The best laid schemes of mice and men

The best laid schemes of mice and men go oft awry ...
- Robert Burns-

Just like the livingroom went through a design modification, things didn't go quite as originally planned with the adjacent diningroom. This is the design board from waaaay back in November, I believe, when we were muddling over color choices and design ideas as a way to pass the time until closing.

[Original design board for the diningroom]

Toasty brown and warm ...and maybe a little boring. Right? I didn't know what but something was missing. Not like I could put my finger on it, oh no, it was merely a gut feeling that this wasn't really it .. or us. Then I came across this color

[source: Valspar]

Lyndhurst Duchess Blue. My Lord, it's so pretty! And the diningroom pictured painted this color in the Valspar brochure just kept yelling at me: "Pick me! Pick me! Pick ...." Yeah, I get it. It was a hard sell but by God (and with a lot of His help, I suppose) I sold it to the husband. Last weekend we did the deed. Wearing my big girl pants, all giddy with excitement over this beautiful dusty aqua color we started painting over this room's swine-ish glory

[Before: Ahh, the floors, those beautiful floors! They make
even "swine" look good]

Oh boy! The moment the paint went up I could feel myself shrinking in my big girl pants. Boy, it was bright! And aqua! And colorful! Dear husband was gracious enough to wait until coat no. 1 was finished before coming to a final verdict. Frankly, I was convinced we'd made our second bad color choice and needed to rethink our strategy for the diningroom, but I grit my teeth and painted away.

And after all the swine was gone, the magic happened. This dusty greenish aqua is the most gorgeous color. It's bright, but it's not overwhelming you. It's cheerful, yet soothing. It's colorful, but not overbearing harmonizing with the colors around it beautifully.

[After: Helloooo pretty!]

It's fabulous and we both love it a lot. Even the little man thinks it's a cool color. I think this was our boldest move color-wise and it took us quite a bit out of our usual comfort zone but it was so worth it.

[Catching a glimpse from the living room]

Guess I should make up a new design board, yes?