How Many Colors Can You Paint a House?

It's getting nervous up in here. I love to make decisions for other people, but when it comes to myself I will waffle endlessly if given the chance. So, on one hand it's probably a good thing that the baby is theoretically coming in four months. On the other hand, I'm starting to panic that we're going to end up with a patchwork quilt of insanity because I have to make too many choices too quickly. Mostly I'm freaking about all the colors I'm slathering all over the walls. Teal, coral, peach, navy, oh probably some green while I'm at it... how many colors can one house reasonably (gracefully) hold?

I'm kind of a colorphobe. My downstairs closet is full of gray and black and navy. But my secret upstairs closet (the going out closet) is full of orange and pink and gold and turquoise and acid green. It seems that I almost always chicken out at the 11th hour when deciding if I should slip into something more colorful -- I pretty much have to be hitting the bars at midnight to fluff my peacock feathers.

But I know that while there's definitely an allure to cool and aloof, everyone wants to party with the crazy girl in color.

Am I right?

Still, I don't want to go berserk in here. Crazy should not equal slutty. I just don't think I'd be comfortable most of the time dealing with that much stimulation... from color. Duh.

I will admit to loving just a restrained shot of color -- that perfect foil for an otherwise neutral and serene palette.

But I don't know... once I get going I kind of can't stop myself.

And then things get interesting.

I'd like to know what you think about "the rules" regarding color in decor. How many colors can you balance in one room? Three? Five? Infinity?

What about in a whole house?

I mean, we're definitely going beyond light beige, medium beige, and dark beige here.

But can every room be a different color?

Please discuss.

[Pinterest, Porter wallpapers/fabrics, AD, Jeffrey Bilhuber, Pinterest, World of Interiors, Luxe Interiors]

The Full Extent of the Dinette Dilemma

So yesterday I revealed yet another thorn in my side, the dopey dinette area. It's really wee and oddly shaped and it sports hideous tile and the light fixture makes me want to vomit khaki green paint into my cheerios. It's an appetite killer, for sure.

My eyes! I'm pretty sure that square beige tile is the eighth level of hell. The suburban pinata light fixture is even more offensive, but far easier to remove -- we'll call it Level Four.

As I said yesterday, when we redo the adjoining kitchen the tile will get sledgehammered into a  fine dust and kicked to the curb, making way for the wood flooring to move on in. But until that day, this is what I have to work with. Did I mention that this is to be our one and only dinner table?

You can exhale now.

So I think a rug would help, but the inset on the window wall is really throwing a wrench into the works. I put the 6x9 leopard rug in there just to see how it would fit, and you can see that it butts up against the wall. I could see doing a custom cut carpet that fit exactly into that space, except that this isn't wide enough...

When I centered the rug under the table, it ran into the walkway, which I think looks kinda funny. Am I crazy? Also, six feet really isn't wide enough for a full size table and chairs. I think seven is minimum, which would create even more issues in terms of the odd window wall and walkway.

What to do?

Mockups, duh.

I painted Board #1 in living room wall color, left the table unpainted, used chairs from Copenhagen, and threw in a hide rug so I could sidestep rug dimension issues. But I have to tell you, I kind of hate hide rugs. They feel so gross... and they are giant dead cows. But I have also heard how durable! and amazing! they are. What do you think?

For Board #2 I painted the room in Gray Gardens, left the table unpainted, added black wishbone chairs, and threw caution to the woven wind with a Nain rug. I did 8000 variations and I'm not sure I'm digging the rug on this one, but I threw it in for variety's sake.

For Board #3 I switched up almost everything... Les Touches knockoff fabric for the roman shades, painted table, Anthropologie chairs, and a more antiquey light fixture to balance the polka dot bizness. I used a warmer rug because I want something natural in there -- be it table, chairs or rug.

So, what do you dudes think? Are there any bits or pieces you love/hate? And fresh new combos you want to see? We've only just begun...

ps: here was my inspiration photo, which looks almost nothing like any of my mockups:

Gotta love Molly Luetkemeyer.

Maybe the solution to all my problems is a kick ass Henri Rousseau inspired mural?

Most likely.

What's Happening Now

Hi, how was your weekend? Mine was one of those bust-your-ass-but-accomplish-very-little affairs. At least, that's how me and my sore tailbone are feeling this morning (wtf, pregnant ladies?! what is happening to my coccyx?). Sucks to have so much to do and to be so impaired lazy. I did manage to squeeze in two chocolate covered donuts... yay for me! So, what's really going on at Casa Erin? Let's discuss some life decisions I've come up with (thanks to Karly and Naomi for listening to my whiny pleas for advice).

#1. Wallpaper has been selected.

Pheasant in Coral will go in the upstairs hallway, Neisha Crosland's Zebra will go in the entry, and Pines by Little Greene will go in the powder room. It was really tough to decide where these should go architecturally speaking -- e.g., which rooms should be dark or light, what needs small scale or large, what colors will the rooms adjacent to the papered rooms be painted, etc. So I'm very excited to have a (tentative) decision.

#2. The front room will now be a play room instead of an office.

We're going to squeeze the office into the guest bedroom, and I'm pretty stoked that we don't have to put doors on this room anymore. Yipppeeeeee! I'm STILL trying to sell the coffee table, the shelves will get painted, art has been moved, sconces may be installed, leopard rug will make an appearance, and on the opposing wall I think I'm going to buy a vintage deco armoire to house all the toys. Like so:

Or something like this. These come up on craigslist all the time for dirt cheap.

#3. With Sanders' help, I am close to deciding on paint colors for most of the rooms in my house.

MOST. Not all. Ike's room is mostly nailed down, I'm very close on baby room, I have a good start for the bedroom, and maybe I have an idea for the dinette... oh, the dinette.

#4. We sold our good old table (to a blog reader who recognized our house on craigslist!!!) because it was way too big for our new house, and then bought another... ok table.

First, let's say goodbye to old table. She was a beauty.

Oh, table. I loved you so much. But she's gone, (she's gone) oh I'd pay the devil to replace her...

She's gone.

Thank you, Hall and Oates, for providing the soundtrack to my misery.

And now, drumroll please:

Someone kill me.

We will discuss this horror story in full tomorrow, but I just don't have the energy right now.

In fact, I think I may need another donut just so I can survive today.