I shot this picture at dawn one morning.
Since I spend so many wonderful hours on my porch, I want it to look nice and be comfortable. The porch columns badly need to be patched and then repainted. The concrete deck has needed to be repainted for a couple of years. My porch furniture, a very (like at least 60 years) old wicker set, has definitely succumbed to years of salt water and heat. It can't be salvaged.
I met with my favorite contractor today. He's ready to do the job during one of my upcoming trips. All I need to do now is pick out the paint color for the concrete deck. That's causing me a bit of a dilemma. I can't decide.
The house is painted a light purple -- sort of a faded violet or little-bit-darker-lavender.
This photo of Nat and Pyxi was taken in the afternoon. I'm going to miss that wicker sofa. I loved the fabric when I first got the cusions redone. They've faded, obviously, but the yellow was so vibrant and the colors in the print so sweet and cheerful!
This shows the color in the early evening about an hour before sunset.
I'm torn. The porch columns, railing and ceiling will be painted white. White does not seem to be a practical choice for an outside deck. I love color. John, the contractor, suggested a rich blue. That's a possibility. I went online to look at color wheels. (Home Depot's closed already today or I'd have run up to look at their paint cards.) I was positive that this would help me find just the right blue. Sure it gave me ideas, but not in the blue family.
Look at that center wheel. Yes, I know that there's a pie wedge of blues on one side of the purple-lavender-violet slice, but look at the other side. Pinks!
So, I ask you. Couldn't I choose something from the pink pie slice for the floor, or would that be too bizarre?
Should I mention that, while browsing catalogues for new furniture, I fell in love with a "reimagined" plantation chair and one of the finish choices is eggplant?
Tell me friends. Am I on the verge of going too far over the top? The plantation chair is a definite. I can, I guess, be swayed on the concrete color.
Please. Share your thoughts!
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7 comments:
If the pink makes you happy, I say go for it. I think I'd be more likely to go for something on the opposite side of the color wheel, in the green / yellow section. Either that, or a darker version of what you have on the wall, then accent the furniture with bright pops of color/pattern on the cushions. That way, it could be easy to change them according to your mood.
Happy decorating, whatever you choose.
I think I'd either go with the contractor's suggestion or go with a faded pink with the same intensity as the walls. Otherwise I think the floor might be to jarring against that soft color. Then the white pillars and trim and lots of bright, vibrant color in the cushions. An eggplant chair would work with either the soft pink or blue floor.
I've been using Pinterest to pin pictures of colors, furniture and stuff I like for my sunroom/deck/patio project that may never get built. (Have faith, Karen, have faith) It helps me remember stuff I might forget about and see stuff near each other to think about.
I think it could be very helpful if you could get some of those small tester bottles of paint at HD and paint sample boards of the colors you're considering and put them down on the concrete floor to see exactly how the color would look in the light and with the reflection of the house color.
I personally like the idea of a color from the opposite side of the color wheel - the green area. I really like the pink as an accent color rather than a main color. But everyone sees color differently and it only matters that you like the colors. And you can always repaint the floor if you don't like it. That's the beauty of it - it's not permanent.
Go with the pink! You live in the Keys for goodness sake! :)
I also go with the suggestion of getting testers and painting boards then leaving them on the floor to see what you prefer: bright or faded, light or dark.
We want pictures. :) And yay for the eggplant which truly will go with either blue or pink or even green.
Pink! I vote for pink.
I also liked the suggestion of getting some testers and living with a few options for a bit to see what you love. If you don't want to actually paint the surface, paint some paper plates (bigger than a paint chip) and tape them down. Before I decided on a kitchen color I had half a dozen paper plates taped to my wall for about a week. It really helped.
Good luck.
Mary Stella, I found a great magazine issue that might offer some inspiration for your paint choice. The March 2012 Better Homes and Gardens is an issue that focuses on color. There are some great tips on how to use color in your home, but what really caught my eye was the last page of the magazine showing a woman who painted the concrete patio in her garden to look like a lovely handwoven floorcloth. There was a reference to BHG.com/paintconcrete for information on her painting technique. Her rug picked up the colors from her garden - yellow, mauve, blue, green, etc. I thought that a painted floorcloth on top of the base color you choose would look beautiful on your porch. If you find a fabric that you love for cushions, you could pick up those colors in the rug. If you can't find the magazine and would like, I'd be glad to mail you the copy I found. My e-mail is CatAA@comcast.net.
I would go for a blue, because the pink would probably detract from the lovely purple color of your house. Your eyes wouldn't quite know what to look at.
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