colour!

Have finally been able to get into my place to start work! Yipee! One of the first tasks I set for myself was to choose some colours and buy some paint. While a lot of work needs doing before I can even paint (like patching, filling etc, and work that just has to be done first) I wanted to have some colour on hand to give myself some inspiration! After tormenting myself with swatches for weeks, I ended up just choosing two colours in a bit of a rush as the paint shop was closing when I got there. Hey, nothing is permanent and no matter how much effort you put into colour picking (via swatches) you just have to get some colour on the walls to see how it functions in your space. Colour can change so easily, it's freaky at times! Contrasted against other colours, in a dark or light room, the colour can look very different - I've had greys go green, greys go blue, purple go green, white go yellow, and a host of other strange and at times frustrating results. So getting colour, some colour, ANY colour, in the space was a top priority.

For the interior walls I wanted a midtoned grey. I enjoy living with the Colourbond Dune and Wattyl/British Paints Hawk Wing in my current accommodations (not sure which brand that colour comes from... one of those two!). The Dune is quite a warm grey though (not quite brown) and I was tempted to go for a cooler grey for this house (not an actual cool grey, just a warm grey tending towards cool... nothing worst than a blue grey). The Hawk Wing is really nice, but I was unable to get a swatch (it has a cool name too, for the Wheel of Time fans out there :)). I ended up choosing Taubmans "Rock Quarry". It was one of the deeper colours in my swatch short-list, and still quite warm for a grey.

So far, I've only splashed paint in one room and a couple walls in the hall way. The Rock Quarry is on both the light and cool side of my initial intentions. I got the paint from Solver paints, so it will never be a true match to the proper Taubmans colours but Solver is better paint and cheaper too. The colour has come out slightly lighter than the swatch, definitely not as deep as I could possibly go. It also is a cool grey! Not quite steely, but certainly not very warm. That said, I quite like it, but I'm still uncertain how grey grey I want to go (as opposed to a warmer grey) - I've seen lots and lots of beautiful grey rooms on the internet and I think the grey grey is more forward looking and modern. OK enough tribulations; the jury is still out on Rock Quarry. I only got 10 litres so looking forward to getting more areas painted and seeing how it looks, especially in the kitchen/dining.

A sneak peak of the hall way painted in TB Rock Quarry (colour repro not the best due to using camera flash):

I don't think the white trim on skirtings and architraves is going to work for this look! Moody grey is interrupted by cheery white. Looks cheap and boring to me.

Another sneak peek, this time of the lounge. Notice how the polished jarrah works really nicely against the grey. Still think it might be a bit light.. but the carpet is up and the jarrah floor boards are to be polished, which adds weight to the room and a darker grey may be too much (ha! I don't really believe that). The picture rail and above are in 25% DX Lime White. I'm not sure about the white above the picture rail, but it's a hell of a lot easier if done that way (and easier to change the paint colour later too), so for now it stays (edges are rough as the ceiling was still wet and there was overspray onto the walls).

The ceilings are 25% Dulux Lime White. You really can't beat DX Lime White, it's a tried and true classic that my family has been using for years. It is rather creamy in full intensity, but diluted to 25% it is the perfect ceiling colour. Makes every colour I've seen next to it really pop. Low sheen, of course. Nothing worse than matt ceilings - ever tried wiping dust or dirt from matt paint? It'll mark like a mofo.

For the exterior I've chosen Wattyl Thunderbolt. It's a pretty deep grey, warm-to-green tinged. Been too busy on other more urgent tasks so haven't put any into action in, but I can't wait to see what it looks like!