THINGS ARE LOOKING UP

The kids spent Friday evening with their grandparents, so my husband and I had a hot date that stretched out for a day and a half...painting our ceiling!  Our sore muscles are still recovering today, but we're both SO happy with the result.

After lots of samples, I chose Benjamin Moore Manchester Tan, but it's mixed at 25% strength.  I really wanted a light, almost white color that still had some warmth to it without being yellow.  In our house with our lighting, this one was just right.  It's so interesting how the color changes so much when you alter the intensity.  You can see in these photos how it also has just enough color that the bright white crown molding still stands out.

By the way, don't make the mistake I made the last time we painted the ceiling...always use flat paint on ceilings!  It will help hide any flaws and you'll avoid strange reflections on the ceiling.

Here's the original color.  It never seemed that dark to me until we got the lighter paint over it.

I'm 99.9% sure that I'm going to use the same color on the wall.  I painted around the entry so I could get a good idea of color.  You can see a faint rectangular sample over the left lamp-that one is the same as the ceiling.  The rest of the wall is Manchester Tan at 50% strength.  It's the same color that Emily has in her new family room and kitchen.  I LOVED it in her house, but it's reading a bit too yellow in mine.

Here's a shot down the hall, there's the original color again and my many samples that I've been trying out.

We're planning to tackle the walls right after the kids go back to school in a few weeks, but I don't know if I can wait that long!  This small taste of lighter and brighter has got me anxious for more.

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