My Painting Saga - the Entryway

I want to tell you something about myself.  I am not confident about home decorating.  It takes time for me to make a decision about color and what to do in a room. It doesn't come quickly or easily. 

In the 1980's I never got into the country decorating theme of country blue and a country mauve with it's geese and "Welcome to my Country Home" theme.  I think it was because my grandmother lived in the country and none of that typified her country home.  I always struggled until 14 years ago when I was given a Mary Engelbreit magazine.  The issue showed a country home that was quite eclectic and very, very colorful.  I remember a door to the kitchen painted in colors streaked or dry painted on the door.  I fell in love with it and the colors.  This was the style that I liked.

So, we bought an old house and I have struggled to find the time to make my dream a reality.  Now the dream is taking shape. 

Last week I chose three shades of a sage green for the entryway but the day I was going to buy the paint it suddenly dawned on me that the front screen door is a hunter green and when we keep the interior door open in the warm weather, the two colors would clash.  So I went to my next selection - gold.  There is gold in the stain glass window so I knew it would look just as nice. 

So, how did I save money on paint for the entryway?  Last summer I went to buy some paint from Sherwin Williams for my fence and the outside of my house.  They accidentally mixed up interior paint and I bought it for only $5.00 a gallon.  Here is my post that tells about this.   There are two colors of yellow - a medium and light shade. 

I painted the medium shade on the wall, then I sponged on the light shade.  I purchased a  quart of mustard gold color and a quart of a very light shade of yellow. I then ragged on the mustard gold, then on top of that I softened it with ragging on the very light shade of yellow and finished with a little more of the mustard gold ragged back on for depth.

This is my trial and error.

I like it. 

A look at our entryway from the other side of the livingroom.



Now for the ceiling color.  If you look at the above picture you will see some blue squares leaning against the wall.  When I am trying out several different types of paint or faux finishes I try it out on poster board first.  Then I put my selections in the room and look at throughout the day to see how it looks during the day and into the evening.

Yep, I am going to paint the ceiling blue like the sky.  We have a Victorian House and the Entryway was one of the most important rooms in a Victorian home.  Many times the entryway ceiling or the porch ceiling were painted a pretty aqua or blue to simulate the coolness of the sky.  So I am going to try it.  Best of all, if I don't like it, I can paint over it. 

I plan to try the version in the top right and see how I like it.

It is a combination of sponging and ragging. 



The ceiling before.

The ceiling halfway done.

I painted the ceiling with a medium coat of paint this afternoon and I also painted the medallion around the light fixture with the medium yellow.  It looks odd right now, but will look better after I finish the shades of blue on the ceiling.  Also I am contemplating taking some metallic gold paint and rubbing it over the decorative impressions in the medallion.  Again, if it doesn't look good I can simply cover it up with the paint.

So, there you have it.  The beginning of a bright, colorful entryway, that hasn't cost me as much as it could have because I used the "mistake" paint I got last summer.  I knew I would be able to use it somewhere in my house and when this project is done,  I will have enough to paint my kitchen a sunny yellow.