Painting Our House: Accent Colors

In November we started planning our big Christmas break project—painting the house. We picked up some paint samples in Anchorage and quickly chose butter pecan as our main color. We then decided that we wanted a blue or green on a few walls as an “accent color.”

In early December we tried out six different accent colors in various places throughout the house. I constantly examined them, asking myself, “How does it look in this light?” and “Which one goes with the butter pecan?” Three weeks after putting up the swatches, I still hadn’t decided on an accent color.

Suddenly, Christmas break was upon us and it was time to start painting. We still hadn’t decided on an accent color, but we did have fifteen gallons of butter pecan on hand so we decided to start with that. We painted away, thrilled with how it looked.

After a few days of painting, we got to a point where we had to paint the accent wall so that we could reassemble one room and move on to the next. At this point, I still hadn’t decided on an accent color.

That morning Kyle and I went to the hardware store and picked up a few more samples. We tried these samples on the wall in the living room. Among the sample choices, one stood out. It was a light green and it looked like it would go well with the butter pecan. Later that afternoon, we both agreed that the light green would work well. I went off to the hardware store and purchased the $50 gallon of light green paint.

That evening I painted the first coat of light green on the living room wall. As the wall was filling up my enthusiasm started to drop, it seemed too bright and too green. Nevertheless, I finished the first coat before I voiced my anxieties.

“Kyle, I really don’t know about this color. It’s not turning out the way I thought it would,” I noted.

“Well, it’s getting pretty late. Let’s stop for now and we can revisit it again in the morning,” Kyle replied.

The next morning we both examined the wall and decided that we should do the full three coats, since most colors don’t look good after only one coat. I spent a good chunk of the day painting the other two coats. After they were dry, I still had deep doubts. I asked Kyle, “What do you think?” He was very evasive and simply said, “I don’t know.” Unsatisfied with this answer, I continued to ask for his opinion multiple times. Eventually he said, “Well, if we can’t decide. Let’s see what our friends think when they come over for dinner tonight.”

When our friends arrived we immediately brought them into the living room. It only took an instant for them to say, “No way!”

Shortly after their pronouncement I had a light bulb moment: Kyle didn’t like the color the whole time, but he knew that this news would be far easier to take if it came from an outside source! I couldn’t believe that I had fallen for this ruse, but I do think I was happier hearing the news this way.

One good thing came out of this whole incident, the paint color inspired us to go get some mint chocolate chip ice cream. We enjoyed eating our ice cream while we took a break and watched a movie with our wonderfully honest friends.