Missoula to St. Bart's
I think it was in 1998 that the dining room was first painted - and it's been the same color ever since. I don't know if that's a statement of the quality of paint, the steadfastness of not fixing it if it ain't broke, or - is it just a flat-out sad statement! Either way, it's changing!
Back in '98, the dining room was painted Missoula Blue by Dutch Boy...
It's been a nice color for the room, went well with the woodwork, and lent a very calming (if not cool) feel. After removing the old bookshelves, the fading showed, but it was remarkably little fade. I think you may be able to tell in this picture, look around the top two and right at the bottom of the lowest hole patches:
Not too shabby! I always thought Dutch Boy made really good paint, but I'd have to drive 75 miles one way to Springfield, Massachusetts to get it (isn't that where the Simpson's lived?). Now, with the new built-in going up, it really was time for fresh paint. Oh the agony of picking a color. We've been all the way around the color wheel. Here are a couple finalists:
All four of those colors were considered at various times in the past year or two, pretty much since the great dining room furniture adventure of '15. Then there was...
'Cuz we were thinking blue has been a good color. And...
But it seemed too dark, so maybe lighter...
Somehow, that one didn't feel right, so maybe...
That's Sherwin WIlliams' Stonebriar. That came very close to being the new color, but we thought it might be a little too...something. But there was one color that caught our attention from the beginning, and kept lurking in the background, and in the end - it won out. Introducing....
The coordinating colors are similar to the furniture and in the family of the woodwork. It's a shade of blue - which seems to be our wont, and thought it would really make the room pop! Here's the first wall...
If you look in the upper left of the picture, you'll notice the contrast between the new St. Bart's and the good ol' Missoula Blue - kinda striking! At first it feels like it would be a bit dark, but when the built-in is finished, I think it'll look awesome! And finally, for my own future reference, St. Bart's was mixed at Lowes in satin:
