We've had boxes of paint laying in the hallway causing a constant reminder of how much work we still have to do in the house. We finally got tired of stepping over them to get out the front door and attacked the foyer and front living room this weekend.
Our inspiration for color choices came from many visits to art museums. I knew that I wanted dark, moody walls that would make seafoam greens and creamy pinks less precious, just like in my favorite oil paintings. To get started, we ordered samples of Black Blue, Drawing Room Blue, Hague Blue, and Down Pipe from Farrow & Ball.
I had Drawing Room Blue or Hague Blue marked for the foyer. Drawing Room Blue looked like a rich navy in pictures, but it turned out almost violet on our wall and was quickly eliminated. Hague Blue was beautiful but still too much color. I had Black Blue in mind for the dining room, but we knew immediately it was exactly what we wanted for the foyer. It's like Japanese indigo fabric overdyed with black and emerald green pigments. If that makes any sense.
Benjamin Moore's Kendall Charcoal had been high on the list for the living room, but it is now swathed in Farrow & Ball's Down Pipe. It was the wildcard color and it turned out to be my husband's favorite. It's so hard to describe because it is such a dense grey with shades of blue or green depending on the light.
I'm still narrowing down the perfect dark color for the dining room, but don't fear, there will be light. The rest of the house will most likely have white walls.