It's official. Our kitchen and sun porch have been lovingly slathered in two coats of Benjamin Moore's London Fog. This labor intensive process stretched from 7:30am Sunday morning until Thursday evening, largely due to the cracks and crevices presented by the brick walls in the sun porch. 

In honor of the new color, here's a little background music for you while reading this post, courtesy of my high-school-into-adulthood favorite band, +Live+, and lead singer crush, Ed Kowalczyk, as they perform "The Beauty of Gray." 

Over the last several days, we've transformed the space from a sunny yellow color to a more subdued shade that better complements the new Home Goods rug and Home Depot bamboo blinds. Here's a look at the before, featuring Benjamin Moore's Traditional Yellow.

And here we are under the London Fog.

Obviously we have a long way to go in terms of whipping the sun porch into shape, but the fresh coat of paint is a step in the right directly. On the long wall, we have plans to build a wine bar/storage unit, although Mel may not love being dethroned from the top of the wine fridge. 

We'll also be adding curtains, reworking the bamboo blinds, replacing the bench with new seating, and hanging curtains. We also need to address lighting in the room.

Already the rug and blinds are feeling more at home, and I'm coming out of my "I totally screwed up the sun porch" tizzy. Especially when I look back at this photo of the room, shortly after we moved in. What a difference.

So what do we think of the new color? Mel for one, promptly showed his enthusiasm by vomiting on the new rug. Thanks, Mel. (I'll spare you a photo of that sight.) I, on the other hand, love the color, but it's not at all what I thought it would be. When Lulu I first selected the shade, I thought I was pulling the taupe-y gray color out of the rug. Is it just me, or doesn't it look like a pretty good match?

But in reality, what we have on the walls is a much cooler, modern color. In fact, it looks like a lighter tone of the darker gray of the rug. (The color under Lulu's right paw, rather than the one under her left in the photo above.) 

I'm relieved it still works, it's just not what I expected. On the bright side, it also makes for a nice transition into the kitchen area, painted in the same shade.

My impatience typically causes me to blow past the whole paint samples on the walls phase, so I know this ultimately could have been prevented with a little more time (and money forked out for test paints). But I doubt I'll ever learn. Speaking of impatience, can I tell you how relieved I am to have the house put back together? Four days of the sight below was making me verge on a nervous breakdown.

Another side note in an effort to keep it real. Do you remember the dead worm farm we uncovered when painting the kitchen earlier this week? Well apparently we had a spider sanctuary situation happening in our sun porch, hidden behind one of the bamboo blinds. It's amazing how looking at a cleared out room on a ladder can give you a whole new perspective, for better or worse.

So how did we celebrate the completion of our painting project? Margaritas of course. All over conversation of replacing the counter tops this weekend. See Exhibit A (drunken napkin sketch with sweetener packet props from the bar resulting in blurry photos). Let the snowball effect begin.

So what do you think of the new color? Do the bamboo blinds and rug seem like keepers, now that they're more harmonious with the wall color? Have you ever started a "quick update" only for it to quickly morph into a complete overhaul of a room? Given our list of ideas, I can only imagine what we'll be reporting back on Monday. 

Comments 17

Comments

ashley
8/17/2012 at 12:41 PM
love the warm grey! have you thought about adding a island / peninsula to the kitchen (over looking the sunroom) adding more counter space and functionality?
Wendy
8/17/2012
Thanks Ashley! I would LOVE to have an island or peninsula in the space, as well as add counters to the window wall of the kitchen. But, because we have plans to flip flop our current family room with the kitchen and sunporch, we're trying to minimize the cost of any improvements since they're "temporary." (That is, if you consider 10 years temporary.) :-)
amy
8/17/2012 at 1:52 PM
I love the gray in the kitchen! It looks great with the color of your floors.
Wendy
8/17/2012
Thanks so much, Amy! :-)
bu2fulday
8/17/2012 at 2:09 PM
Only surprising suggestion... blinds are good, but they need to be tied in somewhere, and my vote is via the fan that is in the sunroom.
Wendy
8/17/2012
When I first saw your comment, I read it as "tie your blinds to the fan." That would be interesting! :-) LOL.

I totally know what you mean. I was hoping the lighter shade of brown in the rug as well as the lamp would help make them look at home, but a few more touches might help them make more sense. Thanks Jen!
bu2fulday
8/20/2012 at 10:49 AM
I just peed my pants. I would love to see you tie your blinds to the fan.
8/17/2012 at 3:35 PM
If you are looking at butcher block counters, we got ours at Lumber Liquidators. They come unstained and unfinished. So far (going on a year), they have maintained a good look and are starting to develop some character.

Cheers!
Wendy
8/17/2012
Thanks, Thad! Jill mentioned the other day that you had purchased your counters there and were really happy with them. If IKEA doesn't pan out this weekend, we're heading to Lumber Liquidators. :-) Have a great weekend!
Mike
8/17/2012 at 6:39 PM
I'd have to check with my wife, but I'm pretty sure I like the London Fog better than the yellow. Well done.
Wendy
8/19/2012
LOL! Thanks, MIke. :-)
JC
8/18/2012 at 10:54 AM
I am definitely loving the grey in the sun porch. :D
Wendy
8/19/2012
:-)
Michelle
8/18/2012 at 2:52 PM
beautiful!
Wendy
8/19/2012
Thanks so much, Michelle!
8/20/2012 at 9:15 PM
Love the Confederate Gray color (AKA London Fog)!! Rug and blinds are quite nice!!! Great job guys! Diana adds her thumbs up!!!

Dave
Josh Shaffer
9/11/2012 at 6:17 PM
Looks great!
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