My Blue Period is Much Better Than Picasso’s Because He Didn’t Get Periods

 

So I was sick of looking at this:

 

I painted this door almost three years ago.
I KNOW CAN YOU BELIEVE THREE YEARS?????
It was a huge hit after I did it and I did love it so much but after three years, I was getting tired of just dark door.
Dark, dark, door.
Why so dark, door?
Why everything so dark??
I feel the need to lighten things up in my life.
My head, my mood, everything and it needs to start with my front door.
Like a feng shui thing.
What does a black interior door even mean in feng shui?
Googling it….right ……now……

Crap.
Guess I should have left it black.
I don’t even follow Feng Shui.
Screw it.

Whatever the case, I am going through ch-ch-changes and so it was on a week of craptastic gloom and doom weather that I was like THAT IS IT and literally got up and drove to the local paint store to get a paint swatch.

First I went on Pinterest and saw this pin I had pinned like a year ago:

courtesy of Pinterest and Young House Love

I loved this color and pinned it immediately.
It is called Lake Blue by Benjamin Moore or Ben Moore.
I call him Ben Moore because we are all cozy.
So I headed to my local Ben Moore store and got the swatch.
Here is the low down on Ben Moore:

– you don’t have to go to an “official” Ben Moore store. There might be a paint store or an Ace Hardware etc. that carries their product, so Google before you leave your home.

– don’t leave your home without looking online for inspiration. Ben Moore paint swatches look NOTHING like the actual paint. This advice comes from me AND the Ben Moore paint guy. Trust both of us.

– also, it helps to have the paint number, not just the name. If you go to a Ben Moore store and can’t find the name, ask for help and they will look it up for you. Sometimes the swatches are in random places. Ben does not want what is best for you, trust me, but in the end, it is worth it.

– if you have serious coin, buy the Ben Moore paint. If not? Be cheap like me, get the swatch and get the HELL out of that store and go to Home Depot or Lowe’s. You’re welcome.

So I left the nice Ben Moore sales guy with my swatch in hand and went to Home Depot and bought my paint and supplies.

I used Behr Ultra paint which is a paint and a primer in one as recommended by the amazing woman at the Home Depot paint department, love them there.
I used a foam roller for most of the door and a foam brush for the cut in work.
Also, I used interior paint, not exterior paint even though it was a front door because it was inside.
I know this seems like a head slap but for some reason, I felt like because it is so close to the outside it needed to be an exterior paint.
You shouldn’t be shocked by my reasoning if you have read my blog here with any regularity.
Those just reading for the first time, welcome to the madness.

Here is the before:

 

Like, will it look 1986 country blue?
With the country geese?
And the little Amish girls with the bonnets?
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
In 1986.

 

 

Then I said “screw it” again and just did it.
Life is too short to be stuck with a black life sucking door.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved my black door for three years but it was time for a change.

No going back.
What does Feng Shui say about a Country Geese blue door from 1986?
Mallory??
Alex??
Mr. Keaton????
It looks different in photos than it does in real life much more country blue in pictures than in real life but I have to say, I love it.

 

My husband, who normally could really care less when it comes to things like this, was home the day I was painting and was watching the transformation the entire time I was working.
At first, he was as skeptical as I was but as the paint and chit-chat was going on and on we both agreed that it was looking pretty amazing.

 

It got me so excited that in typical Kari fashion I decided that I must paint ALL OF THE THINGS.

This was our hall closet before:

It was starting to look faded and needed an update.
And since I had some blue paint just burning a hole in my pocket…..er paint can…whatever…..I decided that nothing was going to go untouched.

 

 

It looks so much cleaner and very, very blue.
Then the following day I was outside looking in and saw this:

Awwwwwww snap.

It was a veritable rainbow for the senses.
A carnival for the eyes.
I didn’t know how to process it all.
Green??
Blue??
Black??
Brown??
MRS. KEATON??
SKIPPY????????
AM I RUNNING A FEVER!?!?!?!?

The first thing I thought of was Rio de Janeiro.
Or cotton candy.
The second thing I thought of was resale value.
Because this home is NOT our forever home and nothing screams FORECLOSURE like a house with ten different colors as you walk in the foyer or FOYAY.
That blue, I love, looks so different with the time of day, the weather, your mood.
Then it hit me: that blue is MY MOOD.
That blue is me.
HOLY BALLS THAT BLUE IS ME.
Blue Lake by Ben Moore could have been named Bitter Pre- Menstrual/Menopausal Female by Kari at A Grace Full Life.

Case in point:

 

10:00 a.m.

10:05 a.m.

 

10:00 a.m.

10:05 a.m.

Picasso has NOTHING on me.

So I am not sure if the blue closet door will be staying.
However, I am planning on painting the walls in our home this spring/summer because I have a death wish.
Think cathedral death ceilings and a tight budget.
I need to get this done before the kids get out of school, oh and did I mention I have a very tight budget?
Oh and cathedral death ceilings?
Yes?
Yes.
Picasso would never have done something so stupid.

So then since I had some extra paint left over, I decided that I should paint my pantry door as well.
Oh and get rid of my chalkboard pantry wall.

 

Yeah.
So.
This is the thing.
I rarely wrote on this wall.
In fact, the last time I wrote a menu or “pantry rules” on this wall was in 2011 for this post.
Why was I so bossy in 2011?
Probably because I had to write rules on a pantry wall.
Oh sure, I would write for special occasions but for the most part, this wall went unwritten.
I do have a chalkboard wall adjacent to this wall that gets written on all the time though and that wall will not be painted over ever or at least not until after we move.

I had leftover kitchen paint which is Revere Pewter from when we painted our kitchen a few years ago.
I am sure it was tainted and bad and toxic.
So completely safe for my family.

 

See the chalkboard wall that is staying ^^^.
A chalkboard pantry wall is a great idea if you have wall space large enough to write on.
I would start to write something and run out of the room.
Happy Birth
I love y
Congratu

You get the idea.

 

It looks a little plain.
I need to add something.
Like chalkboard paint.
WHAT?
I am going through withdrawal.

 

 

 

 

My teenager thinks it looks “dated”.
But I am pretty sure if asked, she would say the same thing about me so I am not trusting her opinion about this.

I love it for now until I decide to paint the rest of the house.
If you see my children covered in paint, send help.