Have I talked about anything other than paint this week? Oh right, I did talk about pork. Great, we can get back to paint now.
One of my college friends commented on my post about paint earlier this week. Megan said:
“Do you have any suggestions on how to go about picking a wall color?
I always seem to love the tiny sample and not the overall wall.”
While I am far from perfect when it comes to picking paint colors, I do have a few reliable tricks. And so far, none of them include taping paint swatches on the wall or buying small samples to paint in test squares.
Nope. I cheat completely. I copy the hard work of others.
But at least I admit it!
My first resource is inspiration pictures. So many people have taken to showcasing their homes online (either on blogs or just Flickr) and sharing their design choices, so it is easy to spot and identify a color that you like. I recommend doing Google searches or reading home improvement blogs to hunt down a room with a color you like, then snag the details on the paint color. If the color isn’t listed, you can likely leave a comment or send an email to ask what the color is. Trust me, we bloggers are usually more than happy to share and talk about ourselves!
Take the nursery paint color for example. When I saw this nursery, I immediately fell in love with the wall color.
via Ohdeedoh.com
I also took note of the room and realized we also have two windows that get a lot of sunlight and that I would be using a lot of white and bright accents, so the color would likely look similar in our room. Luckily the talented mom who designed this room listed the color as Benjamin Moore’s Gray Horse. So, I trudged down and had Lowe’s match the color using Olympic’s zero VOC paint.
Does the paint look identical in our room as it does in the picture? No, not quite depending on the lighting, but it is pretty darn close and we love it.
Another great place to look is the Pottery Barn catalog. Even if the big PB isn’t quite your taste or within your budget, the catalog does the huge favor of listing paint colors that are used in the display rooms.
Again, the color won’t look identical in your home, but you can get a sense for what it would look like against your furniture, etc. And remember, most stores can match colors from any brand of paint, so don’t worry about seeking out Benjamin Moore paint just because you want that color.
When I’m not immediately finding a color that I love in inspiration photos, I work backwards. I pick out some swatches that I like in the store, bring them home and then Google Images and I become best friends. I just type in the paint brand and color and usually I get a slew of photos that show the paint color used in the homes of others.
For example, here is a photo that shows up in Google Images for Olympic’s Guacamole paint (with day light)…
And here’s how it ended up looking on my dining area accent wall (in candle light)…
And, if nothing shows up in my Google Images search then I assume the paint color isn’t cool enough for me to use.
Not really. Well maybe.
Let’s just say that I am much more likely to try a color if I can find others who have.
Finally, I do have one go-to resource that I usually check out before going too crazy: the Young House Love Foolproof Paint and Color Scheme post. This post by John & Sherry is chock full of suggestions for any hue you might be considering. This is where I first saw Behr’s Pensive Sky listed, which I ultimately chose for our first floor bathroom makeover.
And that, my friends, is how I copy others and take very few risks when picking paint colors. Aren’t you impressed?
I hope this is helpful, Megan!
Does anyone else have any friendly paint advice to offer? I hope someone has a more calculated approach than I do…
If you’re not a fan of meat, or pork, or big sandwiches, then you might want to skip this post. But, if you are like me and Chris and you like to indulge in all of the above, then read on.
We were first introduced to this recipe when my brother-in-law made them on a camping trip a few years ago. Since then, they’ve become a favorite in our kitchen and a number of our friends and family have enjoyed them when visiting. This meal is a great alternative to the standard BBQ fare, so you might want to bookmark it for your upcoming Labor Day weekend festivities!
First you start out with some ground pork and thousand island dressing. We found that by mixing the dressing into the meat before cooking, the burger doesn’t dry out as ground pork often does. So, slowly mix in the dressing until you find the right balance. We keep adding dressing until we are afraid that the burgers won’t stay together if we add any more…we tend to overdo things a bit.
Form your burgers and then have your grillmaster grill them up. In the meantime, prep your sandwich production line by covering the buns in some dijon mustard and setting out some cheese (the original recipe calls for Swiss cheese, but go with what you like), pickles and ham. Also, heat up your sandwich pressing mechanism (we use an old mini George Forman Grill).
Once the burgers are done, create your stack-o-meat-and-cheese…
Then press away and flatten the burgers out so that you can actually get your mouth around them. Serve up with some sides of your choice, and voila!
Are you hungry yet?
Would you like to know my favorite thing about starting a room from fresh drywall? It’s that you can paint before all the trim is up, which means you don’t have to tape or cut-in nearly as much. As you can see, even the drywall guys enjoyed this benefit because they didn’t even cover the screws at the bottom of the wall…
And because we’ll be installing crown molding, we didn’t need to cut in at the ceiling, either. Nope, we just rolled up within an inch or two of the ceiling.
Painting has never been easier and it goes so fast. Most of us rarely have the opportunity to paint a room in this state, so I want to savor it and brag about it while I can…
The guys finished up the drywall for our second floor construction project on Monday and we’ve been in painting mode ever since. After working all day, we come home, change into our painting clothes and get to work…
Don’t worry, we’re using zero VOC primer and paint, so it is safe for me and my expanding stomach to help. The one who isn’t allowed to help is Frankie. He is relegated to the construction line in the hallway so that we can avoid the inevitable little black hairs in the white paint.
So while we’re painting, Frankie is waiting…
You might wonder why we are rushing through the painting at night. Well, as it turns out, Chris becomes a speed demon when it comes to managing a construction project. He wants this whole project done yesterday. As a result, he scheduled carpet installation for September 7, which doesn’t sound too bad except for the fact that we have plans for the two weekends preceding that date! So night time painting it is for us.
And now that the priming is done, we’ll be spending our Friday night with some color and more 80s music blasting. I know you’re jealous.
What projects are you working on this weekend?
I’ve been a sucker for new approaches to upside-down cakes ever since last fall when I tried an upside-down butterscotch apple cake. So, when I saw a recipe for a berry peach version (via Blogging Over Thyme), I decided that it was a must-try…especially considering all of the blackberries we have around our house these days.
I decided to use the original version of the recipe from CookingLight and adjusted a few things, like adding cinnamon and reducing the amount of egg (because I was running low). The result was so good that I actually made a second cake right away and brought it to Vermont for my mom’s birthday. She approved!
The recipe linked above gives you all the ingredients and directions, but here are some of my play-by-plays.
Your first step in this recipe is to prep the fruit by melting the butter in an ovenproof skillet (you can use cast iron, but you’ll see I used a standard stainless steel skillet) and then sprinkling in the brown sugar.
Next, slice your peach thinly (I found using a firm, barely ripe peach works best because it is easy to peel and cut).
Now you show your artistic side and arrange the peaches and berries in the skillet…and voila!
Then prep your batter. For nearly the first time ever, I actually used buttermilk when the recipe called for it. I still need to research why buttermilk matters, but that’s for another day. I also saw on the recipe reviews that some people’s cakes turned out dry. For that reason, I decided to weigh my flour instead of relying on my measuring cups (the recipe says 6 ounces or 1 and 1/3 cup). My cake definitely didn’t turn out dry, so I think it worked! I also added in a teaspoon of cinnamon because I just felt like it belonged there, and it did.
After you’ve prepped your batter, spoon it carefully over the berries.
Then smooth out the batter and pop it in the oven!
The recipe said to wait for the cake to cool completely before flipping it out of the pan, but who has patience for that? I threw caution to the wind and flipped it after about 10 minutes. My trick was to pull the edges away from the pan slightly using my fingers, then sliding a knife around carefully. Then I just securely put a plate over it, applied a lot of pressure and then quickly flipped.
And there we had it…
Despite looking like a lot of steps, this recipe is actually very quick and easy. When I wasn’t snapping pictures during my second cake, it took only about 15 minutes of prep and then 35 minutes of baking. I used all blackberries, but this would be delicious with blueberries, raspberries, or a mix.
So, what do you think? Does it look like something you would try?? Have you had any bad cake flipping experiences? You know I’d love to hear all about it.
