Selecting a Paint Color-A Nightmare!

Selecting a Paint Color--A Nightmare!

I like my car.  She and I go places every day.  Today was no exception.

Today was the day to paint the newly remodeled bathroom/utility room.  I was up early.  Put on painting clothes, covered the floor with old bed sheets, gathered all the painting tools and opened the can of paint.  Hum......it looked a bit darker today than it did yesterday.  No problem.  I was sure it would blend nicely with all the colors in the stone.

Stone is interesting.  Since it comes from the earth,  it is not a solid color.  That fact makes stone a bit challenging when selecting a coordinating paint color.   The colors vary just enough to make the choice difficult.  Do I bring out the lighter or darker colors in the stone?  I decided on the darker.

So, coffeed up and ready to go, I opened the can of paint, poured it in the tray and loaded the roller.  I felt a little loaded myself as I had prepared well for this day with a venti skinny vanilla latte and a doughnut.  Looking at the wall in front of me, I knew this would be an easy morning.  All I had to do was roll that lovely paint on the wall.  Magic!  The room would glow with this rich color, and I would be a happy woman.

Placing the roller on the wall, I began.  Well, that first drag down the wall did not reveal what I had expected.  The paint did not evenly place itself on that wall.  Ok.  Easy fix.  More paint and another roll.  Didn't help much.  But, it was early in the painting process.  It would get better.  Anyway, that is what I told myself.  About that time I decided I needed a diet coke.  Things weren't going as I had expected.

I asked my roommate to take a look.  He was not impressed with the paint.  Not my painting--but the paint.  He didn't think it would get any better.  Well, that meant only one thing.  One of us had to hit the road and find another color.

Walking into the store I told myself I would find the right paint in a quick minute.  Holding a sample of my stone, I walked to the paint section and began pulling out color samples.  Man!  This was hard.  Nothing worked.  I must have pulled twenty color cards from that huge wall of paint samples.  Even asked a person behind the counter what she thought.  That didn't turn out well.  Eventually I found three samples that I thought had possibilities.  Bought the small jars of those colors and went home.

Long story short--they didn't work.  Now we had to prime the walls again.  Holy Cow!  This is turning into a nightmare.  Since none of those worked, it was back to the store.  A different store this time.  With stone in hand, I once again made my way to the paint section.  Could someone help me?  By this time I had lost confidence in my ability to select the right color for my bathroom.  A few minutes later I exited the store with four more sample jars of paint.  Back at home it was time to try these four colors.  After discussion we decided on one.  I don't think it is exactly right, but it will do.  

So, back to town for a gallon of paint.  I actually made five trips into town today to find the right paint.  That is ten times up and down the road.  It was getting dark by the time I arrived with the almost perfect gallon of paint.  Tomorrow.  Yes, tomorrow.  But for now, I am totally exhausted.  All the driving has worn me out.  I am sure my car is panting for breath hoping I am in for good.

She would be right.  Who would have thought selecting paint could be so challenging.