We are on the tail end of our renovation. They just finished painting on Tuesday. I hate the color. It doesn't look at all like the paint card, but I checked the card name and number against the paint can and it's definitely the right one. We can't afford to have it repainted.
I'm really trying to focus on the positive-- like, a new house-- but I'm struggling. DH loves it, which is good. But I can't reconcile spending tens of thousands of dollars on something that I don't love.
And, OMG, I'm done living in the basement with two kids and no kitchen.
I'm sorry. We refreshed our kitchen and spent an arm and a leg having our cabinets sprayed. They are (were) a really grainy oak, and I went back and forth about the glaze. Agonized. After seeing samples I wholeheartedly thought the glaze looked much better and at the advice of the contractor, went ahead with it. At first I was devastated I made the wrong decision. It took A LOT of getting used to. But, once I regrouped and started decorating, it really came together. Now I love it. Give it some time and maybe once you get little design elements all around you it'll grow on you.
Paint is cheap. Repaint it now while the tape is still up and furniture is out. Repaint it yourselves if it's not in the budget to have the painters do it.
Paint on a tiny chip looks way different when it's on a whole wall. What color did you choose and what in particular do you not like now? The ladies on H&G are really knowledgeable about choosing paint colors and which colors look nice on the wall.
ETA: I hated our living room color when we first put it up, but I was in a hurry to unpack everything, so I just lived with it, within a year ended up repainting the same color in a different shade, and now I feel so much better, I wish I would've just done it right away.
Paint itself is relatively inexpensive. Having something painted is not.
I know paint is cheap, but DH loves it. Like, he didn't care about the paint and let me choose the color, and then when he walked in on Tuesday night, before I could say anything, he was all, "OMG. You did such a great job. I LOVE this. LOVE IT."
Like, he was oddly giddy. He knows I don't like it, but since he does, I can't see us paying to do it again.
The paint was supposed to be a really light gray. It looks like a faint blue, instead.
Grey is the worst. It takes on so many different hues. I had also picked out a grey I thought I loved for the walls, and luckily BM samples are huge, bc once I got it up, I hated it. Ended up going with a different color. Are there curtains around? LED lightbulbs? Perhaps changing out some of that can take some of the coolness out of the color?
It might be better when you put things back. You could also buy grey accent pieces to see if that pulls more of the grey out. If you have anything blue, take that out of the room.
That sucks so bad. Gray is so tricky. I went over and over my paint chips to pick the perfect colour. Then I went and bought a sample can, painted one side of our divider wall, and then hated the colour because it showed up too beige.
I'm confused. You spend tens of thousands of dollars on having the house painted, or on the full renovation?
If you spend that much on paint - first, OMG, remind me never to have my house painted. But more importantly, I think you SHOULD love it and not have to pay for it to be redone if you're not happy. I'm unclear who painted it (someone who just painted, or did other work too?) or what the problem was, but I'd mention it to them and see what they say. Professional painters seem to do it pretty quickly and they might be willing to spend a couple of days repainting to keep a "tens of thousands of dollars" client happy.
The paint was supposed to be a really light gray. It looks like a faint blue, instead.
What room is it? Is all the furniture and wall decor in place? Window treatments? I ask because maybe with all of that in the room the color might seem more pleasing.
I'm sorry. You should love it. I get the frustration.
Our living / dining / kitchen is all open, and it's all painted this color. Our furnishings are either wood with a really dark stain, gray, or navy. I think it will look ok. It's just that after this much money, I thought I would love it.
I don't have window treatments yet. Figured I'd wait to see how the rooms went together before we did those. Will probably do a darker gray.
I'm confused. You spend tens of thousands of dollars on having the house painted, or on the full renovation?
If you spend that much on paint - first, OMG, remind me never to have my house painted. But more importantly, I think you SHOULD love it and not have to pay for it to be redone if you're not happy. I'm unclear who painted it (someone who just painted, or did other work too?) or what the problem was, but I'd mention it to them and see what they say. Professional painters seem to do it pretty quickly and they might be willing to spend a couple of days repainting to keep a "tens of thousands of dollars" client happy.
On the whole renovation, sorry. THe contractor painted it, and he didn't screw up (as far as I can tell)-- I did, in picking a color that I didn't test on the walls.
But again, I really *don't* want to change it, because DH loves it so much.
I'm confused. You spend tens of thousands of dollars on having the house painted, or on the full renovation?
If you spend that much on paint - first, OMG, remind me never to have my house painted. But more importantly, I think you SHOULD love it and not have to pay for it to be redone if you're not happy. I'm unclear who painted it (someone who just painted, or did other work too?) or what the problem was, but I'd mention it to them and see what they say. Professional painters seem to do it pretty quickly and they might be willing to spend a couple of days repainting to keep a "tens of thousands of dollars" client happy.
On the whole renovation, sorry. THe contractor painted it, and he didn't screw up (as far as I can tell)-- I did, in picking a color that I didn't test on the walls.
But again, I really *don't* want to change it, because DH loves it so much.
Is there a wall that would make a good accent wall? If you paint that a different grey color (with no blue undertones) it might be enough to make the rest of the walls seem more grey. Area rugs might help too if they don't have any blue in them.
The paint was supposed to be a really light gray. It looks like a faint blue, instead.
What room is it? Is all the furniture and wall decor in place? Window treatments? I ask because maybe with all of that in the room the color might seem more pleasing.
I'm sorry. You should love it. I get the frustration.
That happened to me in our kitchen except in the opposite direction - it was supposed to be a really light gray but it looked almost white. I didn't like from the time the paint dried but just left it because it was so much work for DH and I felt bad and hoped that I would grow to like it. Like kevin said, adding furniture and drapes may help lighten the color. If you're really unhappy I'm sure your H would understand!
THe contractor painted it, and he didn't screw up (as far as I can tell)-- I did, in picking a color that I didn't test on the walls.
But again, I really *don't* want to change it, because DH loves it so much.
Oh no, I was going to ask if you painted a test swatch. Grays are really tricky as far as going blue, green, taupe, etc. That's an expensive way to learn that lesson. I still say to change it now before the furniture is back in, even if it means painting it yourself. I know you don't want to paint over the color that your DH likes so much, but I highly doubt he would want you to live with a color you hate. Especially since he didn't care about the color and you did. There have to be a ton of colors that both of you like.
In wambam's post from last week, motzie recommended using Benjamin Moore grays because they're truer grays and are less likely to look like a color. So if you do repaint, consider using BM. But still do a test swatch.
THe contractor painted it, and he didn't screw up (as far as I can tell)-- I did, in picking a color that I didn't test on the walls.
But again, I really *don't* want to change it, because DH loves it so much.
Oh no, I was going to ask if you painted a test swatch. Grays are really tricky as far as going blue, green, taupe, etc. That's an expensive way to learn that lesson. I still say to change it now before the furniture is back in, even if it means painting it yourself. I know you don't want to paint over the color that your DH likes so much, but I highly doubt he would want you to live with a color you hate. Especially since he didn't care about the color and you did. There have to be a ton of colors that both of you like.
In wambam's post from last week, motzie recommended using Benjamin Moore grays because they're truer grays and are less likely to look like a color. So if you do repaint, consider using BM. But still do a test swatch.
I learned the hard way that gray is HARD. sugarbear, the same exact color looks sage green in my bathroom and looks like a blueish gray in my spare bedroom.
I know your H loves it, but I would get a truer gray and paint a large swatch.
Ok. I'm going to talk to DH today about repainting, at least one wall. He's not going to be happy. LOL.
So, I was going to do a two-tone blue rug, like this:
But I'm guessing, from what you're all telling me, that will bring out the blue. So, gray rug, yes?
Actually, I think a very blue rug would downplay the blueness in the paint. A neutral gray rug seems like it would make the walls seem bluer by comparison.
And I wouldn't repaint one wall a slightly warmer grey. I think it will look weird. I would say do all or nothing.
The only color I ever regretted in my house was the two story foyer that we paid someone to paint. I picked a SW color on the fly at work and it was totally blue instead of gray. I would suck it up and repaint or it will haunt you.
Ok. I'm going to talk to DH today about repainting, at least one wall. He's not going to be happy. LOL.
So, I was going to do a two-tone blue rug, like this:
But I'm guessing, from what you're all telling me, that will bring out the blue. So, gray rug, yes?
Actually, I think a very blue rug would downplay the blueness in the paint. A neutral gray rug seems like it would make the walls seem bluer by comparison.
And I wouldn't repaint one wall a slightly warmer grey. I think it will look weird. I would say do all or nothing.
Can you post a photo of the color?
Yes, I will, tonight. I left my phone at home today so I don't have any. I think that part of the problem is that our kitchen is gray and white, so the blue undertones really stand out.
The only color I ever regretted in my house was the two story foyer that we paid someone to paint. I picked a SW color on the fly at work and it was totally blue instead of gray. I would suck it up and repaint or it will haunt you.
I can't remember the name of the actual color. In some light, it does look gray, like a rich gray. In some light, it's definitely blue.
Post by lintscreen on Apr 23, 2015 12:03:40 GMT -5
I'm sorry, I know how you feel. I painted my guest room gray and went back to the paint store to get new color three times before I got it right. The natural light in that room made the gray look blue instead of gray. I lived with it for a year (and it drove me insane) and then finally got the right color.
A paint color you hate is so hard to live with that IF it is possible to swing having it redone,I would.
It's a huge space-- I think it took them 20 man hours to tape and paint the whole thing. It'll be even more now, since they've already put in more trim and our backsplash since then. Close to $1k, I imagine.
Post by pantsparty on Apr 23, 2015 12:10:21 GMT -5
I would try to wait and see how you feel in a couple of months. Sometimes it takes me awhile to adjust to new furniture or new decor. The space will also likely look different once all the furniture is back.
Post by mrs.jacinthe on Apr 23, 2015 12:54:11 GMT -5
What kind of light makes it look blue? Is it at night with the lights on or during the day? If it's at night, I'd look into finding a light bulb at the opposite end of the color spectrum than the ones you currently have (for example, if you have warm white, look for a cool white or vice versa).
Put in that blue rug, at least for a trial period. - as a contrast it should make the walls look more gray and less blue, because you have a true blue to compare with. In fact, you may want to consider curtains with a deep blue in them and no gray whatsoever.
Stay away from colors that are complimentary to blue - reds/pinks/oranges specifically, because it will make the gray appear blue-er.
Our floor plan is open too (so all the same color) and we weren't thrilled with how the color turned out either. I wanted it more gray, but it turned out to have greenish undertones. Once we got our furniture in and used decorative pieces that tied the wall color with the furniture and accent colors, we ended up really happy with how it all came together.
I haven't seen your color, but I think the blue rug you want would be better than a gray one. The gray will make the blueish undertones way more noticeable. I hope it grows on you once you get your furniture in!