of the people and pets and children who have lived here.

Floor beforeThey’re not in need of full on refinishing, but I wanted to do something that would freshen them up.  There are a ton of products out there – the top two are Bona and Rejuvenation (As Seen on TV!) – but after reading many, many internet reviews I was nervous about the number of complaints that both of these brands are known to leave a white film on floors (especially older ones) that require ammonia or professional methods to undo.  I ended up using Hope’s Floor Revive, which – as far as I could find – had not ruined anyone’s floors and also had the advantage of costing much less than the other options.  As I said, our floors are old and I did not expect (nor want) them to end up looking like highly reflective glass, but after less than an hour’s work they are definitely shinier and the scratches are much less noticeable.  Here they are after I used the Floor Revive:Red House West//Easy fix for old wood floor

The process was simple. I gave the floors a thorough cleaning (the product forms a sort of seal, so it’s important to get every last bit of cat hair up before using it). When the floors were dry, I just poured it on a small section then spread it around with a damp sponge. It was easy, not fume-y and is a marked improvement.

With the small victory of the floors, I feel a bit more prepared to move forward with painting the walls. Again.

Please send good thoughts that I might find a good paint color for our living room or, barring that, that I might find the strength to stop painting if I notice after one coat – or hey!  even one wall! – that it’s going awry.  Also give Mera the good grace not to say ‘I told you so’ about Blackened looking blue, even though she did tell me so.  Thanks!