And the Winner is...Behr Adventure Orange!

Remember way back in October 2010 when I needed help choosing a Behr paint color for my downstairs living room?

I originally wanted the color scheme to be chocolate browns, blues and splashes of orange. Since our downstairs living room is a walkout (the only source of light being the patio door), I wanted to paint the one long wall – the north side – a "warm" shade of blue. After debating on several hues of Behr blues, including Caspian Tide, Gentle Sky & Madras, I just wasn't sure about the whole thing and the project got put on hold.

Finally, this spring my sister came over for lunch one day and I asked HER what she thought...and she told me I should paint orange. Excited at this prospect, I went out and got every single Behr paint chip I could find that had the slightest bit of orange on it so I could choose the perfect color.

Now, choosing the perfect paint color is not my strong suit. I know what I want it to look like in my head, but even with purchasing, painting and testing several of those 8-oz tester cans, I've STILL ended up with the "wrong" shade of whatever-color-it-is I'm trying to paint.

With those previous experiences in my mind, I was slightly nervous about this project, since orange is quite a bold color and it could either look very cool or very, very wrong.

I debated on the myriad of orange paint chips for over a week, getting less and less confident with each passing day. Then I had a thought: invite the neighbor over to ask HER opinion. So, over came "Jane" to see the possibilities.

She had a good point: select the 3 or 4 I was most interested in and hold them up to the trim to ensure the colors wouldn't clash. No clue why I hadn't even thought of that...turns out she picked the color right then and there for me: Adventure Orange.

I asked her, "should I get the color 2 shades lighter than this, like everyone tells me to do?" She thought for a second and said, "I wouldn't. But I like bold colors."

So guess what I did? I trotted over to Home Depot and bought a gallon of Adventure Orange. BOOM! Just like that.

I wanted to start the project on a Friday or Saturday, so I could be sure I'd have the entire weekend to paint, do a good job cutting in, let the first coat dry before applying a second if needed, etc. etc. etc. But wouldn't you know, things kept coming up and I didn't get to it for almost a month...

Finally, one Monday at about 1pm I decided, "LET'S JUST DO THIS." So I did. I taped, tore apart the living room, put down my drop cloths and started cutting in (obviously the most time-consuming and my least favorite aspect of painting).

It was going much more quickly than I'd expected, so I kept at it until I had the entire area cut in and the first coat rolled on and drying before it got dark.

The next day when I got home from work – and after walking the dog, of course – I dove back in and painted the second coat (I was painting over the original flat paint the builders put on, so it soaked up the paint like a sponge) and worked on evening up the details.

On my third evening (again, after I got back from work and walking the dog) I pulled all the tape off the trim and we put the console & TV back. Then it was time for the final touch. This involved the ginormous painting hanging over the couch.

The primary reason for painting this room in the first place was to have contrast between the painting's large, white matting and the bland, white wall behind it. Well, since my sister had told me the corner would be a better place to paint in this room, that left me with a white-matting-on-white-wall situation for the painting.

What to do? Why, paint an orange rectangle behind the painting, of course.

And I did. I measured 5 inches around the painting, drew my lines, taped, removed the painting and put 2 coats on that evening.

The next and final day, it was time to remove the tape from around the rectangle (and touch up the several scrapes The Hubby had made while hanging said huge painting by himself :), cover the couch back up and move everything into its place.


VOILA! A "new" living room with a fresh, bright outlook on life.

I personally think "Jane" picked out the PERFECT color of orange for me...it's exactly what I wanted, and it's just enough color to make the room "pop" without being overwhelming. Add in a few final touches I got on super-sale from Pier 1 (candles, a throw and my new, very favorite wool rug) and I have a pretty damn cute living space (says me).


Thanks to my sister and "Jane" for your opinions, thoughts and support of my love of bright colors!