Full Spectrum Paint = Sexxxy

If you are a paint snob like moi you know all about full spectrum paint -- paint that uses double the number of pigments and no black to project a magic crystalline rainbow upon your walls. On countless blogs I have heard acolytes preach the holy gospel of Donald Kaufman and Ellen Kennon, but I attend the church of Sanders P. Gibbs III and that meant no fancy full spectrum paint for me... until Monday.

Custom mixed Donald Kaufman color on the walls.

Yes, you busters are probably wondering where your paint update is, because that bizness should already be underway, right? Wrong. Sanders called Monday morning telling me not to panic, but Benjamin Moore just released their line of full spectrum paints, called Color Stories.

Holy $%^$&^*! More choices!!! Well of course I panicked (duh). And then I ordered up a billion samples to complete the crazy quilt that is my living room wall situation.

Verdict: complete and utter obsession. I'm not sure if I just like the colors better, or if I was smitten (once again) with the Aura paint base, or if there truly is something magical and sparkly amazing about full spectrum paints, but I must have it in my life. Must. Have. It.

Here's the color I settled on... no really, I'm sure.

Sander's cut it to a 50% formula for me (by HAND because he doesn't trust the computer!) since it went dark on my walls. At 50%, it's light and airy -- a little orangey, a little pink. Totally peachy keen.

Paintocalypse it scheduled for Thursday. Stay tuned for updates.

Interloper

I'm not gonna lie -- I pretty much just googled "antelope rug" for today's post. In defense of my laziness I would like you to know that our old house is now under contract although we still have 856 people walking through at all hours, home inspectors are crawling up my ass like fire ants, I co hosted a bachelorette party with Karly on Saturday and I am still hung over, and Better Half Ben is home sick with the pukey vomits -- betcha I'm next.

Deep breath. Now look at these damn rugs.

I should probably be embarrassed to bust out this roundup, as a zillion bloggers have already beaten me to it. But since I came across a ton of images featuring creepy camouflaged men cradling dead antelopes during my search for big beautiful pictures, I feel like I have suffered sufficiently for this post.

Oh, and did I mention that the living room is being painted today? Cross your fingers and toes and eyes and pray that no one finds me hanging from the rafters when it's done.

Going to curl up in bed and hide for a few. Toodles.

[Amanda Nisbet, Cote de Texas, Ms. Blandings, Elle Decor, Perch]

Battle Royale

So Karly has talked me into going light and bright for the cavernous, north facing family room, and dark and cozy for the smaller south facing rooms. I'm feeling good about my dark and cozy color picks, but super skittish about picking a white -- the subtle differences are so much harder to see when the color is barely there. That's where you come in. Meet the contenders:

Up first is Sander's first string pick (did I just use a sports metaphor? who the eff am I???): Collector's Item.

Yes, I know. It looks baby pink, which is very unsportsmanlike. On the wall it looks... less baby pink. Jeffrey Bilhuber calls it "almost blush." Ahem.

In the picture it looks straight up white. That's because photos LIE.

Up second is another Sanders pick: Farrow and Ball's White Tie. This is decidedly more yellow in real life, so much so that I wonder why I even bother posting swatches online. This whole process would be a lot easier if y'all could come to my house and look at the stupid paint on the wall already.

Here it is in action:

So, what do you think? I'd say that Collector's Item has a little something more going on, but most of what it has going on is pink. Meanwhile, White Tie is a no fail choice, but is it too country trad?

In case you were wondering (and too damn bad if you weren't), I'm looking at Hague Blue and Pashmina (it really is a gorgeous, complex color) for my other major neutrals. That's right -- I just called Hague Blue a neutral. Because it is. Just ask Tandy -- she has a similar color in her living room.

Haguey hotness.

Ok -- pick a color. Any color.

As long as it is one of the colors I just listed.