If you are playing along at home, you’ll know that we’ve been planning on painting our apartment before our furniture gets here. Well, as you read this (hopefully) all of stuff is FINALLY being loaded onto a truck. It should arrive sometime this week, so the time we had to paint before having to worry about bumping into our stuff was diminishing. Since we have moved in, I have hemmed and hawed about paint color choices. I definitely think that this is one of those things in which I have OVER thought. Originally, I was trying to get inspired by paint chips of colors I THOUGHT I liked… and was getting no traction… So, I tried a different approach.
There is an awesome neighborhood in Burbank that is chock full of vintage stores. I am all about vintage. Always have been. I went browsing and found a store that had a vintage drapes section. Drapes, as Scarlett O’Hara taught me, are just lots and lots of fabric. After digging through a bunch, I found something that caught my eye. It encompassed all the colors I wanted and kind of the feeling for which I wanted to go. It was deco and the colors were Californian (to me, at least). I’ve been feeling coral and always green. Plus, bonus… citron! I was so excited about these that I neglected to check the price tag and had mentally already decorated our living room in this scheme. When I went back to buy them, I was crestfallen to learn that it was $96 for 2 yards of fabric. Blerf. Being jobless, I just can’t swing that right now. If it were even 4 yards of fabric, I might have been able to justify it… but… nope. Not this time.
But, at least now, I had a direction of what I was feeling. Which is more than I did have. Thanks to some awesome recommendations by my L.A. friends, I went down to the garment district downtown (which, for a fabric junky like myself, was like going to Mecca- or a Mecca that sold churros). I was looking for something that would incorporate our green sectional and our darker furniture while bringing a fresh, bright air that was different than our last urban apartment. I was really looking for a duplicate to the vintage pattern but out of the thousands of bolts of fabric I went through nothing even came close. But I DID find something that still had my corals in it and although the pattern is a little more mature than I wanted, I still liked the freshness of the colors. And… coral! So, after all the color contemplation, I just chose two colors from the above swatch. I chose the lighter pinkier color and the neutral background.
When we submitted our change of address form at the post office, they sent us a great “So You’re 
Moving!” packet full of coupons and checklists. One of those coupons was for 10% off our total purchase at Lowes… so, naturally, Jojo and I went THERE this past Saturday. We picked up all the essential tools (drop clothes, paint, trays, cut-in brush, tape, etc.) and got “Honeyed Tea” and (*ugh*) “Swampwater”. Our weekend was all painting. We got stuff to do the guest bedroom, but the living room/kitchen was all we could accomplish in two days. To the above right is Jojo helping paint the dining room.
It was certainly easier painting a room with only a futon and two side tables to populate it. The kitchen, with the appliances, was a little trickier. We now have a small tear in our linoleum… but dammit, the visible areas of the wall behind the fridge are painted!
Between taping, edging, touch-ups, waiting for paint to dry, and breaks it was definitely a two-day project. It really is amazing the difference between a color when it is teeny tiny on a paint chip and when it is large and in charge on a wall. It is also amazing the difference in color throughout the day. Since we have no furniture, the color is a little overpowering (to me) and I am alternating between loving it and hating it. But, since mixed paint is non-refundable… I am leaning towards loving it.
The living room area was bigger and took all day Sunday (minus time for brunch). Again, I am amazed at the difference in color throughout the day and in different lights. As I write this, both colors are completely different in the light of a lone lamp at night. I know once our furniture gets here, the “AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!” feeling of the color will diminish, but right now its all up in my face. Here is the living room in “Swampwater”. I’m trying to come up with a better name for the color… like English Pea Puree… or something…
I bought some great spray paints in the lighter blue, citron, and dark coral colors for some great accent pieces. Additionally, Imma use the fabric to make a pillow or two for the sofa and recover the lampshade. Oh, the future projects! Oh, the future posts! Hopefully, between all of those things, it will all tie together. Man, I hope. If not, then it’s only paint… Stay tuned on Wednesday for the painting tips they DON’T teach you on the internet!
The LA fabric district is completely awesome. Probably second only to New York in what’s available and at what prices.
Ted- I was totally blown away. I’d never been or seen a place that had fabric by the pound! I can’t wait to go back… but, as I was walking around, it occurred to me how much Josh would hate it. Different strokes, you know?