So many lovely shades of gray

Finally we got to go through the umpteen hundred paint chips we've amassed over the last several months! Only after we got home I realized there were nine additional shades of gray we forgot to consider so...shhhhhhh...we're going to have to go back to the house in the morning just to make sure. The mister doesn't know this yet.

I can tell you this, though. We're painting the entire first floor, minus the two existing bedrooms and the bathroom, plus the staircase, upstairs hallway and master bath the same shade of light-to-medium gray (Manhatten Mist). The girls's rooms, bathrooms and closets will all be a light neutral gray (Silver Charm). The master will be a darker shade of gray (Cathedral). This assumes none of the nine shades I found bump any of these.

So why all the gray? It's a fantastic neutral. Given that many of the rooms face different directions (so the sunlight is different), the color will take on different hues in the light. For example, in one room Silver Charm takes on a slight bluish cast, but in another, more of a clay. *swoon*

Tomorrow we meet with our builder to go over the master tub placement, our paint colors, and the staircase. They've installed all of the doors, and are beginning all the trim work this week!

Floors and doors

Dork alert: I shot a video for you all, so you could get more than random pictures of different rooms. And part way through it, I flipped my phone horizontally, thinking I'd capture a wider view. Yeah, no. That's not what happens. You get a sideways view instead. I'll try again this weekend, because I think a video at this point will really be cool.

The view from outside the house hasn't changed much at all. Ah, but on the inside, big doings are afoot.

The story behind blue porch ceilings

Rumor has it people paint their porch ceiling blue because it:
- reminds them of the sky
- keeps bugs away
- wards off evil spirts
- all of the above

Yep, all of the above. The folklore about warding off evil spirits (often referred to in the South as haints) is so well-known, the blue actually has a name: haint blue. Unlike Tiffany blue, haint blue isn't a single color; rather, it appears to be in reference to several shades of blue. The painters finished our blue porch ceiling today. Take a look: