Tangled Up In Blue

Today was a big day.

After eight months, ten paint swatches, two samples and five second guesses, we have FINALLY painted our first room.

It has been a process for a lot of different reasons which I will get into at a later time. BUT….we did it and I could NOT be happier with the result.

Blue is not a color I gravitate towards, but this room, our future library, is a blue room at heart and was calling out to have this vision realized.

It was originally painted a flat hunter green (another shade I tend not to enjoy.) The green (although not my favorite) complimented the wood of the fireplace, pocket doors and trim but just didn’t feel right. It felt faded and dated and dull.

So a few weeks ago we primed the room and let it sit while we worked around it, letting it breath and recalibrate. I felt early on that blue was the color it should be, and the more it sat blank and white and undisturbed, the more it revealed itself indeed to be blue.

I studied the room at different times of day, under varied light sources. I sat in the middle of it in the morning watching the sun stream in. Tip toed in after midnight to catch a glimpse of it unaware, watching shadows flit across the walls. Even primed white, bare and plain, the room vibrated blue.

Dark blue.

Rich blue.

Deep, serious, studious blue.

The blue of secrets and rituals and knowledge.

Gothic blue.

Dangerous, ensconcing, powerful blue.

The blue of whispers and danger and revolution.

The blue of oddities and magic and candlelight.

Color is not an exact science. Yes, of course it can be broken down into numbers on a scale. Values and saturation and all of the technical details. At its core however, color is about emotion and vibe and conveyed messages. It is about how you feel in its company and the memories it evokes. It is about harmony between people and place.

Standing in the room tonight, among the book boxes waiting to be unpacked, I feel the room hum quietly and I know we have made the right decision.