Choosing paint is HARD work!

After moving into our home (over 2 years ago!), we really didn't do much of anything with the guest bedroom beyond setting up the bed and putting books in bookcases. Truthfully, the guest bedroom became more of a catchall room where we ironed and put overflow clothes (like all the shalwar kameez I buy on our trips to south Asia).

About 6 months after we moved in, we started feeling like we were ready to try our hand at decorating. (How hard could it be...right?) At that time, we committed to painting 2 rooms in the house. (Technically, my husband only wanted to paint 1 room--the living room--but I wanted to do a bathroom....so we did 2.) We carefully chose our colors from the paint chips (without getting samples) and then started painting.

We got about halfway through doing the restroom before we realized the blue that I had chosen (yes, I'm taking full blame for it) looked more like "circus clown blue" than "aqua chiffon." (Don't believe me? Check out the picture below.) We reassured each other that it would look better after the 2nd coat...and forged ahead. After painting nearly all day and late into the night, we were exhausted and ready to see the results.

Sadly, the bathroom most definitely didn't look any better after the 2nd coat. What was even worse was that we had invited guests to come over the next day (not anticipating that our painting efforts might turn out....well, badly). We had left NO buffer time to repaint the bathroom, so we did what any sane people would do:  We left the door closed and then when guests asked where the restroom was, we showed them, explained what happened, and then told them not to be scared and not to judge our decorating skills based on the bathroom. (Seriously...don't laugh!)

On the bright (pun intended) side, the chocolate brownish color that we chose for the living room turned out great. The living room is warm and cozy and turned out just the way we wanted it.

Fast forward to present day, and we both decided there are a couple of other areas in the house that need some attention:  the guest bedroom and the master bedroom. We have guests who will be coming to stay with us in July (sooooo excited!), so the guest bedroom is getting attention first.

The guest bedroom isn't huge, so we wanted to get some furniture but didn't want the room to be overfull. I should mention that our decorating style is modern, tasteful, and simple and that we don't believe in buying things just to fill up space.

Even though there's not much that needs to be done, we're taking our time with it. In May, I boxed up the books, and my husband dismantled the bookcases and stored them in the garage. (I'm still hoping we can find somewhere else in the house where to put SOME of the books...but that's not critical.) Our guest bedroom's bed is currently sitting on those metal frames they give you when you buy a mattress, so if nothing else, we'd like to get a bed frame.

A couple of weeks ago, I placed the order for new bedroom furniture (a bed frame, dresser, and mirror), and it will be here in about 2 weeks. So that's done, but there are still at least 2 or 3 things remaining to do: paint the room, buy new bedding, and maybe get some recessed lights installed in the ceiling.

For the last couple of weeks, we've been looking at paint chips from the hardware store, and we both picked our favorite colors. Last night, I got 6(!) different samples.  I put some samples on a wall in the guest bedroom, and the same set of samples on a wall in the master bedroom.  The weird thing is, even though the colors are identical, the ones I like in 1 room are different from the ones I like in the other room.  Sadly, not all of the colors turned out as I expected. (They're not bad, they're just...not what I expected.) My opinion as of last night was that only 1 or 2 of the colors would make good candidates for the 2 rooms that need to be painted.  So tonight, I went and got 2 more paint samples and added those to the walls.  The paint gods must have accepted the wall sacrifices that I made because, in my mind, there are now at least 3 or 4 possible options.  (My husband has yet to weigh in on the color choices.)

Prior to the circus clown blue fiasco, I viewed painting as fun. After that, well...not so much. Picking good colors and painting (especially in hard to reach places) is HARD!

Oh, and if anyone needs some aqua chiffon paint, I've got a couple of extra gallons here that you can have. ;)