January 21, 2008
DIY (and then do it again when it doesn’t turn out right)
Once upon a time, our dining room looked like this:
And then we got tired of the white walls, and we painted, and it looked like this:
But then Wade admitted that the yellow was a little TOO yellow for his taste, and we agreed that it wasn’t worth one of us not liking the dining room, and so we repainted. And now the dining room looks like this.
And one of us thinks that it’s a little too mustardy for her taste.
Now I’m remembering why I hate DIY. The end.
Posted by Susan @ 2:56 pm • home sweet home
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January 21st, 2008 at 2:59 pm, Mama Bear Says:
Hmmmm, I think it’s not too bad. I recently did the living room in a similar, but not quite, shade, so I am a little biased. Ours is more golden though, I think. It would look awesome with a touch of a coffee colored rag glazing over it, if you want some more DIY projects.
January 21st, 2008 at 4:05 pm, gorillabuns Says:
I like the color but I agree with Mama Bear - a glaze would help the mustard. you could go either more brown or maybe even a bronze.
January 21st, 2008 at 4:09 pm, slynnro Says:
I think you are very brave for even trying! I like the first yellow, but ya know, yellow is one of those colors I think is so personal. Two people probably never quite agree on the same shade.
January 21st, 2008 at 4:11 pm, Margaret Says:
This is why it pays to marry a man with no taste: because a man with no taste also has no opinion.
January 21st, 2008 at 4:39 pm, Stephanie Says:
Yes…try a glaze, better yet, try a wash with a glaze. We did the same in our bedroom with a lighter yellow and it was too yellow. We put a glaze over the top and it muted it just enough.
Use the same yellow paint, but dilute it and wash it over the top with some glaze in it, this should soften it up a bit.
January 21st, 2008 at 4:53 pm, All Adither Says:
Oh I like it. But how do you keep those votives lined up with two kids around?
January 21st, 2008 at 5:03 pm, MaryP Says:
Saffron. Think of it as saffron. That will make it all better, because saffron is so much prettier than mustard.
If that fails, then I think rag glazing is a fabulous idea — and so hard to do wrong.
January 21st, 2008 at 5:28 pm, blackbird Says:
I did my dining room three times.
Turns out that Restoration Hardware gray/green/blue color is VERY depressing looking.
I learned, in the living room, that any color that could be construed as baby shit is usually bad.
January 21st, 2008 at 5:42 pm, Raven Says:
Have you tried it with furniture and accessories first? That can change a lot of the tones in the room without having to paint again.
If after, you find it’s still a problem, glazing is a really easy fix.
January 21st, 2008 at 6:31 pm, M&Co. Says:
But your painting skills are improving with each color change. You could have a second or third career as a painter!
January 21st, 2008 at 6:43 pm, STL Mom Says:
Benjamin Moore 200 — Westminster Gold. It is a little less yellow than the top photo and a little less mustard than the bottom photo (assuming that my monitor colors look anything like real life). I painted our north-facing office this color, and both my husband and I love it. Then a friend painted her south- and west-facing family room the same color, and it looks great in there too.
Then she asked if I minded if she bought the same curtains, and it started to get a little bit “Single White Female” but it’s okay, we’re still friends…
January 21st, 2008 at 7:40 pm, Undercover Mutha Says:
Wait a sec! I thought you loved that wall…when you passed by every 10 minutes. How could you paint it?!
January 21st, 2008 at 8:06 pm, Janssen Says:
Bahhhh, I hate that part of decorating. We’ve lived in our house a year and a half and painted the living room twice and the bathroom three times. I think it’s all happiness now, but man, what a hassle. good luck finding that (elusive) perfect color.
January 21st, 2008 at 11:02 pm, Suebob Says:
Ha. The fear of those colors is why, when asked to pick out a yellow for the guest room, I chose a shade so subtle that the exMrStapler said “Hm…not so much yellow as it makes it look like a smoker used to live here.”
January 22nd, 2008 at 12:55 am, kat Says:
you know what i saw once that i really liked? granted it was an eggplant dining room. but it was glaze applied in vertical stripes. it was a neat look with the matte flat paint and the glaze. maybe that would help yellow?
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:13 am, melissaS Says:
Find a place with the tiny pots of Benjamin Moore and get Shelburne Buff. We did our family room in it and it’s a really nice yellow. Sometimes it looks almost beige, sometimes it’s more of a yellow. It’s great in the room.
I always go for yellows which almost look like a warm beige on the card. Otherwise I end up living inside a bee hive. Or what I think it would be like.
I have to repaint my living room, I hate the color. But repainting the living room means repainting the kitchen and dining room (all one room for all intents and purposes).
This makes me want to die.
And I actually like painting.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:17 am, melissaS Says:
Look you can get the pots online!
http://www.buyaurapaint.com/bemohicohcsh.html
The swatch looks a lot more beige on my computer. Look at my picture.
http://www.suburbanbliss.net/suburbanbliss/2007/09/this-entire-hou.html
January 25th, 2008 at 6:13 pm, imaginary sarah Says:
Yellow is one of the hardest colors to get right. I love the color we chose for upstairs, but the basement yellow is putrid. Perhaps the upstairs is more refined because Ralph Lauren sold us on the name: Edwardian Gold.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:12 pm, kittyhox Says:
I love yellow, in every room. We have a buttery yellow on almost every wall (when I like something I stick with it) and it’s amazing because in some rooms it looks very sunshiney yellow and in others it looks off-white.
Mostly I wanted to comment to say that I love your dining room table! How neat is that!
Good luck with the painting!